Chapter 73

Episode 73

“Ouch!”

Biyeon SOON realized that she had absentmindedly broken one of her fingernails.

‘Like a fool,’ she thought, as she quickly hid her bleeding finger into her pocket.

She was in the seminar hall of the Shanghai Special Defense Agency. She, the other hunters involved in the Dive, key people in the Party, and the hunting industry were all gathered here.

‘I am representing the Red Dragon Society’; she reminded herself.

She repeated it several times in order to calm herself down.

Yang Biyeon couldn’t help but feel anxious.

The meeting was about to start, but Yoo-seong was still nowhere to be found. The last time she saw him, he was covered with burns and pus.

‘Would he be able to come?’ She wondered.

She looked around the hall.

It was full of people who shouldn’t even be here.

Click-!

Camera shutters popped continuously. She was seated on the stage along with other hunters and key officials.

In front of them, reporters from several outlets were preparing cameras and microphones.

‘This has never happened before,’ she thought.

Dives in China were conducted with strict confidentiality.

Occasionally, if an operation was successful, the government leaked it out.

It was to promote the industry and the hunters who participated. She was used to the secrecy. In fact, she wouldn’t even know about this Dive if she hadn’t been nominated to join it.

That was why she was surprised when she arrived at the briefing and found the reporters.

A press release before a Dive had never happened before.

She didn’t even know what to think of it.

Yang Biyeon repressed her emotions as she watched a man approach her.

It was Lee Hwi-min. He rose from his own seat in the platform upon seeing her.

“Excuse me,” he said.

Biyeon raised her head, pretending to notice him for the first time.

“Yes? Are you talking to me?” she asked.

“Oh, yes. It’s about Oh Yoo-seong. We had nominated him because we wanted to carry out the operation with his talents. Unfortunately, it seems that he has no intention of participating.”

Yang Biyeon’s expression was cold.

“I don’t know why you’re telling me this,” she answered.

“Well, everyone knows that Oh Yoo-seong and the Vice Lord worked together and made great strides in this city,” Lee Hwi-min’s eyes seemed to glint from behind his glasses.

Yang Biyeon stared straight ahead.

She could feel the reporters looking at them and murmuring as if they found something interesting. She didn’t care about them.

However, she was aware that there were other people who were watching them.

Ha Yuk-il, the man who was said to be the successor of the Volcano, and was previously 10th in the Ship Zone.

An elderly man was also staring at her. He was Jinchung, the head of the Doryongbang, which shared the Red Dragon Society’s influence on half of Shanghai.

Then, a younger man also raised his hand and joined in on their conversation.

He was Wong Yeong-cheon, the sixth place in the current Ship Zone.

“I agree. I also wanted to meet Oh Yoo-seong,” he said.

He seemed to be the same age as Ha Yuk-il.

“But of course,” he added, “I’m satisfied with just being able to do an operation with Vice Lord Yang Biyeon. It’s a great honor.”

Yang Biyeon tried not to show any emotion, however difficult it was to hide her disgust.

‘Everybody here is a Goryong underling,’ she thought.

Biyeon did not know about the confrontation between Lee Hwi-min and Yoo-seong.

However, she knew about the bad blood between them even before Yoo-seong had come to China.

It was also said that Ha Yuk-il bore a grudge against Yoo-seong, who was the reason he had been pushed out of the Ship Zone.

“It’s really, really disappointing…” Lee Hwi-min added before walking to the podium to address the crowd.

“My name is Lee Hwi-min. As you all know, I am in charge of the overall command for this operation,” he began. “When I first heard the suggestion from the Doryongbang to take this Dive, the Goryong Company and I didn’t have to think much about it. Whatever the circumstances, it is our duty to participate, and an honor that I cannot give up.”

According to Lee Hwi-min, the reason why the operation was disclosed to the public was that it aimed to find out the cause of the Shanghai Shock.

Through the Dive, they would analyze the world beyond the crack to pursue people’s safety and strengthen their trust.

Furthermore, he promised to prove the capabilities of the Chinese industry and its defense system, whose positions were greatly shaken by the tragedy.

The reporters and the Party officials were silent and hung on to every word he said.

To be honest, even Yang Biyeon couldn’t deny that her heart thumped with excitement as she listened.

Lee Hwi-min’s speech touched the hearts of every Chinese who suffered in the tragedy.

“We will do it. We will not allow such tragedy to occur under Chinese territory.”

The audience nodded fiercely, with fire in their hearts.

However, there was a slight change in Lee Hwi-min’s tone as he continued.

“As this is an operation in Shanghai, we decided to send a Goryong hunter along with three of the strongest hunters in Shanghai. Fortunately, two of them agreed without any hesitation…”

Yang Biyeon bit her lips as Lee Hwi-min paused.

‘Here it goes,’ she thought.

“But the hunter whom we wanted to participate more than anyone else, unfortunately, has not responded. You know him well…”

Lee Hwi-min began to briefly describe Yoo-seong’s achievements.

It was a first.

Oh Yoo-seong’s achievements had never been publicly recognized in China. However, that was not the main goal of Lee Hwi-min’s speech.

“So, despite him being a foreigner, we decided that his ability was essential for the operation. Unfortunately, according to a Tenz representative who acted as his temporary secretary, she was unable to contact him…”

Yang Biyeon felt disappointment fill the great hall.

“Of course, it is a personal situation that should not be judged at all, but in a critical operation to analyze the cause of the sudden crack injured in this injury, such power loss is just regrettable…”

“We don’t need him!” Someone yelled out.

All eyes turned to the young reporter whose face was flushed with anger.

“I don’t think there’s a shortage of talent with the hunters gathered here. We don’t need foreigners!”

“That’s right!” another reporter yelled out in agreement.

“I agree!”

“We don’t need him!”

There were raised voices, even among some of the hunters in the hall. This was what Lee Hwi-min wanted.

He had planned well.

Of course, Yoo-seong would not come to a Dive that Goryong Company managed.

It was a trap that Lee Hwi-min had dug.

Through his speech, the Dive has become an important event on which Chinese pride and safety depended. Participating companies and hunters would be praised and supported.

Those who backed out will be ruined.

Lee Hwi-min smiled lightly.

It was only a matter of time before public opinion turned against Oh Yoo-seong.

The largest Chinese media outlets were concentrated in this event.

Yoo-seong would be forgotten as the hero of Shanghai and remembered as the coward who evaded the honorable proposal Lee Hwi-min and the Chinese government made.

‘I doubt he ever shows his face in public, regardless,’ Lee Hwi-min thought.

He knew that Ha Yuk-il gave Yoo-seong the Volcanic Martial Arts originals.

‘He would kill himself, and his honor will die with him.’

Yoo-seong was not the only hunter Lee Hwi-min wanted to bury with this Dive.

He had another target in his sights – Yang Biyeon of the Red Dragon Society.

He already had Doryongbang in his palms.

If he could remove Doryongbang’s opposition in Shanghai, it would be easier to control the influential city. Suddenly, Lee Hwi-min’s thoughts stopped.

He saw something from the entrance of the seminar hall.

‘A late visitor?’

A man was walking in. Those closest to the door noticed him and forgot the fiery mood they were in.

“Uh…”

“Is that him?”

Lee Hwi-min’s eyes widened.

It was Oh Yoo-seong.

He was dressed casually, with a beanie pressed against his head.

He was walking leisurely towards the stage, where Lee Hwi-min stood. Lee Hwi-min quickly glanced behind him.

He looked at Ha Yuk-il, Wong Yeong-cheon, and Jinchung.

‘Stop him’; his eyes seemed to say.

Then, he quickly composed himself and began speaking through the microphone.

“Mr. Oh Yoo-seong! I heard from your agent that you could not be reached…”

Yoo-seong wasn’t listening to him. He had begun running towards the stage.

At that instant, the three hunters on the stage stood up, prepared to stop him.

‘He won’t fight us here with everyone watching,’ Lee Hwi-min assured himself.

‘Even if he did, there’s no way three Ship Zone-level hunters couldn’t stop him.’

Suddenly…

Bang-!

Yoo-seong leaped forward.

The hunters watching him considered the thin coating of Aura on his legs.

‘He won’t make it to the stage,’ they thought.

However, they were missing the point.

The Aura on Yoo-seong’s legs was different. It was not a smooth surface that professional hunters used. Rather, it appeared like a fine fog.

The moment Yoo-seong reached the highest point of his trajectory-

Woosh-!

The fine Aura on his legs sprayed forward, then hardened.

He made a stepping stone out of Aura and used it for another leap.

“Huh?!”

“What the…”

The people at the venue were shocked.

In the eyes of the cameras and everyone in the venue, it seemed as if Yoo-seong was walking in the air.

Bang-!

Yoo-seong landed brilliantly on the stage, right in front of Lee Hwi-min.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke with a serious expression.

“I need that microphone.”