Chapter 1170: Chapter 1170

Wiggins narrowed his eyes while scanning the map.

‘Our encirclement is too wide.’

They had to cover the area from Gunsan to Taean. Which was easier said than done when the coastline alone was a hundred kilometers long.

Surrounding such an area with less than ten thousand people was next to impossible.

‘Pragmatically speaking, that is.’

‘Next to impossible’ didn’t mean it was completely impossible, though.

From the get-go, the Japanese invaders could not go through residential areas or use public roads. Residential areas had too many potential eyewitnesses. Meanwhile, most public roads had CCTV cameras to worry about.

That meant they had no choice but to stay away from those areas.

Eliminating such pockets of publicly accessible areas from the search greatly narrowed down the overall area the Martial Assembly had to monitor.

This was the benefit of being a defender in a familiar place.

As a general rule, the surface world butting in to the martial world’s affairs was strictly forbidden. However, as it was with all things in life, people had this habit of breaking rules.

Governments around the world tacitly supported martial societies in their countries and pocketed all the nice benefits in the process.

This war presented a national-level threat to South Korea, perhaps an existential crisis for the country. Although getting the military involved was still out of the question, the government wouldn’t have any problem with utilizing its infrastructure to assist the Martial Assembly.

Wiggins was certain that the Ministry of Transport must be in a state of emergency, its agents keeping their eyes peeled at the CCTV monitors. The police should have increased the number of patrols, too.

If they detected a group of suspicious people, the Martial Assembly would be notified immediately.

No calls had come in yet, which indicated that either the invaders were moving in uninhabited areas to avoid detection, or...

‘Or, they are hiding somewhere and waiting for something...’

Whatever it was, it shouldn’t matter in the end.

Wiggins’ job wasn’t merely monitoring the area. No one at the Assembly wanted to drag things out into a war of attrition. The encirclement should start tightening around a single point soon.

Had the enemy’s number been only around a dozen or so, they could have easily slipped through the encirclement. However, a thousand people doing the same would be impossible.

The unexpected blow had left the Assembly panicking for a little while. However, when objectively viewed, all the Japanese had managed to achieve was enter the country and not much else. In fact, one could say the Assembly still held the upper hand here.

As long as they could discover the Japanese’s advance party, the enemy could be eliminated without incurring too many losses on the allies’ side.

Obviously, fighting one thousand enemies five times was less taxing than fighting five thousand enemies once. That was because having the numerical advantage allowed you to attack the enemy in a variety of pincer-like combined attacks.

It was unknown just how good those one thousand enemy invaders were. Even so, Wiggins was still confident of annihilating them while suffering only negligible losses on his side.

Of course, this was all dependent on discovering the enemy first.

Wiggins glanced at his assistant.

“No, sir. No communication so far.”

Wiggins grimaced while glancing at his watch.

Ten minutes from now, Wiggins and his men would start tightening the encirclement toward a predetermined location. That was about fifty kilometers away.

Ordinary people would need at least ten hours to cover that distance, but martial artists could do the same in two.

And those two hours included time spent inspecting the area for the enemy’s presence, too!

Bang Jin-Hun’s group would close in from the left. Meanwhile, Vator was leading his disciples and martial artists ‘loaned’ to him by Bang Jin-Hun from the center. As for Wiggins’ group, they would close in from the right.

Wiggins glanced behind him, a hint of anxiety creeping into his expression. The Chevaliers were standing in line, patiently waiting for his orders.

‘This won’t be easy.’

Objectively speaking, the combat force under Wiggins was the weakest among the three.

Individually, his group was superior to the ordinary members of the Martial Assembly led by Bang Jin-Hun. However, the inferiority came from the sheer difference in numbers. Worse still, the Korean martial artists who had received the Chevaliers’ training weren’t proficient in combat just yet.

It was the same story for the mage division under Wiggins’ tutelage.

Even then, they could still act as one cohesive combat force. That was because those mastering the Western martial arts were fundamentally better at defensive battles than those who mastered the Assembly’s martial arts.

These warriors weren’t quite strong enough to defeat their enemies in one strike. However, they could easily stall for time without incurring any major losses. That would give enough time for either Bang Jin-Hun or Vator to show up as reinforcement.

With everyone working together, wiping out the enemy in one go should be a breeze.

Wiggins’ brain continued to spin at a high speed. His processing power was currently devoted to one thing and one thing only: how to reduce the losses on his side.

The enemy’s main forces had not arrived yet. Assuming the total number of the enemy warriors was between four thousand and six thousand, only one-fifth of their true combat potential had slipped into the country.

If the Assembly suffered major losses during the... ‘subjugation’ of the Japanese advance party, the job of defeating the main force would become that much harder.

In that case, the goal of this operation should be to deal with the enemy as cleanly as possible.

‘How long do we have left?’

Wiggins glanced at the watch again. It said five minutes left.

Five minutes before they set off!

“Everyone! Remember what your roles are! Everything will be pointless if you fail to fulfill your roles perfectly.”

Vincent replied while weightily nodding away.

‘At least this has been a positive development.’

Thanks to the Chevaliers joining the Martial Assembly, Wiggins was now blessed with a useful weapon. No matter how acclimatized to the ways of the Assembly he became, Wiggins had spent almost all of his life serving the Round Table.

Only by wielding a familiar weapon called the knight order could he fully demonstrate his capabilities!

Wiggins subtly licked his lips.

That was when his smartphone rang noisily to interrupt his thoughts.

Wiggins furrowed his brow. The call was coming through the ‘work’ phone the Assembly had distributed to its executives.

Using walkie-talkies had been discussed before in a meeting, but they decided not to rely on such inconvenient communication devices since every inch of South Korea already enjoyed robust cellular coverage, anyway.

The issue with this particular phone call was that only the executives knew each other’s numbers since these devices were only meant to be used to discuss strategies.

Wiggins hurriedly looked at the screen.

Why was Lee Hyeon-Su calling now? Did the plan change somehow?

Wiggins answered the call in a hushed voice. “What is it, Mister Lee? Change of plans?”

—Master, we’ve run into a problem of sorts.

“A problem... of sorts?”

—Hold on, I’ll have to call you again in a second. Please answer that.

...And then, the line went dead.

Wiggins could only stare at his phone in confusion. Just what on Earth was going on here...?

That was when the phone began ringing again.

‘It’s a video call this time?’

Wiggins’ expression crumpled a little. This was no time for jokes, so what was the meaning of this voice call? And it wasn’t just one person on the line, either. Wiggins could see several icons denoting people on the screen.

They had enabled the conference call functionality on their phones just in case, but for that function to be used so soon?

Wiggins quickly tapped on the green ‘Answer’ icon.

“What’s going on, Mister Lee?”

—Before we start, please turn off your camera to prevent your locations being exposed.

While feeling a bit peeved off, Wiggins turned the camera off on his end. With that, the other people participating in the call shouldn’t be able to see his face.

“It’s done. Explain yourself immediately, Mister Lee!”

—We received a call from China, sir.

-‘He’ wants to talk to us. I thought that, maybe, we should listen to him just in case, but...

Wiggins’ eyes involuntarily closed as he sucked in a deep breath. It was obvious who from China wanted to talk to them.

‘What an insidious bastard he is!’

Even in this urgent situation, Cai Kechang was trying to sow chaos and confusion in his enemies. Unfortunately, the Assembly’s people did not have a choice but to talk to that bastard.

Despite being an insidious tormentor, Cai Kechang was still a ‘reliable’ source of information, after all!

“Very well. Let’s talk to him, then.”

One more person was added to the split screen. Cai Kechang’s upper torso was now visible on the phone.

Cai Kechang scanned his side of the screen to see who was in this conference call before smirking deeply.

—Isn’t this like you’re all criminals with something to hide? Turning off your cameras and all.

Wiggins tutted loudly. “If you don’t mind, speak English, please.”

—Mm? Why? Are you not good with Chinese?

“It’s not that. Your voice just grates on my nerves.”

—Ah? Hahaha! Fine, I’ll humor you. How about this, then? Are you happy now, Mister Wiggins?

Wiggins furrowed his brow. Cai Kechang’s relaxed attitude genuinely pissed him off.

Lee Hyeon-Su chimed in.

—Let’s not waste time and get to the topic, shall we?

Cai Kechang stopped laughing and nodded cheerily.

—Sure, why not? We aren’t close enough to exchange pleasantries, anyway. So, I hear the Jap bastards used Chinese fishing boats to slip into South Korea. Is that true?

“You’re asking us about something you already know?”

—No, no, no. You shouldn’t be so accusatory like that. I genuinely had no idea, you see? We’re in an alliance, aren’t we? I don’t have a reason to stab you in the back. I might not look it, but I am a gentleman through and through.

Wiggins scoffed derisively.

He had never met someone who made him want to spit on a smiling face as badly as Cai Kechang. No, forget about spit, Wiggins wanted to feed that despicable bastard a tasty knuckle sandwich instead!

—I guess you don’t believe me. Goodness me, to think there’s so little trust between us! Oh, well. I don’t blame you. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t have believed me, either!

“Stop beating around the bush and say what you want to say. We are not as free as you are.”

—Fine, fine. As a token of my apology, and a proof of my innocence, let me give you nice little info.

Cai Kechang inside the screen smirked deeply.

—According to my intel, two fishing fleets left China earlier. I’m sure you already know about the first. But the second one? I hear this one has a lot more people, and it’s approaching your country real fast as we speak. Around two thousand people, apparently.

Wiggins narrowed his eyes.

The Japanese wouldn’t get any mileage out of the advance party by sending the second wave so soon, though?

—And those ships are currently headed to Gunsan.

—Were they headed to the free trade zone? Or was it the Saemangeum Seawall? Hangul can be such a tricky language to remember, you know? Either way, it’s somewhere there.[1]

“And why should we believe this information?”

—Listen here. Don’t underestimate our people. Finding out where our fishing boats are traveling to isn’t that difficult, okay? Besides, it’s not like those Jap bastards bought the boats, anyway. The ones driving the boats are Chinese, too. The info acquired by the Chinese people is our information. Do you honestly think we can’t figure out this much?

“You’re mistaken about something, Cai Kechang. I’m asking why we should trust the information you are providing us.”

Cai Kechang began guffawing.

—Hahahaha! No, no, no. Mister Wiggins! How could you say that when we both know the truth? Whether you believe me or not, that’s up to you, isn’t it? I don’t have a reason to beg you to believe me. Whatever. I did my part now. With this, I’ve apologized for letting the Japs go through China to reach your country.

Cai Kechang beckoned with his fingers.

—Well, I guess I’ll pray for your success now. Although I don’t mind lending a helping hand, we’re also tied up on this side, you see? I hope no one’s dead the next time we chat . Oh, and say hello to Kang Jin-Ho for me.

...With that, Cai Kechang’s face disappeared from the phone’s screen.

Wiggins remained stone-faced. However, he was undoubtedly furious. It was just that he chose not to grit his teeth or roar like an angry beast.

—Master, what should we do about this?

When Lee Hyeon-Su asked, Wiggins could only groan softly. Rage and agitation did not help anyone. Didn’t they already get a lecture from Kang Jin-Ho about that?

—Master, this information is probably...

“Yes, it’s more than likely genuine.”

Unlike other less capable strategists, Cai Kechang wouldn’t try to dangle a piece of false information that could be verified quickly as a lure. Indeed, he was the type to use a genuine piece of info to target something even bigger.

The problem this time was that Wiggins and others had no idea what that ‘something bigger’ might be.

“What do you think, Mister Lee?”

-We must head to Gunsan, sir.

Tightening the encirclement as planned meant they would inevitably miss the second wave of the enemies. However, it was too late to change the focal point of the dragnet to Gunsan now.

That meant the Assembly had two options: either they intercept the soon-to-land two thousand enemies or chase after one thousand enemies already in the country.

Wiggins grimaced while staring at the phone’s screen.

Vator finally broke his silence.

—Contact the Coast Guard and confirm if any unidentified ships are approaching Gunsan. Before we receive the confirmation, we’ll tighten the encirclement as quickly as possible. However, once we receive a positive confirmation, we abandon our plan and assemble at Gunsan.

“Will that be fine, though?”

—This country won’t fall to ruin because of one thousand rats running free. We’ll chase after every single one and kill them later. However, for now... We must get ready to fight off an even larger plague of rats.

“Understood. We’re on our way.”

Wiggins ended the call, but continued to stare at the phone.

He couldn’t figure out what that despicable man had schemed this time. However! Wiggins would ensure that things did not go according to Cai Kechang’s plan.

He roughly shoved the phone into his pocket.

1. Saemangeum Seawall, located on the southwest coast of the Korean peninsula, is the world’s longest man-made dyke. ☜