Chapter 698. Demonstrating (3)

Chapter 698. Demonstrating (3)

Kondo had heard quite a lot of news pertaining to 'that man'.

The man who suddenly appeared like a shooting star in the wasteland of martial arts, South Korea!

The man who unified that country in the blink of an eye!

At least up to there, Kondo and others like him could more or less maintain their composure. That was because, as far as they knew, Korea's martial society was filled with nothing but weaklings.

That land could be swallowed up at any time they wanted. Unfortunately, none of them had any spare energy to take it over, at least for the time being. So, if they wanted to stick a label on the Korean peninsula... It'd say 'bonus' on that label.

A bonus granted to anyone who could unify the fragmented Japan, a dream of so many warriors throughout history! That was how the Japanese warriors viewed Korea.

It wasn't important who currently ruled that land. After all, Korea would instantly become Japan's if the noble Japanese warriors decided to make a move.

However, that mindset had to change due to an incident.

Nanahoshi-gumi, a fairly influential organization in its own right, got into a tussle with that Korean man, causing it to suffer some losses. And to get some payback, they crossed the ocean and entered Korea... Only to experience an utter and complete annihilation. That was the incident Kondo was thinking about.

It sent powerful shock waves throughout the Japanese martial society. However, that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Nanahoshi-gumi couldn't be referred to as an organization strong enough to represent the might of Japan. However, not many other Japanese organizations could confidently say it was strong enough to destroy Nanahoshi-gumi without anyone's help.

Calling Nanahoshi-gumi one of the top-tier clans was false. And to call it a mid-tier... It was also a little too small for that ranking. Even so, it was strong enough to not get destroyed by the Koreans. Yet, it did.

Even though the Japanese had always believed they could rule over Korea at any time they wished!

From that point on, no one underestimated or overlooked the situation in South Korea. Which was unsurprising since they now had confirmation that Korea's forces were much stronger than they thought. They now knew Korea was no longer a land that could be dealt with by just one of the countless many organizations populating Japan.

'What an amusing situation that is...'

That was Kondo's honest impression. The gap in overall strength still existed between South Korea and Japan. However, as soon as these men confirmed the Koreans' strength, they were gripped by anxiety.

Haven't they already experienced a situation similar to this one before?

Have they not already witnessed with their own eyes how an opponent they thought was on the other side of a chasm that could never be bridged still managed to cross that gap and thrust a sharp blade under Japan's chin?

Less than half a century ago, the difference between Japan and South Korea was like that of a developed nation and a third-world country. But now?

Several hardcore nationalists displaying neurotic behaviors at Korea's relentless pursuit began appearing in their droves. On the surface, they acted as if everything was under control, that they had all the time in the world. The truth was, though... Deep inside, they were writhing in agony.

The result of that incident was precisely tonight's event.

Many clans and organizations began arguing for the Korean man's punishment. Their voices grew louder in unison to demand the immediate conquest of the land of Korea. And they even invoked the logical argument of paying back what was owed, too!

'Don't make me laugh...!'

Since when did these clans and organizations care about paying the grudge of another? This wasn't about avenging the destruction of one of them. No, this was just an unsightly lashing-out meant to sever the source of their anxiety.

The chasm between the two nations still existed. And what happened to Nanahoshi-gumi could be classified as an "accident". However, these people had already experienced what it felt like to be chased down, and the possibility of that happening again had spooked them. That was why they were here, to nip the bud before it had a chance to bloom.

With Yamakawa-kai's Nakata Yuji as the chief architect, the plan to punish South Korea... No, more correctly, the plan to punish that man was set in motion. According to the higher-ups, Korea was centered around that man, anyway. Eliminating him would lead to Korea's current structure failing to maintain itself and eventually crumbling into nothingness.

That argument made some sense. Even if that was the case, though...

'Is this really the smartest decision we could've made?'

Kondo's uncertainty reared its ugly head as he stood here, staring at the Korean man leisurely smoking away in the middle of this unnamed Chinese road. Kondo's expression was a mixture of unconvinced and puzzled.

Indeed, that Korean man was the one from their plans. His name was... Kang Jin-Ho!

The man who had unified South Korea in the proverbial blink of an eye! And the culprit responsible for turning the higher-ups, known for their penchant for favoring dimly-lit backrooms and acting all haughty and mysterious, into a group of panicky foals with their butts on fire!

Kondo sneaked a glance behind him. The rows of headlights seemed dead-set to blind him with their brightness. However, an even higher number of people than those lights were standing there.

Of course, there was a limit to how many warriors they could smuggle into China. Despite the Japanese alliance resorting to all sorts of tricks, bringing a large number of powerful martial artists beyond the Chinese borders still proved difficult, forcing only a limited number to cross over.

Even so, Kondo thought this number was excessive.

Since the end of the last world war, Japan's martial society had never assembled this many warriors to fight one man. And so many organizations and clans coming together had not happened before, too.

This was probably the strongest expeditionary force in history, with members from every organization joining the central players in this mission, Yamakawa-kai and Michiyoshi-gumi. Kondo could swear that such a large combat force leaving the country to attack a target in another country had never happened before in Japan's long, illustrious history.

A truly unprecedented event in Japan's history! So many powerful warriors had come here to participate in such an event. No wonder their hearts were pounding and their blood boiled!

But now...

“I didn't start my career as an operative, you know! I just ended up as one because of my lack of strength. I went through Hell trying to learn Korean, so learning Japanese on top of that was out of the question for me.”

“Really?” Kang Jin-Ho grimaced awkwardly, then turned his attention back to Morigawa Atsushi. “...Do any of you know how to speak Korean?”

Morigawa Atsushi smirked derisively, then glanced behind him. “...What the f*ck is this bastard saying now?”

“...?”

The other Japanese warriors, none of them familiar with the Korean language, could only look around their vicinity in a fluster and stupefaction.

“Hey, does anyone here speak Korean?”

This area suddenly became the ground zero for yet another instance of culture clash.

Kang Jin-Ho and his group, who didn't expect to run into a group of Japanese in the middle of China, and the Japanese warriors, who only came here to kill some random Korean and didn't think about communicating, faced each other and fell into a muddled confusion.

While spectating this unintended farce, Vator smirked deeply. “What the hell are these idiots doing now?”

They were going to fight to death, anyway. In that case, what was the point of trying to communicate? It wasn't as if they could come to some kind of an agreement and back off, now was it?

Vator, now somewhat irritated, yelled at Kang Jin-Ho. “Master!”

Kang Jin-Ho hurriedly looked back. “M-mm?”

“What are you doing?!”

“Well, I was curious about what they were saying. That's all.”

Curious about what now? Vator let out a loud roar that contained his genuine feelings on the matter. “The translator app! Use your phone and get the translator app already! Please learn how to use modern tech like everyone else!”

“Ah...!” Kang Jin-Ho nodded and took out his mobile phone.

Vator groaned and shook his head in dismay.

'Seriously now, he can be such a caveman.'

All Kang Jin-Ho had to do was launch the translator app on his phone. Even the merchants who didn't know a lick of Chinese other than 'Ni hao ma?' could still buy and sell stuff while relying on nothing but their translation app these days! So why did Kang Jin-Ho...

'...Hang on a second. What is he doing now?'

Instead of launching the app as told, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly pressed the phone against his ear. Why did he do that, though? Did he need to use his ear to tap the phone's screen or something?

Before Vator's thoughts could go any further...

Kang Jin-Ho took the phone away from his ear, then tapped on the screen. Which prompted a man's voice to come out from the phone's speaker.

-Yes, this is Lee Hyeon-Su. What's the matter, Assembly Master?

Vator furiously blinked his eyes when he heard that.

Lee Hyeon-Su? Why was Lee Hyeon-Su's voice coming out from the phone? Was Kang Jin-Ho thinking of asking for assistance? Or... Maybe he was trying to check if something untoward happened in Korea?

Unfortunately for Vator's sanity, Kang Jin-Ho's intentions vastly outsmarted the big man's imagination.

“Listen, Lee Hyeon-Su.”

-Yes, Assembly Master.

“I need you to listen to these morons and translate what they are saying. No one knows Korean here.”

-...!

A bout of silence came from the phone. That poignant silence contained all of Lee Hyeon-Su's dumbfoundedness, dismay, and perhaps even despair at his pitiful state.

“...!”

Even Vator's jaw was dropped to the floor while Zhang Dajing was facepalming himself with both hands in an attempt to hold back his tears.

After launching his human translator app, Kang Jin-Ho smiled in satisfaction like a man who had resolved every problem plaguing the world. "Here. Repeat what you said to my interpreter. Got it?"

Vator muttered quietly while observing his master who had taken care of this problem in the simplest and "wisest" way possible. “What the f*ck is this sh*t...? Is he really that useless? Or am I too shocked to think properly here?”

Whatever it was, one thing was for certain.

Kang Jin-Ho sure knew how to make a statement.