Chapter 306: Canton Coalition Meeting (1)
“War? Are you really thinking of eating the world?”
AngerManagementVodka gulped nervously, looking around at the magical engineering weapons.
Even in a world where dragons fly and fairies use magic, these weapons were enough to make people drool. To think they were being used in reality was beyond words.
They might not be comparable to nuclear weapons yet, but these magical engineering weapons were superior to any conventional weapons.
AngerManagementVodka’s mention of world domination wasn’t entirely impossible.
“No way. I’m not a madman. Why did North Korea make nukes in the past, and why does Russia have them now? It’s for ‘deterrence,’ right?”
Deterrence is the power to prevent one side from even thinking about attacking by instilling fear of retaliation.
It’s the power to make them untouchable, knowing that touching them would mean death.
The magical engineering weapons Kyung-joon brought to reality were undoubtedly for this purpose.
“Surely, when my technology becomes known to the world later, countries around the world will target me. I can survive on my own, but people like you who are with me will be killed or kidnapped……In any case, it’s clear that my forces will be targeted. So, this is the power to protect us and our unique technology.”
“……Just how far do you intend to grow this power? Honestly, with the weapons here and my subordinates, we have enough power to hold a country hostage.”
“At least five times stronger than the US. The US has about three times the military budget of China, but China is still trying to fight the US, right? No, to really prevent war, it needs to be ten times stronger. Sun Tzu’s Art of War says that with five times the strength, you can attack, and with ten times, you can besiege.”
Kyung-joon said the outrageous words very calmly.
“……”
AngerManagementVodka couldn’t say anything back to Kyung-joon.
He had a lot to say.
Ten times the current US would practically be world domination.
But Kyung-joon’s expression, which seemed genuinely serious, had a strong persuasiveness that he couldn’t refute based on his experience.
“It’s okay. I’m not trying to conquer the world, just to be at a level where I can.”
Once again, Kyung-joon said something outrageous as if it were nothing.
Then, he handed AngerManagementVodka a sealed biochip and a USB.
“Oh, right. And please tell Dr. Mikhail to implement this and start mass production right away. Here’s the USB too. It contains the principles, mass production system, and blueprints.”
“What’s this?”
“If you implant it in the brain, when it’s near brain death, the chip recognizes it and transmits all the information and memories of the brain, in other words, the soul, into Huma’s computer through Teemo.”
“……You’ve created something truly sci-fi.”
AngerManagementVodka gave a hollow laugh, as if he had no more energy to be surprised.
Kyung-joon shrugged and continued.
“Magic is like sci-fi, what. Anyway, the soul transferred that way can be created as a game character and resurrected.”
“Like some kind of Sword Art Online’s Kirito……”
“Aha. That’s a really good analogy. Anyway, think of it as a safety device because you might die in the process of taking over the underworld. You can tell the guys it’s like having +1 life.”
“Well, I understand. I’ll pass it on to Dr. Mikhail. But is it okay to make things this big? Surely, once we start moving, the Seolha Group will find out?”
AngerManagementVodka pointed out a very important point.
“That’s the point. That’s the only way to induce Chairman Yoo to choose the last resort.”
Only by pushing Chairman Yoo to the extreme, by making him realize that there’s no other way to subdue Kyung-joon in reality, would he choose the ‘last resort.’
“The last resort?”
“Just know that it exists and do as I say.”
Kyung-joon grinned.
He seemed like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t seem ready to tell everyone yet.
This wasn’t the first or second time this had happened, so AngerManagementVodka clicked his tongue and turned around.
“Then I’ll go and do as you said.”
“Yes. I have things to do, so I’ll be going back.”
Kyung-joon moved his steps and went in a different direction from AngerManagementVodka.
It was where the giant mana particle accelerator, even larger than before, was located.
Thanks to magical engineering, its performance and efficiency had increased by tens of times.
So now, this was possible.
Woooong!
Kyung-joon deployed his mana.
His intelligence, which had reached 2049 after investing all the stat points gained from reaching level 483 into intelligence.
He added Jet Black Power to this.
Hwaack!
His intelligence amplified by 483% due to being level 483.
The calculation resulted in 11,946, easily exceeding 10,000 intelligence.
Ddddddd!
Mana of tremendous density began to be amplified further through the particle accelerator.
And soon.
Faaat!
Kyung-joon warped to the World.
Now, Kyung-joon no longer needed the connection device made by the Seolha Group to access the World.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
This is the Vatican, the heart of the Holy Cross Faction.
“Damn it! That otherworlder with no faith……! How dare he! How dare he, how dare he, how dare he……!!”
Clang!
The Pope violently threw the wine glass decorated with gold and silver.
“How dare he try to take the place of this body, the agent of God……!!”
The Pope was about to throw the plate with bread on it.
“Y, Your Holiness! Maintain your dignity! God is watching!”
Father Batali, who was next to him, stopped the Pope’s hand.
Wine is the blood of God, and bread is the flesh of God.
The glass had been emptied, so it was fine, but the current plate had bread on it, so it could be blasphemy.
Hwik!
The Pope turned his head and glared at Father Batali, who was stopping him.
“H, Hic.”
An expression the Pope had never shown before, or rather, only once.
It was the expression he made when he gave the judgment, ‘God’s Punishment,’ to those who rebelled against the Holy Cross or committed heresy.
Father Batali had witnessed it from the side at that time.
The thought that he could become like that made his legs tremble.
Fortunately, the Pope didn’t punish him.
“Thank you, Father Batali.”
Instead, the Pope returned to a bright smile and thanked Father Batali.
“I almost committed blasphemy against God. I will surely reflect on today’s events tonight.”
The sudden change in atmosphere instilled an unknown fear.
“Ah……Yes……”
Father Batali awkwardly took the plate and bread from the Pope and placed them on the desk.
Then the Pope spoke.
“How is the faith now?”
Father Batali swallowed his saliva, thinking that the question he had been waiting for had finally come.
“Surely the World is now full of trials bestowed by God, isn’t it?”
The Pope asked again, as if urging him.
“That……Certainly, the trials are harsher and more abundant……”
Originally, when disasters struck like a flood and things happened that individuals couldn’t handle, people would seek God.
That act was the discovery of God and the birth of religion.
This would gather faith and make the Holy Cross even stronger.
The reason the Holy Cross deliberately created black magic stones to cause mutant monsters in the beginning was for this purpose.
However.
“But because that otherworlder Kyung-joon monopolized all of it……Instead of increasing faith……”
“Instead? Finish your sentence, priest.”
“It’s actually……declining……”
Make the Holy Cross great again.
That’s how it should have been, but all those plans were twisted and ruined because of Kyung-joon.
First, the mutant monsters had swarmed beyond the Holy Cross’s control, which was the first reason.
And the bigger second reason was that Kyung-joon’s people had appeared like ghosts and instantly saved the areas that the Holy Cross had been forced to abandon.
There was no reason to believe in God.
Even without believing, believing in Kyung-joon instead would bring him running faster to save them.
“Furthermore, he built that mysterious tower called the Energy Tower, making it possible to deal with mutant monsters automatically if they attack later……”
Kyung-joon didn’t stop at just saving them.
He also installed Energy Towers, providing perfect after-sales service by allowing them to automatically deal with future attacks.
It was like a land grab.
Kyung-joon was gradually taking over the Holy Cross Faction, which was in chaos due to the mutant monsters and the unsealing of the Demon King, along with the areas that were originally under Holy Cross rule.
And he was doing it with the strong support of the residents.
This trend was irreversible.
“It’s a truly serious situation, Your Holiness. People are already calling that otherworlder Kyung-joon God……uh.”
Father Batali coughed, erasing his words that could be considered blasphemy, and continued.
“They’re calling that otherworlder Kyung-joon God’s agent and believing in him……Even if we try to punish him and change those who have been brainwashed, our faith is lacking, and our divine power is severely depleted. Currently, no matter what measures we take, we can only barely hold onto the plummeting faith.”
It was a negative feedback loop where recession fueled recession.
Lower faith weakens the power of the Holy Cross.
The weakened power of the Holy Cross makes it even harder to resist Kyung-joon, who is rapidly expanding his power.
This leads to lower faith again, and further weakens the power of the Holy Cross.
An endless repetition of this.
There was only one path at the end of it.
Father Batali took a deep breath and finally uttered the words he desperately didn’t want to say.
“At this rate, we……the Holy Cross……the Holy Cross……!”
“Priest.”
The Pope interrupted Father Batali.
His voice was extremely low.
The Pope didn’t scold or rebuke Father Batali.
Instead, he only said one word.
“I will take action myself.”
The otherworlder who pretends to be God’s agent, the devil who dares to covet God.
As the head of the Holy Cross, the Pope would personally deliver divine punishment.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
At the moment the Pope of the Holy Cross decided to punish Kyung-joon, Kyung-joon was already making his move.
Except for the Devexit (Devil+exit) 500 years ago, when New Devil Co. declared they would leave Canton due to continued demon discrimination, the Canton Coalition meeting, where all seven leaders had never gathered before, was being held for the first time with all seven leaders present.
<Leader of the Fairy-Elven Alliance>
<Wings that Divide Space>
▼Takiki (NPC)
“Phew, Huma gathered everyone like this 700 years ago……I’m uneasy.”
<Leader of the Dragonian-Elven Alliance>
<Half-and-Half Dragon>
▼Half-and-Half Dragon (NPC)
“Klalala! What kind of grand prank are you planning this time, my friend!”
<Leader of the Flame Hammer Dwarf Clan>
<Blacksmith of Flames>
▼Lothar Zwitter (NPC)
“Kyung-joon, our dwarves are busy hammering away. Let’s finish this quickly.”
<Leader of the Beastkin Alliance>
<Beastkin King>
▼Buried Bones (NPC)
“Do you need manpower again? Then it’s time for our beastkin to step up! We have too many people in the Beastkin Alliance!”
<Leader of New Devil Co.>
<Descendant of the Demon Traitor>
▼Lupera (NPC)
“So you’re Kyung-joon. Why is it? I feel a similar scent to us. K giggle.”
<Leader of the Free Mercenaries>
<Mercenary who Inherited the Immovable Name>
▼Miharan (NPC)
“I don’t care who you are or what kind of person you are. I’m here for the mission. State the mission and the reward.”
<Leader of Humanity>
<King of Humans Recognized by the Pope>
▼Humanity VIII (NPC)
“……”
Seven Cantons, and seven leaders.
And finally.
“Thank you all for gathering. I’m Kyung-joon, the hottest topic these days.”
Plus one, making it Kyung-joon.
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