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Chapter 285: The Student Surpasses the Master (1)
"What?"
"...Huh?"
"Did you just say 'Master Hong'...?"
The Tongliao's Three Swords were left speechless at Yeongwoo's accusation of treason.
After all, wasn’t he the one who had been shouting about the fall of Beijing?
"Is he completely out of his mind?"
The first sword of Tongliao, Zheng Chosan, erupted in anger but didn't have the luxury to argue.
By that time, the second member of the Standing Committee, Hong Jingbai, had already approached them.
"Kneel before the Party! From now on, anyone who stands on their feet will be beheaded!"
With a terrifying voice, Hong Jingbai demanded submission, and Yeongwoo was the first to kneel.
Thud!
Then, the second sword of Tongliao, Huang Seongli, gritted her teeth and glared at Yeongwoo.
"What are you doing right now?"
"If you don’t kneel, you’ll be beheaded."
"But aren’t you supposed to be Im Dupyeong’s adversary? Shouldn’t you...?"
"Oh, that was when I was getting paid. You’re not planning on paying me yet, are you?"
"...What?"
Huang Seongli’s eyes widened as he finally realized that this guy was staging a protest to demand his payment.
"If you don’t want to kneel with me, you’ll have no choice but to fight Master Hong. Let’s see if you really have the strength to defend this city."
Already on his knees, Yeongwoo scratched his chin with a calm expression.
Meanwhile, the third sword of Tongliao, Guo Wangbo, shouted at the citizens.
"Don’t kneel! Are you crazy?"
That was because half of the citizens gathered in the area were hesitating and beginning to kneel.
They had concluded that Tongliao's Three Swords might not be able to defeat Hong Jingbai.
The other half of the crowd was also confused, unsure of what to do.
They wanted to trust the Tongliao's Three Swords but instinctively felt that kneeling might be the safer option, given that Hong Jingbai’s martial arts seemed formidable.
"Ha, is there truly anyone here dreaming of rebellion?"
Finally, Hong Jingbai laughed savagely, looking at the Tongliao's Three Swords.
Central Political Bureau’s second member of the Standing Committee, Hong Jingbai.
Age: 68, Height: 2 meters.
Estimated to be the second most powerful person in Beijing at this moment.
Unlike the fourth member, Baek Gangryang, whom he had met earlier, Hong Jingbai's body wasn’t grotesquely deformed.
Instead, his overall appearance was tall and thin, making him look the most normal among the strange figures they had encountered so far.
However...
'Huh? He doesn’t have a weapon?'
Aside from the purple demonic energy covering his entire body, he wasn’t carrying any weapon.
And for someone who is the second most powerful person in Beijing to walk around without a weapon...
'Does that mean he has something that makes a weapon unnecessary?'
As Yeongwoo thought this, Zheng Chosan, the first sword of Tongliao, was the first to charge at Hong Jingbai.
"You've come to find your own grave!"
He decided he had to turn the situation around before all the citizens kneeled.
Following him, the third sword, Guo Wangbo, also rushed in, and finally, the second sword, Huang Seongli, reluctantly moved as well.
Thud! Thud!
"Everyone, be careful! Judging by what he’s doing, there’s definitely something going on!"
The ‘he’ Huang Seongli referred to was obviously the brazen intruder kneeling over there.
And at last...
"Die!"
Zheng Chosan, who was leading the charge, tried to stab Hong Jingbai with his broken sword—the one Yeongwoo had cut in half in an instant.
When Hong Jingbai saw the sword, he furrowed his brow.
"Who did this to your sword?"
As expected from the second most powerful person in Beijing, he sensed something ominous from the severed edge of the sword.
In this world, equipment, especially weapons, were generally made to be almost indestructible.
However, Zheng Chosan didn’t have time to answer Hong Jingbai’s question.
He had already used all his courage in launching the attack with his broken sword.
"Graaaah!"
Unaware of what he was being asked, he recklessly thrust his sword forward.
Screeech!
"Ha, you're still a novice. I admire your courage, though."
Meanwhile, Hong Jingbai laughed fiercely as he grabbed the sword blade with his bare hand.
Crunch!
"What!"
Zheng Chosan finally came to his senses, eyes widening, while the third sword, Guo Wangbo, swung his broad sword and intervened between them.
"Step back! I’ll handle this!"
Although he was the third sword, Guo Wangbo was the oldest in terms of age.
He was a carpenter from Kailu County, Tongliao.
He wielded his massive sword with his well-developed forearms as if it were a piece of paper.
"You Hong clan scum! I’ll chop off your head and display it in the streets!"
As Guo Wangbo charged in with a menacing line, the smile vanished from Hong Jingbai's face.
"Indeed, you’re the kind that doesn’t understand words."
As he said this, both his left hand, which was holding Zheng Chosan's blade, and his still free right hand turned an intense, chilling shade of deep purple.
Fsssssst!
"Everyone, fall back!"
Sensing something ominous, Huang Seongli urgently threw her sword at Hong Jingbai, hoping to bind his arms for even a moment to buy her comrades time to retreat.
And her judgment was...
Ping!
...spot on.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"My... my sword...?"
As Huang Seongli's sword flew toward him, Hong Jingbai's right hand transformed into a massive blade.
Swoosh, thunk!
Huang Seongli’s sword was deflected by Hong Jingbai’s blade and embedded itself far away in the ground, leaving her unarmed.
"Damn it."
Seeing that two of the Tongliao Swordsmen were already disarmed, Guo Wangbo grimaced as he foresaw the grim outcome.
But they weren't the only ones whose expressions darkened.
"It's over."
"They can't beat him even with all three of them?"
"If that's the case, then what hope do we have...?"
The remaining half of the citizens, who were still standing, quickly began kneeling.
Seeing this, Hong Jingbai burst into laughter.
"How amusing. What an entertaining world."
Then, pointing his monstrous blade-covered arm at the Tongliao's Three Swords, he declared:
"To punish you for defying the Party, I will demand even more tribute."
"...!"
"From now on, the person in charge of Tongliao must deliver 40 million karma to Beijing every day!"
"What?"
"What?"
At Hong Jingbai's threat, the Tongliao's Three Swords instinctively turned their heads—toward the uninvited ‘Strongest Sword’ who had descended from the sky, no less.
If the increased tribute due to the crime of rebellion was 40 million, then how much had it originally been?
It certainly wasn't 50 million.
'Wait a second. Something's off here.'
'Huh? The tribute was increased by 40 million due to rebellion?'
'Didn't that guy just say earlier that all cities were paying 50 million?'
As the entire Tongliao's Three Swords began to approach a chilling realization, Yeongwoo finally stood up.
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Sshh.
"Hah, this is interesting. Master Hong, you have a surprisingly delicate side. Is 40 million really the price for raising a sword against the Party?"
"...?"
With an outsider standing up alone, Hong Jingbai's attention naturally shifted to him.
"...Who are you?"
"Sigh..."
Yeongwoo swept his bangs back with his left hand as if he were pitying him and then spoke in a low voice.
"I am a representative of the Korean Peninsula."
"...?"
"And Im Dupyeong's greatest concern, Jeong Yeongwoo07!"
"What?"
Hong Jingbai realized many things in that instant when an outsider dared to mention Im Dupyeong’s name so casually.
The mystery of the Standing Committee members who had disappeared one after another while collecting tribute in the East.
And the absurd severed edge of the sword he had seen earlier.
"You... you can't be..."
As Hong Jingbai’s expression suggested he had figured something out, Yeongwoo, who had been hiding his title all this time, finally revealed it again.
Swoosh!
『Strongest Sword』
"The Strongest Sword...!"
Hong Jingbai's eyes widened as he saw the brilliant title of the Korean Peninsula.
The First Standing Committee Member, Chairman Im Dupyeong, had once mentioned a likely suspect.
Someone notorious for bearing the brand of Chinese colonialism and surviving unusually long in the East.
And it seemed that this person was...
"Hong Jingbai! Come to me and serve the national interest!"
The elected official of the Korean Peninsula, ‘Strongestt Sword’ Jeong Yeongwoo, flashed his greedy eyes.
At the same time, he hurled his sword, already wrapped in fierce red energy.
Swoosh!
However, Hong Jingbai, being the second most powerful person in Beijing, maintained his composure.
"Ugh...!"
Even in this situation, he twisted his upper body to dodge Yeongwoo’s sword.
The blade, like Huang Seongli’s earlier, merely pierced the distant ground.
Thud!
"So you're nothing special either. Such a shallow trick with even shallower skills to match."
Hong Jingbai confirmed the sword embedded in the ground and laughed sinisterly.
The ominous feeling he had sensed earlier vanished when he saw that his opponent’s hand wasn’t as strong as expected.
However, Yeongwoo, on the other hand, seemed to be brimming with joy, a smile spread across his face.
"Young Master Hong!"
"...?"
"Do you recognize this sword?"
With these words, Yeongwoo reached out into the air, summoning a mutated crescent blade called "Dark Slash" from his weapon inventory.
This weapon had once belonged to none other than Baek Gangryang, the 4th Standing Committee member.
"You...!"
As expected, Hong Jingbai ground his teeth in fury.
"I’ll tear your limbs apart with that sword!"
Enraged by Yeongwoo's taunting of the dead, Hong momentarily lost his composure and began to storm forward, ready to unleash his power.
At that moment, Yeongwoo flicked his right hand, recalling the “Bastard” that had been embedded in the distance.
「Gnoll's Iron Belt」 - Mutant Belt
【Remotely retrieve weapons.】
This technique was Yeongwoo's signature move, a counterfeit swordsmanship technique.
But with the automatic combat greatsword "Golden Trail" rushing in simultaneously, no one suspected that this so-called "Strongest Sword" was a fraud, at least not in terms of martial prowess.
Swoosh!
Wooooom...
Bastard shot towards its master like an arrow, while the golden greatsword danced in front of him as if alive.
The spectators could only gape in awe.
"Amazing..."
"Is that really the Legendary Sword Control technique?"
Even Huang Seongli, who still had her sword stuck in the distant ground, couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
She knew that he was a fraud, but witnessing his martial arts firsthand made it clear that his skills were no lie.
"Damn you...!"
Despite facing attacks from three directions, Hong Jingbai displayed remarkable martial prowess.
He blocked the Dark Slash that Yeongwoo had swung at him with the blade on his right arm and pinned the Golden Trail to the ground with his foot, immobilizing it.
"Hmph, you bastard!"
Of course, he had never fought at full power like this before, so...
Swoosh!
...he failed to block the last sword aimed at his shoulder.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
As Yeongwoo's Bastard Sword tore through Hong Jingbai's left shoulder, the citizens of Tongliao, who had been kneeling, stood up in unison.
They realized that the madman's insane claim of toppling Beijing and eliminating Im Dupyeong might actually be possible.
Snap!
After retrieving the Bastard Sword, Yeongwoo surveyed the now-standing citizens.
Then, he stepped back, returning all his other weapons to his inventory, leaving only the Bastard.
Even the Dark Slash and the Golden Trail, which had been lying on the ground, were put away.
Pop!
As all the weapons that had dazzled their eyes vanished at once, the citizens of Tongliao looked around in bewilderment.
"W-what? All of a sudden?"
"Where did they all go?"
Yeongwoo sheathed the Bastard at his waist and said in a businesslike tone,
"The next part is paid. If you want me to kill Young Master Hong here and now, you'll have to pay."
The citizens, noticing that Hong Jingbai’s shoulder was slowly regenerating, asked in shock,
"What do you mean?"
"H-how much do you need to finish the fight?"
As the awaited question came, Yeongwoo spread his right hand wide open.
"Five?"
"Five...?"
"Fifty million. Collect the money right now. Installments are also accepted."
"...!"
Finally, Yeongwoo's tribute demand had surpassed even Beijing's.
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