Chapter 278: Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Revolution (2)

“Do you want to live?”

At Liang Xiaojun’s chilling question, one of the Standing Committee members, who couldn't even lift his head, answered with a suppressed voice.

“I, I want to live……”

“Then prove it. Prove that you are not the henchmen of the rats who fled, but working-level officials who will serve the people.”

Liang Xiaojun placed his hand on the head chair of the conference hall, where the Chairman used to sit.

“As of this hour, all existing leadership structures of the Communist Party lose their effect. China will transition to a wartime system that goes beyond martial law.”

“A, a wartime system…… you say?”

“Do you still not realize how urgent the situation is? S-rank gates are exploding all around, and the people are suffering endlessly!”

When Liang Xiaojun struck the desk, the official who had questioned him lowered his head deeply.

The moment the old era, dominated by empty ideologies and thoughts, passed away, and a new order centered on Hunters, dominated by thorough power and pragmatism, arrived.

“You shall handle the administration. But we make the decisions. Thunder Emperor Chen, Sword Emperor Wang Xiao, Immovable Wisdom King Liu. They shall become the new ‘Security Committee’ of China and hold full power over national defense, security, and gate raids.”

Martial power replaces political power.

In a democratic nation, it would have been an unthinkable act of tyranny, but in current China, no one could raise an objection. Before the crisis of destruction called the SS-rank gate, it was not the Party’s directives but the heroes' martial power that saved the people.

That was an immediate affirmative.

The broadcasting cameras transmitted Liang Xiaojun’s determined face and the figure of Kim Minwoo standing behind him with his arms crossed to the entire world.

The whole world was turned upside down.

Even more shocking than the appearance of the SS-rank gate was the fact that the system of a massive nation like China was overturned overnight.

While news anchors from each country delivered breaking news with spit-flying excitement, ‘GateNet’, the community for Awakened worldwide, was literally exploding.

[GateNet ― International Affairs Board]

Title: Hey, is the situation in China real right now? lol

Author: HunterAspirant1

Chinese Chairman ran and Liang Xiaojun took power dd But isn't that basically Kim Minwoo taking it? Looking at the broadcast, Liang Xiaojun was sticking right behind Kim Minwoo?

[ㅇㅇ]: It’s obvious. Liang Xiaojun is originally Kim Minwoo’s lackey.

[FilialPiety]: Wow, so is China Kim Minwoo’s territory now? The scale is crazy.

[Patriot]: Calling it a revolution is just nice words; isn't that being a traitor? It’s like handing the country over to a foreign Korean Hunter. Are the Chinese people just going to watch that with their pride?

[FactBomber]: Guy above doesn't know anything. Don't you see the reaction of the Chinese people right now? It’s actually a festival atmosphere.

In fact, public opinion within China, including Weibo, was flowing in the exact opposite direction of external concerns.

The accusation of being a ‘traitor’ was only held by a minority. Rather, the vast majority of the people were in an atmosphere of welcoming Liang Xiaojun’s decision and Kim Minwoo’s intervention with open arms.

[WangWei]: The guy called the Chairman abandoned the country and fled, but Liang Xiaojun stayed and declared he would protect us. Who is the true leader?

[RedDragon]: Honestly, what's the problem with him being Kim Minwoo’s subordinate? Isn't it actually a benefit? Did Liang Xiaojun flee like the Chairman, was he incompetent, or was he servile? He even had the grit to not even blink an eye right before death.

[LittleCitizen]: Agreed. I was surprised seeing that too. And look at Korea. When the whole world was in chaos because of gates, only Korea was peaceful. A country protected by Kim Minwoo? That’s no different from a survival guarantee.

[Hunter123]: Liang Xiaojun has been a clean Awakened who has thoroughly cleared gates for the sake of the nation since the moment he Awakened. He is a hundred times more qualified than those pigs who only played politics. Him borrowing Kim Minwoo’s strength isn't a humiliation; it's diplomatic capability!

[ShanghaiResident]: I live in Shanghai and my family was about to die. Does pride put food on the table? If it weren't for Kim Minwoo, we would all be dead, seriously.

Before that primal instinct, things like borders or ideologies were nothing more than scraps of paper.

A proxy of a savior with powerful strength was bound to be far more reliable than a dictator who fled. Liang Xiaojun read that flow accurately, and through the massive backing of Kim Minwoo, he acquired the legitimacy of 'rule by force'.

“The public opinion war is perfect, too.”

Kim Minwoo, who was examining the real-time translated reactions on his tablet, let out a smirk.

It was the picture he wanted.

A simple military occupation is bound to draw backlash. But if one appears as a savior in a desperate crisis, the story changes.

At this moment, Kim Minwoo was not an invader to the Chinese people. He was the only 'lifeline' who would drive out the incompetent and corrupt leadership and fish them out of the pit of death.

Before he knew it, Liang Xiaojun approached and bowed respectfully.

The fierce revolutionary shown in the broadcast earlier was nowhere to be found, and only the appearance of a loyal confidant remained.

“As a result of looking through the data, Li Zemin’s escape route has been identified. Along with the locations of the national treasure-class artifacts and magic stones they took with them.”

Kim Minwoo’s eyes flashed.

Since they had captured the public opinion, it was time to take the practical benefits.

A top-quality crystal whiskey glass hit the wall and shattered into pieces.

Fragments flew up, but the attendants inside the private jet bowed their heads, unable to even make the sound of a breath.

“These bastards! Incompetent shits!”

Li Zemin’s face flushed red and blue.

He clutched the premium leather seat with his trembling hands as if tearing it out.

Outside the window, the receding night view of China was visible.

It was his kingdom, no, it was now a land that had become a deathtrap he had to flee from.

The memory of that night not long ago flashed through his mind.

Persen, the man who had introduced himself as the 'Great Priest of the Shadows'.

As if mocking the tight security of the Zhongnanhai, he had risen like a shadow in the middle of the office.

To Li Zemin, who couldn't even scream out of fear, he had offered a proposal as sweet as a devil’s.

—Are you not afraid of a weary, aging body and the finiteness of power?

What he held out was the 'Elixir of Life', which guaranteed a lifespan close to eternal life, and a secret technique for leveling up that transcended imagination.

And the price was simple.

The collapse of China.

—We have already finished all preparations. We have prepared the gates. A monster will emerge that even nuclear weapons won't work against. A monster that the level of China's Awakened can never block.

The words that followed were far too sweet.

That the Shadows would step in and handle the monster when the despair reached its peak.

Then, they would allow Li Zemin to reign forever as the proxy of the Shadows and the hero of the nation upon the ruined land.

Realistically, he couldn't guarantee his life if he refused, and snobbishly, he couldn't help but fall for the sweet temptation.

Eternal life? Infinite power?

Were those not things that even he, who had ruled China for 20 years, had yet to obtain!

But Li Zemin was meticulous.

A wily hare has three burrows, as they say.

He had embezzled astronomical assets into secret overseas accounts in preparation for any potential situation and arranged a route to escape with his closest aides.

It was to siphon off at least the wealth, just in case they failed to resolve the gate situation.

He had intended to stall for time and then return to China once things seemed safe by contacting the Shadows, but things had gone awry.

“Ch-Chairman…… I mean, Your Excellency. According to the intelligence that just came in……”

The Chief of Staff handed over a tablet, his face pale with fright.

“The gate explosion in Shanghai…… has reportedly been resolved! It says Kim Minwoo personally stepped in to deal with the monster……”

“Shut up! Don't even mention that bastard’s name! Just get out of my sight!”

Li Zemin snatched the tablet and hurled it to the floor.

On the screen, the news was broadcasting breaking reports of Liang Xiaojun launching the ‘Security Committee’ with Kim Minwoo’s backing.

The people cheered, while he, who had fled, was branded a traitor with a warrant out for his arrest.

They said it couldn't be blocked?

They said it was absolutely impossible?

The Shadow bastards' boasts were a bold-faced lie. No, they were simply incompetent.

To think a mere World Rank 157 had resolved this whole affair?

Of course, Kim Minwoo’s strength was beyond imagination, but Li Zemin simply could not accept it.

“The Shadows…… those useless pieces of shit!”

He clutched his head.

His power within China was already gone.

He had secured his assets, but he was now a fugitive.

Furthermore, as long as that guy Kim Minwoo was involved, his overseas hideouts could not be safe.

“Turn the plane around. We’re going to Switzerland. No, go to South America! To a place where Kim Minwoo’s hand cannot reach!”

The plane swerved sharply.

But Li Zemin did not know.

Just as the Shadows' promise was a lie, his escape route was already in the palm of someone’s hand.

Inside the private jet, where only a suffocating silence lingered.

The regular and chilling sound of shoe heels scratched at Li Zemin’s eardrums.

He was clearly inside a flying aircraft.

His attendants and bodyguards were by his side.

Yet, strangely, not a single sign of human presence could be felt.

Only that skin-crawling sound of footsteps grew closer and closer.

“Wh-who is it! Is anyone out there!”

Li Zemin shouted as if squeezing it out, but only silence returned.

Before long, the thick door of the VIP room slid open.

Standing there was a single woman.

A pitch-black dress, suited for a funeral, wrapped around her pale skin, and in her slender hand, she held a scythe far larger than her own height.

Li Zemin instinctively recoiled at that unrealistic figure.

The blade of the scythe, trailing behind the woman, scraped the floor with an eerie friction.

“Don’t come closer! I said don’t come closer!”

Li Zemin struggled, throwing a teacup.

But the woman, Han Siah, merely gave a faint smile.

A smile that looked as noble as a saintess, yet simultaneously as cruel as a devil.

Her eyes did not contain the human being named Li Zemin.

Only the filth that needed to be cleared for having obstructed the path of her God, Kim Minwoo, was reflected.

“It is you. The foolish lamb who kicked away His mercy.”

“Wh-who on earth are you!”

“I have come to act as His judgment.”

Han Siah slowly raised the scythe.

Then, a dark-red mist began to rise from the sharp tip of the blade.

The interior lights flickered and went out, and even the clouds visible outside the window were swallowed by a pitch-black darkness.

Li Zemin’s vision narrowed sharply.

The last thing he saw was Han Siah’s chilling smile, the only thing shining in the darkness.

“Repent. Until you reach Him.”

As the scythe sliced through the air, the world was submerged into perfect darkness.

The next day, the world’s morning news was plastered with a single piece of information.

[Breaking News] Chairman Li Zemin, who had fled, captured in the skies over South America!

[Shocking] Former leader of China showing signs of mental breakdown? Controversy over live broadcast of the escort process.

[Exclusive] “Save me! I was wrong!” Li Zemin wails at the airport…… The fall of authority.

The appearance of Li Zemin on the TV screen was shocking in itself.

The neat Mao suit was torn to shreds, and his face, revealed through his disheveled hair, was contorted with terror.

Throughout the escort, he crawled on the floor, begging and begging toward an unknown object.

“I was wrong! Please, please, anything but that, h-heo-eonng!!”

It was a disgraceful display, unbelievable for a man who had been the leader of a nation.

With the urine stains on his pants clearly visible, his image of wailing like a child was transmitted across the world.

It was the moment the image of the iron-fisted ruler he had built over twenty years fell into the abyss.

“He’s mad. Truly gone mad.”

“Was the Chairman of China really that scared of the gate? Tsk, tsk……”

People watching the news clicked their tongues, but no one knew why he had ended up in that state.

Only Kim Minwoo, watching all of this beyond the screen, let out a smirk.

“Ms. Siah handled the job quite thoroughly.”

A dictator gone mad with fear.

There was no more perfect period to end the revolution than this.