Chapter 277: Chapter 277

Chapter 277: Revolution (1)

Broadcasting stations across the entire world canceled their regular programming.

From the electronic billboards of Times Square to London’s Piccadilly Circus and Tokyo’s Shibuya Scramble Crossing.

Every screen on the planet was transmitting a single scene.

[Breaking News] Shanghai Gate raid complete! The heroes' steps head toward Beijing!

[CNN Breaking News] “Is this an invasion, or a revolution?”

[Breaking News] Chinese government losing control?

The voices of the anchors on screen were closer to astonishment than excitement.

“It is an unbelievable sight! An army of thousands of Awakened, led by Hunter Kim Minwoo and Liang Xiaojun, is advancing toward Beijing!”

“The Chinese Standing Committee has defined this as an ‘infringement of sovereignty’ and ‘incitement of civil war’…… but well, the local reaction is entirely different!”

A crowd filling the highways.

A procession of Awakened walking silently toward Beijing.

They were like a massive tsunami surging in to swallow a corrupt power.

At the head of it was Kim Minwoo, walking with his black coat fluttering, and right beside him walked Liang Xiaojun, who had shown a detached attitude even in the face of death.

No, strictly speaking, they weren't side-by-side.

Liang Xiaojun was half a step behind Kim Minwoo, matching his stride with a respectful demeanor, like a knight serving his lord.

“The Chinese government claims that Mr. Kim Minwoo, a foreign hunter, is coercing their national hunters to seize China by force. But look! Does anyone among them look like they are being coerced?”

The camera panned over the 20,000 hunters.

Thunder Emperor Chen, Immovable Wisdom King Liu, Sword Emperor Wang Xiao.

What was reflected in the expressions of the S-rank hunters representing China was not humiliation, but blind ‘awe’.

Unlike the leadership that tried to abandon their country and flee, they harbored worship for the true hero who had crushed the disaster with overwhelming martial power and saved them.

It already transcended borders and ideologies.

Life was precious to anyone.

The debt of gratitude for saving those lives was far too heavy.

“This is not a coup. This might be a coronation…… of the abandoned going to enthrone the true king.”

A sharp rupture sound exploded over the peaceful march.

With a roar that seemed to tear the sky, a formation of dozens of fighter jets appeared from the direction of Beijing.

It was the J-20 formation, the latest stealth fighters maneuvering at hypersonic speeds using magic stones.

A warning broadcast burst from the fighters circling overhead.

『This is the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force! As of this moment, no further entry is permitted! If you do not disperse immediately, we will open fire! I repeat!』

Viewers around the world held their breath.

No matter how strong a hunter was, it was common sense that the air force's firepower, the pinnacle of modern military strength, could not be ignored.

If a missile bombardment poured down, even an S-rank hunter would find it hard to keep their body intact.

But Kim Minwoo did not stop walking.

He didn't even look up at the sky.

He merely gestured to Merhen, who was walking beside him, as if it were a nuisance.

“It's noisy. Quiet them down.”

She flew up into the air with a beaming smile.

The moment the fighter jet formation performed threatening maneuvers and attempted to lock on.

Merhen lightly waved her hand as if holding a conductor's baton.

Magic stones are also substances moved by the mana contained within them.

No mana in the world could escape Merhen’s interference.

A purple wave covered the sky.

There was no physical impact. There was no explosion, nor any flames.

But the result was more shocking than any missile.

『Uh, uh? The instrument panel is dead! Out of control!』

『The engine output is…… the system is down!』

『Falling! Eject…… Ejection isn't working! The ejection seats are dead too!』

The steel hawks that had dominated the sky lost their strength like dolls with their strings cut.

Dozens of fighter jets began to plummet simultaneously.

Just as the pilots were about to scream, a miracle occurred.

The falling fighter jets decelerated smoothly just dozens of meters above the ground, as if supported by a massive invisible hand.

A light landing, as soft as a feather settling down.

The fighter jets that landed in neat rows on the fields on both sides of the highway were in a state without a single scratch.

The entire world was lost for words.

With a single gesture, she turned a formation of state-of-the-art fighter jets into scrap metal and suppressed them without harming even a hair on the pilots.

This was not mere martial power.

It was a sight close to an out-of-standard authority that transcended the pinnacle of modern civilization.

Merhen drew a V with her fingers and landed on a Dragon Tooth Soldier’s shoulder. Kim Minwoo, still with an indifferent expression, spoke bluntly toward the frozen camera.

“Don't block the way. Isn't it a fact you all know, that the heads are rotten.”

With that one remark, not just the situation room in Beijing, but the entire world froze. It was the moment everyone instinctively realized that no one could block their path any longer.

Even China, the party involved, was the same.

In the first place, why would they have dispatched the fighter jet formation?

When a monster who didn't get a single scratch against the spider monster was leading the way, who would be an Awakened crazy enough to block that?

The Chinese government, having lost control over the Awakened, had no other way.

The sky over Beijing was exceptionally clear.

As if the silence after a massive storm had passed, the giant city of twenty million was silent as if dead.

What broke that silence was the sound of thousands of footsteps.

The path passing through the Forbidden City toward Zhongnanhai, the heart of Chinese power.

No army or police stood to block them.

No, it would be more accurate to say they couldn't block them.

Because the monsters who tore apart the Shanghai Gate and the witch who turned a formation of fighter jets flying in the sky into scrap metal with a single gesture were leading the way.

The firmly closed front gate of Zhongnanhai opened futilely.

A forbidden zone that always prohibited the access of ordinary people with tight security.

But now, the ones guarding it were only guards who were so struck by fear they couldn't even hold their guns properly.

Liang Xiaojun opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

Instead of answering, Kim Minwoo strode inside.

Everywhere his steps reached, the hallway covered in red carpet resonated.

Flashy decorations and antique furniture were lined up, but the presence of the owner could not be felt.

Kim Minwoo kicked open the door to the National Chairman’s office.

The heavy mahogany door was torn away like a sheet of paper.

However, the office was empty.

Documents that had been hastily gathered were scattered messily across the desk, and the scroll hanging on the wall was crooked.

Kim Minwoo let out a hollow laugh.

He had expected it, but to think he actually put it into practice. The fact that a man who was supposed to be the leader of a nation ran away to find his own survival, regardless of whether the country perished or not, felt newly disgusting.

The expressions of Thunder Emperor Chen and Sword Emperor Wang Xiao, who followed him inside, contorted.

It was the moment they confirmed with their own eyes that their homeland—the power they had believed in—was this hideous.

“……Is this the true face of those we were loyal to.”

Chen clenched his fists tight.

Pajijik, blue electric currents sparked from his hands. Murderous intent, mixed with betrayal and rage, filled the office.

Kim Minwoo clicked his tongue and turned his head.

Then, he looked at Liang Xiaojun standing beside him and gestured with his chin.

“I’ve set the stage for you. This is a house without a master; now you have to show clearly who the master is.”

At Kim Minwoo’s indifferent words, Liang Xiaojun’s eyes widened.

This was not a simple instruction.

It was a permission and a command to straighten out the collapsed order of China and become the new focal point.

Liang Xiaojun nodded slowly. His trembling pupils settled calmly, and a firm resolve filled their place.

His gaze turned toward the other Chinese Awakened.

Including Chen and the two world rankers.

'Already, the general trend has been decided.'

The Chairman who ran away. And even the group of Standing Committee members.

No matter how strong the Communist Party’s brainwashing was, it wasn't to the extent that the people would accept such a wretched true face.

Li Zemin’s power would crumble like grains of sand.

Though they had resolved the SS-rank gate, S-rank gates were still exploding all around.

China needed a new focal point right now.

And if it was Liang Xiaojun, who had maintained his composure and integrity even before that horrific monster……

“I, Chen, will follow you, Liang Xiaojun.”

“The same goes for me, Wang Xiao.”

“I, Liu, also agree.”

He had sufficient qualification.

“We will also follow Chairman Liang!”

“We will follow you!”

“Please lead China through this confusion!”

The Awakened shouted with one heart and mind.

Having gathered their opinions like that, Liang Xiaojun left the office and headed for the large conference hall.

There, lower-level officials who hadn't managed to flee and a few Standing Committee members who were in a state of confusion, unable to grasp the situation, were huddled in a corner.

They were turning pale and trembling at the appearance of Kim Minwoo and the Awakened.

The cameras following behind were transmitting the entire scene.

Liang Xiaojun walked out in front of them.

He was no longer the foolish, impulsive, and bat-like Liang Xiaojun of the past.

Behind his back stood the world’s strongest Necromancer and his savior, along with the heroes who saved China. He scanned the audience with a chillingly sunken gaze.

A cool voice resonated through the conference hall.

“I am asking if there is not a single person from the upper echelons to have a conversation with me, Liang Xiaojun.”

No one dared to open their mouth.

The Standing Committee member ranked 5th, the highest in order, only stepped back stealthily while gauging the atmosphere.

Watching that servile appearance, Liang Xiaojun sneered coldly.

“Not the rats who sold out the country and fled!”

He took another step forward.

“At this moment, if there is anyone qualified to discuss the fate of China, come forward!”

It was not a sense of intimidation coming from power.

It was the quality of a king that only someone who had returned from the threshold of death and intended to rebuild his collapsed homeland with his own hands could exude.

At that dignified shout, Kim Minwoo leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, looking satisfied.

Now, the master of China had changed.