Chapter 161

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 161: Bound for Japan (1)

"Ah, Hanul, is that you?"

It was around dusk.

Kwon Myung-woo held his smartphone while gazing at the sky tinged with the setting sun.

"I heard the news. You were nearly ambushed by that Mei Xiao woman, huh? What a disgraceful mess."

He scratched his cheek, an expression of discomfort clear on his face.

"When I was scouring the city looking for her, she didn’t show a trace—only to show up in a place like that... My brother must’ve gone ballistic."

Kwon Myung-woo was in the middle of carrying out an order: to eliminate Mei Xiao and the remnants of the Mei clan.

Yet Mei Xiao had brazenly appeared where Kwon Seonwoo—Myung-woo’s older brother—was.

Not only was Myung-woo’s credibility severely damaged, he had no excuse if Seonwoo decided to reprimand him.

"Anyway... I heard you’re flying to Japan today. It’s for the Rebirth Procedure, right? You lucky bastard. You get to experience something I never did."

Myung-woo chuckled heartily.

The Rebirth Procedure—how rare was that? Even some of the world’s most powerful Hunters hadn’t undergone it.

That Hanul had earned the right to such an extraordinary procedure was something to be celebrated.

"It’s a great opportunity, sure, but I’m still worried about Mei Xiao and what she might try. Honestly, I’d guard you myself during the operation if I could..."

But Myung-woo had obligations. There were still remnants of the Mei clan scattered around.

"So, I’ve made arrangements ahead of time. What kind of arrangements? You’ll find out once you arrive in Japan."

With a cryptic smile, he ended the call.

Then, he slowly turned around.

A man, battered and bruised, came into view—restrained by members of the Hyukcheon Corps. His limbs were bound and even his mouth was gagged.

"Alright. Let him go."

The moment he spoke, the unit members loosened their grip.

Though physically freed, the man made no move to flee—his body was too broken to run.

"Sorry about earlier. I had a call to take, but you were making too much noise."

"You sons of bitches!"

The man spat venomous curses. Vile words filled the air, but no one paid him any mind.

"Mei Liu."

Myung-woo looked down at the man.

"I was genuinely surprised. While we were skirmishing with your Flower Blade Squadron, your leader Mei Xiao was off somewhere else. She played us good."

At the very moment Hanul was encountering Mei Xiao, Myung-woo had gathered intel on the Flower Blade Squadron and was pursuing them across a foreign land. They eventually clashed.

The result? Not worth mentioning—it was decisive.

"What’s her game? What could’ve been worth using your squad as bait for a stunt like this?"

"You think I’d answer your damned questions?"

Mei Liu spat at the ground. Myung-woo simply nodded.

"Yeah, of course you wouldn’t. Even after hours of torture, you kept your mouth shut."

The reason Mei Liu was still alive—unlike the rest of the Flower Blade Squadron—was because Myung-woo believed he still had some use.

"Your Hyukcheon won’t last much longer! When the end comes, the Mei clan will lead the charge to wipe your arrogant bloodline off the map!"

Mei Liu’s eyes blazed as he screamed.

Myung-woo, unfazed, raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t get it." He stroked his chin and said, almost thoughtfully, "I appreciate the concern, really—but shouldn’t you be worrying about your own family first?"

"...What?"

A look of alarm crossed Mei Liu’s face.

Just then, a group of people ran over from the distance.

Their appearance stood out. Unlike the uniformly outfitted Hyukcheon Corps, these newcomers wore mismatched clothing and wielded various weapons.

"Sir!"

The man in front bowed his head, and the rest followed.

"The Iron Corps reporting back."

"Good work. What’s the status?"

"Sir. We located around thirty Mei clan blood relatives at the northern base of the mountain. All were non-combatants."

Mei Liu’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"H-How did you find them...?"

"You’ve underestimated Hyukcheon’s intelligence network. We already knew some of the Mei clan’s bloodline were hiding in this area."

While Myung-woo and the others had been engaged in battle, the Iron Corps had scoured the region—flushing out the hidden members of the Mei family.

"Take the Iron Corps and kill them all."

Myung-woo spoke without hesitation.

Mei Liu’s face turned to stone.

"K-Kwon Myung-woo! What the hell are you saying?! Is this the conduct of an elite clan like Hyukcheon?!"

"Hyukcheon shows no mercy to enemies—not even to women or children."

"KWON MYUNG-WOO!"

Mei Liu shrieked.

But Myung-woo didn’t even blink.

"Want to save your family? Then tell us where the rest of your clan is hiding."

The group discovered earlier was just a fraction. The rest of the Mei bloodline was scattered across various locations, barely clinging to life.

"Bite me."

Mei Liu snarled, face twisted with fury. Myung-woo let out a dry laugh.

"Seems like your pride in the clan outweighs your love for your family. So be it."

He gave a signal with his eyes.

One of the Hyukcheon soldiers drew his blade and sliced off Mei Liu’s head in a clean motion. Blood pooled onto the ground.

"Director, was that really your order?"

The Iron Corps’s captain, Gu Eon, asked.

Myung-woo looked displeased.

"Why are you asking too? Of course not."

"I thought so."

"I just wanted to see if we could crack him with a bluff."

Even as ruthless as Hyukcheon was, there was a line. Enemies or not, they weren’t monsters who would massacre civilians.

"Even if I gave that kind of order, I wouldn’t assign it to the Iron Corps."

He glanced at the soldiers behind Gu Eon.

The Iron Corps was created within Hyukcheon to dispose of internal threats—an expendable force made up of irredeemable scum.

There wasn’t a single sane member among them. Giving them such an order would be unthinkable.

In fact, when Myung-woo retracted his command, the Iron Corps looked visibly disappointed.

"The Hyukcheon Corps will escort the Mei clan members to headquarters."

"Yes, sir!"

"The Iron Corps will proceed ahead and continue pursuing the Mei clan."

After issuing his commands, Myung-woo departed with the Hyukcheon Unit toward the captured Mei clan members.

Once he was gone, Gu Eon addressed his men.

"Iron Corps—listen up. We’re heading to Nepal."

The groans came immediately.

"Captain, Nepal? That’s a hell of a hike."

"Can’t we take a break already? I’m dead tired."

Gu Eon silently let them vent, then opened his mouth.

"Anyone who wants a break—step forward. I’ll bury you right here and now."

Silence fell like a hammer.

He glared at them, voice like ice.

"Don’t get it twisted, you filthy maggots. You’re in no position to make demands."

The oppressive aura in his voice crushed the group. Some of them audibly swallowed.

"Hyukcheon only wants one thing from you—die completing your mission. Got it?"

The Iron Corps slowly nodded.

Only then did Gu Eon let the pressure drop.

"Bae Cheol-min."

"Sir."

"I’ll guide the Hyukcheon Unit. In the meantime, monitor the Iron Corps. If even a whiff of disobedience surfaces, eliminate the source immediately."

"Understood."

The steel warrior known as Bae Cheol-min lowered his head.

Kwon Eon left to oversee the Hyukcheon Corps. Only after he disappeared did Bae Cheol-min raise his head.

“Ridiculous.”

When he lifted his head, his expression was no longer submissive as before.

It was filled with hatred.

“To think the bloodline of Hyukcheon would pretend to be merciful.”

Bae Cheol-min clenched his teeth. The clan he belonged to had fallen into slavery under the pretense of helping the criminals of Hyukcheon.

Hearing such nonsense in that situation made his stomach churn.

“You trash.”

Bae Cheol-min said as he turned toward Gang Cheol-dae.

“Did you hear what that bastard said? Shut your mouth and stay quiet.”

* * *

After the call ended, Kwon Hanul put down his smartphone.

“Was that a call from Director Kwon Myung-woo?”

Joo Hayun asked, pausing from arranging tea leaves. Kwon Hanul nodded.

“Yes. It seems the Mei Xiao matter was troubling him a lot.”

“He must have been very angry.”

“He didn’t show it openly, but…”

Kwon Hanul trailed off. It was obvious without seeing it.

“By the way, I didn’t expect to be visiting Japan so soon.”

At that moment, Kwon Hanul was sitting inside an airplane. The destination was Japan.

Originally, he thought it would take more time. There were many materials needed for the Rebirth Procedure, and Takamine Hospital would also need time to prepare for the procedure.

But contrary to his expectations, the Hyukcheon family actively stepped forward, allowing the procedure date to be moved up significantly.

‘That old man, anyway…’

Suddenly, Kwon Hanul recalled a conversation he had with Kwon Seonwoo the other day.

On a dark night, on a ship, Kwon Seonwoo had told him everything about their father’s death.

“He said they forced Father, who had no interest in becoming clan head, to take a test.”

And when his Father failed to meet the standard, they sentenced him to death. The more Hanul thought about it, the more absurd and outrageous it seemed.

Even more ridiculous was that Kwon Seonwoo asked Hanul if he intended to take revenge.

‘Of course not.’

Even thinking about it, it was too much, but there was nothing he could do.

Hanul wasn’t the emotional type to get angry over a father he never even knew.

“More than anything, there were too many suspicious points to just accept it as is.”

A long time ago, Hanul had ordered the Iron Fang guild master to investigate his father.

How they found out about this was unknown, but the Hyukcheon intelligence bureau had come to the Iron Fang guild master. They handed over information and threatened him to keep it secret from Hanul.

The information provided by Hyukcheon’s intelligence bureau contained everything Kwon Seonwoo had said, word for word.

“The problem is the person who sent that agent was the chairman himself.”

If what the chairman said was true, why did he use such a troublesome method?

“Also, there was never any mention of Kwon Hyuk.”

There was no way that sinister and cruel man competed fairly.

But the chairman never said anything about Kwon Hyuk.

“This is a headache.”

Hanul hated these troublesome matters. But he hated being dragged along without knowing the truth even more.

“What are you so deep in thought about?”

Joo Hayun asked as she put tea leaves into the teapot. Since he couldn’t exactly call the chairman “that old man” out loud, he gave a vague answer.

“I was thinking about the Rebirth.”

Rebirth.

As the name suggests, it is a phenomenon that completely changes the body—the vessel of the flesh.

It’s not just a simple improvement of physical ability. Experiencing Rebirth is said to change the very foundation of a living being.

He had heard that the combat power gained through Rebirth increased several times over the original.

“I once looked into Rebirth briefly.”

“Really?”

“Fortunately, the intelligence bureau had data on it. It is commonly known that Rebirth drastically enhances physical combat ability, but…”

Joo Hayun checked the temperature of the teapot with a thermometer and added,

“In fact, that is a very minor aspect. The greatest benefit of Rebirth is said to be that it fills in one’s deficiencies.”

“Deficiencies?”

“That varies with each hunter who experiences Rebirth, so it’s hard to define precisely.”

Even Hyukcheon’s thorough intelligence bureau couldn’t give a clear conclusion. That meant Rebirth was a mysterious and rare phenomenon.

“Hudon oppa! Behind you! Behind! It’s behind you!”

“Behind? Ah, aghhh!”

“Gael! Bush check! If you don’t do a bush check, you get stunned first!”

“Okay, got it. I’ll remember from now on.”

Suddenly, the seat next to them got noisy. Kwon Hanul and Joo Hayun glanced over.

Mei Hong was holding onto Kwon Hudon and Gael Garcia, playing a game. All three had gamepads in their hands.

“Hudon oppa! Charge! Gael’s using Seon-gung!”

It was the same cheerful tone as usual. But Kwon Hanul couldn’t shake his anxiety.

Because the night he met Mei Xiao, Mei Hong’s behavior had been unusual.

“Hudon oppa! Don’t die!”

“I-I’m done here… At least the two of you survive.”

“Hmm, bush check… bush check…”

Unaware or ignoring Hanul’s concern, Mei Hong was completely immersed in the game.

The plane safely arrived in Japan.

Kwon Hanul got off the private jet with his party.

Thanks to the reputation of Hyukcheon, they skipped all the annoying cargo inspections. They were about to leave the airport.

“Ah! I found you!”

A woman came running from afar.

Judging it was dangerous, the group gathered protectively around Kwon Hanul.

“Wow, Kwon Hanul? Well, the title doesn’t matter. It’s been a while. You’ve changed a lot. Strange, you must not have raised your stats by participating in the Sky Arena.”

The woman kept talking nonstop. Kwon Hanul frowned and asked, “Who are you?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know me? Oh, maybe you haven’t seen me in person.”

Without hesitation, the woman opened her jacket wide. On her inner clothes was a familiar emblem.

“I’m Alexander Aaron from Black Sharp Squad.”

The party’s eyes widened.

They didn’t know Alexander Aaron, but if it was Black Sharp Squad, then…

“Did Aunt send you?”

“Rather than saying she sent me… ah, come with me first.”

Alexander Aaron gestured. Kwon Hanul and his group followed her outside.

In the distance, a security vehicle they had prepared in advance was waiting.

“Long time no see.”

And next to it stood Kwon Mi.

“Mom?”

Kwon Hudon said in surprise. Kwon Mi smiled and hugged him.

“My son. It’s been a while.”

She released Kwon Hudon and then spoke to Kwon Hanul.

“By order of Director Kwon Myung-woo, I will be protecting you for the time being.”

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]