Chapter 129: Untouchable |
Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense
129 – Untouchable
Myung-jun’s blatant disregard for the dignity of both governments ignited a tremendous rage in Zhai Tianlin, who was listening to the conversation beside Wang Lin. Like many other Chinese of his generation, he was a man with a strong sense of national pride, having been raised with the indoctrination that China is the world’s greatest nation from a young age. However, despite the fury that seemed ready to explode within him, Zhai Tianlin’s mind was coldly calculating the possibility of victory over his opponent.
‘There’s a chance.’
His specialty was poison.
And Cha Myung-jun was currently unprotected, without any defensive gear.
The word ‘if’ kept tempting Zhai Tianlin as he looked at Myung-jun.
‘If’ he could successfully poison Cha Myung-jun.
‘If’ he could demand something using the antidote as leverage.
Staring at Myung-jun’s bare face, not even wearing a mask, let alone a gas mask, Zhai Tianlin became convinced that his plan was right.
“You insolent bastard!!!”
The moment Zhai Tianlin finished his mental battle simulation and shouted at Myung-jun, his outstretched hand turned into a cloud of poison, shooting towards Myung-jun.
But just before his attack could reach Myung-jun, the straight-flying poison cloud was blocked by a human-shaped flame that suddenly appeared, turning it into ash and making it disappear.
– Whoosh! –
The sudden appearance of the flame person startled the journalists on the scene, causing them to step back in surprise, forgetting to trigger their flashes.
Then, the figure that had been flickering like living flames instantly transformed into the form of a cute girl.
“We meet again! Mister?”
“Deki!!!”
Zhai Tianlin knew who she was.
She was the very person who had nearly killed him, leaving him in a near-death state when he had gone to kill her not long ago.
However, she completely ignored the hateful glare from the strongest Awakener of China and cheerfully smiled at Myung-jun, saying,
“Look, senior! Wasn’t I cool just now? Does this settle my life debt?”
Seeing that Zhai Tianlin’s attack had been in vain, Yoon Se-ah immediately summoned her bow to support him.
But just like Zhai Tianlin, her actions were promptly thwarted. Before she could even raise her bow halfway, a sharp ring of light that had suddenly flown in was tickling her neck.
“Don’t move if you don’t want a hole in that pretty neck of yours. I don’t like being bothered.”
“Is that you, Soo-bin?”
The one who restrained Se-ah was a crew member of the Liberal Clan and a world-ranked Awakener known as the Sister of Halo, Lee Soo-bin. With just one of the eight halos she could control, she subdued the next EDA Director, looking at Se-ah with half-closed eyes as if it were a bother to speak.
“It’s not a joke, really, my halos sometimes move on their own, contrary to my will, so I can’t guarantee your safety. If you show even the slightest intent to attack, your head will hit the floor.”
“If you’re worried about that, how about removing the weapon from my neck before any unfortunate incident occurs?”
“Oh my, wasn’t it you who drew your weapon first? We only stepped in for defense.”
Hearing Soo-bin’s words, Se-ah let out a heavy sigh and dispelled the bow she had summoned.
Then, the halo that had been touching her neck flew back to Soo-bin and into the storage device on her back.
During all this, Myung-jun showed no reaction whatsoever.
It was as if he wanted to show that the Awakener gathered here could be handled by his subordinates without him needing to step in.
Zhai Tianlin did not like Myung-jun’s attitude at all.
He disliked the casual way Myung-jun sat, crossing his legs in front of the Foreign Minister representing the Republic of Korea, and he disliked the composure of Myung-jun, who did not even glance at him, the strongest Awakener of China.
However, despite his boiling anger, Zhai Tianlin could not act rashly.
The girl standing in front of Myung-jun.
Deki was an Awakener with a counter ability perfectly suited against his own.
‘If only the temporary EDA Director could hold off that girl, I could easily deal with the Sister of Halo.’
But that was impossible.
The moment he tried to move to confront Soo-bin while avoiding Deki, there was no way Myung-jun or the other clan members would just stand by.
Even if Myung-jun did not intervene, using force recklessly in the Liberal Clan, teeming with powerful figures on par with himself, was tantamount to suicide.
“Zhai Tianlin. This is in front of journalists from all over the world. Refrain from any premature use of force.”
Even Foreign Minister Wang Lin rebuked Zhai Tianlin, and he had no choice but to retract his energy.
Then, with a voice that seemed to desperately suppress anger, Wang Lin spoke to Myung-jun.
“Mr. Cha Myung-jun has just confessed to crossing the Chinese border without permission and killing Director Moon Hee-cheol. Did I hear that correctly?”
“That’s right.”
As soon as Myung-jun finished speaking, Minister Park Moon-chan from the side stood up and shouted.
“Why! Director Moon Hee-cheol was a hero and a true soldier of the Republic of Korea!”
“A hero… a hero, you say…”
With a voice as cold as ice, Myung-jun spoke.
“Does a hero try to kidnap people and send assassins to silence them?”
“What are you…?”
“Does a true soldier attack from behind?”
Before Park Moon-chan could say anything, a voice echoed from the speakers.
A voice that anyone from the Republic of Korea would recognize, the voice of Moon Hee-cheol.
[Save me.]
[Now, after all this? From the first time we met, you tried to detain me under the guise of an investigation, and you sent EDA Awakener to capture me. In the process, my girlfriend was almost killed. And after I showed myself, you tried to take me away with soldiers. Then, in Sejong City, you tried to forcibly turn the Liberal Clan into a government-affiliated clan.]
[I understand you may have grievances against me, but there was no malice in any of those actions. They were all decisions made for the sake of the country.]
Murmurs arose among the journalists as the recorded voice of Hee-cheol supported Myung-jun’s claims.
“Is it true?”
“He sent EDA members to capture Myung-jun, and even tried to kill his girlfriend?”
Hearing the journalists’ murmurs, Park Moon-chan angrily shouted.
“It’s fabricated! A blatant lie! Director Moon Hee-cheol would never do such a thing!”
Park Moon-chan argued that with the Liberal Clan’s technology, it would be easy to fake such a conversation.
Myung-jun quietly listened to Park Moon-chan’s claims.
Then, as soon as he finished speaking, Myung-jun snapped his fingers and said,
“Then let’s show the video.”
Suddenly, drones flew in from somewhere and projected a huge hologram in the air.
The video showed Hee-cheol, who had regained consciousness, being attacked from behind by Myung-jun after a conversation and Myung-jun’s forgiveness.
It was a miserable and scandalous end for the strongest Awakener of the Republic of Korea and a world-renowned powerhouse.
Then Park Moon-chan began to furiously claim that the video was also manipulated.
“Do you expect us to believe such an absurd video? It’s preposterous. Every single detail in that video is slander and intimidation.”
“What’s your basis for claiming it’s intimidation?”
“In the video, Mr. Cha Myung-jun clearly gets injured by Director Moon Hee-cheol’s attack. But looking at him now, both of Mr. Cha Myung-jun’s hands seem perfectly fine.”
“The Liberal Clan’s medical facilities are quite exceptional. And you seem to be misunderstanding something, the important thing right now isn’t the authenticity of that video. It’s whether the governments of the Republic of Korea and China will accept what I’m saying.”
“If we cannot accept it, what will you do?”
“What, you’ll believe my confession that I killed him but deny the reason why I killed him? That’s one option. But if you choose that, you’ll have to come up with a reason why I killed Moon Hee-cheol. I won’t cite any other reason than that one.”
Park Moon-chan’s mind began to race.
To preserve the hero status of Moon Hee-cheol, who was already dead and thus of no further use, by making the most powerful Awakener group, the Liberal Clan, an enemy.
Or to accept the misdeeds of Moon Hee-cheol exposed by Cha Myung-jun and build a new relationship with the Liberal Clan.
It was clear which option was more beneficial in reality, but Park Moon-chan could not easily come to a conclusion.
He and Wang Lin had come here to extract the ‘life price’ from Cha Myung-jun and the Liberal Clan for Moon Hee-cheol.
At the start of the meeting, Park Moon-chan had some confidence as he entered the negotiations.
The joint investigation team formed by the Superhuman Bureau and the EDA had gathered irrefutable evidence proving Cha Myung-jun’s guilt, which no one could deny. The original plan was to use these pieces of evidence to apply diplomatic pressure and gain the maximum benefit, but those plans collapsed immediately with Cha Myung-jun’s bombshell announcement at the start of the meeting.
The current atmosphere seemed to portray Cha Myung-jun more as a victim than a perpetrator.
In such a situation, to demand compensation for the death of a government official, regardless of the reason, would risk international condemnation.
‘If only there hadn’t been a sneak attack from behind…’
In the video, Cha Myung-jun gave Moon Hee-cheol a chance until the very end.
And it was Moon Hee-cheol himself who exploited that opportunity to launch a surprise attack from behind.
Having given up on lodging an official protest from the South Korean government’s side, Park Moon-chan looked to Wang Lin.
Unlike the South Korean government, which had nothing more to say now that the truth about Moon Hee-cheol’s death had been revealed, the Chinese government was in a position to be a complete victim.
Catching Park Moon-chan’s gaze, Wang Lin began to press Myung-jun on his behalf.
“Alright. Let’s assume that everything in the video is true and that you had sufficient reason to kill Director Moon Hee-cheol. However, the place where you killed him was not in the Republic of Korea but on Chinese territory. Moreover, he invaded Chinese airspace without going through the entry permit process and committed murder. How do you explain that?”
Wang Lin finished with a small smile on his lips.
Regardless of the personal grudge between Moon Hee-cheol and Cha Myung-jun, the act of invading another country’s territory and engaging in combat was absolutely unforgivable internationally.
However, Myung-jun, still sitting with his legs crossed, dismissed Wang Lin’s protest with a single sentence.
“I won’t.”
“Excuse me?!”
“I said I won’t explain. After all, isn’t the goal for both of you to use Moon Hee-cheol’s death as an excuse to extort something from the Liberal Clan? Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Does that mean that despite having invaded another country’s territory and engaged in combat, you will not offer any explanation or compensation?”
“You’ve understood correctly. If that upsets you and you want to go to war, then go ahead. Launch your nukes, send your armies, send your Awakener, do as you please. But before you make that decision, there’s one thing you might want to consider.”
“And what is that?”
“If I decide to, I can’t take on all of China, but I can perfectly eliminate its leadership. The fact that I crossed the border undetected before means I can do it again. Within three days of starting, I’ll smash your leadership and military command structure.”
“That… you think that would be so easy…”
Seeing Wang Lin trembling with uncontrollable anger, Myung-jun uncrossed his legs. Then, cracking his knuckles, he said to Wang Lin,
“Do you think I can’t do it?”
Wang Lin couldn’t respond. He knew all too well that Myung-jun was a man who, if he so desired, could easily eliminate even the President of the United States.
Then, with Wang Lin unable to say anything, a satisfied Myung-jun added,
“Go and report that to your superiors. It seems that any country that wants to start a war with the Liberal Clan should write their wills before declaring war.”
This was a declaration from the Liberal Clan to not just the governments of Korea and China, but to all governments around the world, that they were ‘Untouchable’.
