Chapter 1157: Chapter 1157
Wiggins quickly sucked in a deep breath after stepping into the Assembly’s conference room.
If he was being honest... Half the time, the Assembly's directors’ meeting usually devolved into them messing around and cracking jokes with each other. Of course, they discussed important topics too, but the pressure to do so wasn't there. No one truly felt nervous about attending a meeting.
This story remained the same whether Kang Jin-Ho was present or not. However, today? The air in this room had noticeably changed.
‘Which makes sense, really.’
The directors and executives could relax because they had all the confidence in the world.
Even the person who walked the relatively smoothest road among this group must've looked like a survivor from a hellish journey to outsiders.
Vator spent his entire life walking on the path of never-ending life-or-death battles, while Chang Min was a monster who guarded the demon cult from the merciless passage of time.
Obviously, Kang Jin-Ho's story didn't need to be explained again. At least Bang Jin-Hun comparatively had it easiest among the group, but his life until recently still consisted of fending off threats to his life dozens of times a day while opposing an old monster called Lee Jung-Geol!
Somewhat ironically, Wiggins had enjoyed the smoothest path in life despite performing various important roles in the Round Table, easily one of the most influential organizations in the world.
Everyone in this room had experienced all sorts of trials and tribulations life could throw at them. And that was why they knew what was about to happen very soon.
“I’m back, everyone,” said Wiggins.
Kang Jin-Ho pointed at the empty chair with his chin, prompting Wiggins to hurry up and sit on it.
“What’s the situation?”
“I've confirmed the Japanese's movements, my lord. However, how they will reach South Korea is still unclear. For now, we'll continue to pursue them even if we end up sacrificing a few people from our side.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded in silence.
“You mean, the Round Table will do that for us?” Bang Jin-Hun curiously asked.
Wiggins sighed softly. “Yes, apparently so.”
Bang Jin-Hun scratched his cheek. “That’s kinda embarrassing, though.”
“Indeed. But it can’t be helped.”
The Martial Assembly had grown in many aspects but still paled in comparison to other nations when it came to gathering information.
The Japanese martial society and its Korean counterpart being at odds played some part in this state of things. However, even if the two sides weren't at odds, the situation for the Assembly would still not have been any better.
Nurturing competent spies and agents took time. But the Martial Assembly simply didn't have the time or energy to monitor the situation in other countries. No, it was too busy collecting information on the Yeongnam Group. And the Yeongnam Group was also busy doing the same thing to the Assembly.
Since that had been resolved, couldn’t the Assembly send its existing agents overseas, then? Unfortunately, things weren’t that simple. Collecting information in one’s country would never be the same as acting as an operative in a foreign hostile nation.
First of all, those agents would need additional training first. There was no guarantee of them successfully passing the training, and worse still, the Assembly simply did not have enough agents to dispatch in the first place.
Wiggins groaned. “I know that we must improve our ability to stay informed, but pragmatic problems keep scuppering us.”
Bang Jin-Hun chuckled helplessly. “Oh, well. But that's the same story for both sides, isn't it? The Jap bastards wouldn't have been able to dispatch any of their spies here, either.”
“Which is something we should be thankful for.”
The Koreans didn’t have the leeway to pay attention to the Japanese martial society, and likewise, the Japanese couldn’t monitor the Korean martial society. Although, that was not because the Japanese lacked the means but more like they didn’t see the value in doing so. However, that was in the past.
Besides, it didn’t matter, anyway, since the outcome for both sides was...
‘It'll be similar to two blind idiots waving knives around at each other.'
Wars in the 21st century were often referred to as information warfare which could be won or lost depending on how well you’ve managed to analyze the enemy. Considering that, the upcoming war deserved to be called ‘unusual.’
“I know we shouldn't talk about this subject in this meeting, but...” Kang Jin-Ho quietly asked. “Do we currently have any agents stationed in China?”
“My lord? We've only finished establishing our footing over there, so far. However, once we deal with this crisis, we'll prioritize improving our intelligence network.”
“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho nodded again.
It was wrong to criticize others for not finishing something they didn’t have the power to do so even if that something was not some impossible-sounding unrealistic problem. No, the criticism was only justified when others didn’t do anything about a problem despite having the power to fix it.
Even if gathering intel on the Japanese was difficult right now, the Assembly must learn to acquire information on the Chinese martial society by itself, which would undoubtedly become its long-term adversary.
Bang Jin-Hun glanced at Wiggins again. “You said you still don’t know how the Japs will enter Korea?”
“Can’t they fly on a plane, though?”
“...” Wiggins stared at Bang Jin-Hun in stupefaction mixed with disbelief. “Mister Bang, have you never been to an airport before?”
“What do you mean? Didn’t we go to one the last time?”
“...In an airport, there is something called the immigration and customs checkpoint. You must go through that first before being allowed into Korea. If you refuse, you'll be bundled back into the plane and sent back home. The Korean government has that much power, at least.”
Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head. “So what, sir? Can’t they just jump over the airport’s fence or something?”
“Can't you imagine what might happen if that many people try to slip out of the airport? Even if the war is between the martial artists, airports and immigration checkpoints belong to the surface world, Mister Bang. The Japanese can't afford to create such ripples on the surface world. Even if it's for their grand war.”
“Huh? But I heard that the Jap politicians are totally in the pockets of those bastards?”
“Yes, that is indeed so. Creating a puppet regime for their convenience has granted the Japanese martial society a near-inexhaustible source of funds. So, they wouldn’t want to create a headache that might negatively impact their revenue stream.”
Bang Jin-Hun roughly scratched his head. “Mister Wiggins? Honestly, I don't get it at all.”
“Whatever it is, you’re saying they can’t possibly come here on planes, right?”
“Huh. Then, will they use ships?”
Wiggins shook his head. “They wouldn’t do that after experiencing the carnage the last time. Even a three-year-old would avoid repeating the same mistake.”
“A three-year-old wouldn’t start a war in the first place, sir.”
“If I'm being honest here, I think you're being too complacent about the Japs not using planes. I mean, it's pretty obvious that those bastards are going all-out this time. And that's how you're supposed to fight a war, isn't it? Do something everyone else thinks you ain't gonna do, and that's the ticket to victory.
“Like that dude, uh... What was his name again? Emperor Alexander crossing the Alps to win the war, something like that.”
Wiggins frowned slightly. “That’s not Alexander but Napoleon.”
“...Same difference, sir. Same difference.”
Wiggins sighed deeply.
‘Well, Mister Bang isn’t exactly wrong here.’
Bang Jin-Hun certainly had a point. Even when both sides had a clear view of what the other was doing like the back of their hand, an unexpected turn of events could easily change the course of a war and lead it down in a strange direction.
Such instances weren’t all that common in history books, sure, but not to the extent where you could say they were as scarce as hen’s teeth, either!
Considering that historical events would disappear from people's memories if they never got recorded for posterity, it was safe to assume that such instances might be more common than Wiggins had bargained for.
Also, both sides didn’t have a lot of information on what the other was up to, like a pair of blind idiots. In such a situation, one unexpected, out-of-the-box maneuver could throw the entire war into disarray.
“You’re right, Mister Bang. I am being complacent about that possibility. But not anymore. I’ll pay more attention. My apologies,” said Wiggins.
“No need to apologize, Mister Wiggins. I just wanted us to be more prudent, that’s all.”
“Indeed, indeed...” Wiggins nodded.
He began thinking about possible ways to enter the country through an airport. Although it sounded realistically unfeasible, what if it was doable somehow?
It'd probably be the best way to invade this country, then. Imagine powerful martial artists in the thousands simultaneously landing in the city of Incheon, which was practically a stone's throw away from the capital!
‘That will be a bloodbath, then.’
A hellish bloodbath, as a matter of fact!
Worse still, Incheon wasn't the only possible destination one could travel to from Japan. An airport with a much smaller scale of operation would also suffer from weaker security, which meant...
Just as Wiggins' thoughts reached that far, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly asked him a question. “What are the odds of the Japanese using the same method as we did to enter Britain?”
“Mm... There are too many of them to make that plan work, sir.”
“However, the distance they must travel is much shorter this time, isn’t it? And there are more flights between the two countries, too.”
“The distance between Japan and Korea is less than two hours on a plane. Remember that when they used a ship, we only started responding well after the two-hour mark had passed.”
“Will we be able to respond in time if they suddenly make a move?”
Wiggins' expression grew much graver than before. He had not thought about that possibility until now.
Just hiring one plane forced the Assembly to swallow a lot of losses. On the other hand, the Japanese gumis boasted a level of wealth incomparably higher than that of the Assembly.
One other thing to remember was that the benefits to be had after conquering South Korea should be incomparably richer than what the Assembly stood to gain by conquering the Round Table. Since that was the case, it made sense for the Japanese to go all-out and risk everything.
“My lord. We’ll confirm as quickly as possible and respond accordingly.”
“Mm...!” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, then scanned the rest of the executives. “Until now, we...”
“...We have been fighting separately.”
“However, not this time. You must fight while leading the disciples you have been mentoring until now.”
The expressions of the directors grew somber as they listened.
The cost of making a mistake while fighting alone was their lives and nothing more. However, that was no longer the case. One slip-up, and it'd be their disciples paying the price, instead!
It felt like a weighty burden was saddled on their backs just then.
Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the biggest person in the room. “Vator.”
“Yes, master!” Vator replied, his attitude having changed already.
“How far along is your side with the preparations?”
“Enemies won't even have intact bodies left to bury when they run into us!”
Chang Min shot up to his feet before prostrating on the floor. “I await your command, my liege!”
“Do not drive the cult believers to their deaths. Got that?”
“Even if the believers desire to fight, pushing them into a warzone unnecessarily is not what the elder overseeing the cult should do. Only let those strong enough to fight participate.”
Chang Min pressed his forehead even deeper into the floor. “My liege, please forgive this servant for daring to speak freely. Even if they are weaklings, they are still proud believers in the cult and your faithful servants. Not being able to participate in this war will be the greatest humiliation in life for them.”
“Humiliation?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly. “Shouldn’t the real humiliation be you being too weak to participate, instead?”
“That is... indeed correct, my liege.”
“Your job is to clearly convey my message to the believers. The demon cult has never been lenient toward weaklings. If you wish to argue about humiliations and unfairness... Get stronger. Strong enough to receive preferential treatment!”
“I obey the demon emperor’s command!”
Chang Min roared while digging his head even deeper into the floor.
Considering his personality, he probably would've tried to bring every able-bodied combatant to use as a meat shield. Kang Jin-Ho wasn't trying to say he disapproved of such a tactic, but in this particular war against enemy elites, people who couldn't help in a battle would only become hindrances.
Such a situation should be avoided as much as possible.
“You’ve already told me that the mage units are ready to be deployed. So, what about the Chevaliers, then?”
“They will also participate in the war, my lord. They are also the Assembly’s martial artists, after all. And I’m confident that everyone they have taught will achieve excellent results.”
“I see. I’ll look forward to it, then,” said Kang Jin-Ho before glancing at Bang Jin-Hun. “What about your side?”
Bang Jin-Hun’s expression was a little different from everyone else’s. And the intent behind Kang Jin-Ho’s question this time was also different from the previous ones. The reason for that was simple enough.
The directors were mentoring many martial artists, but the majority of the Assembly's combat force was still Bang Jin-Hun's responsibility. They were learning from his teachings.
The course of this war could swing wildly from one end to the other depending on whether those people were good enough to be deployed or not.
Bang Jin-Hun silently pondered before raising his head and staring directly into Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes.
“In terms of combat potential...” Bang Jin-Hun muttered before biting his lower lip. “Objectively speaking, sir, people learning from me can't be counted as a combat force.”
“However!” Bang Jin-Hun raised his voice, his expression stiff. “That does not mean they must be held back, sir! After all, this is the Assembly's war. Since that's the case we must mobilize everyone!”
As Bang Jin-Hun said that, unwavering determination burned fiercely in his eyes.