The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 239

Chapter 239
Seoul’s central business district.
“What a joke.” Jiang Lei frowned and withdrew his gaze from the car window.
High-rises lined both sides of the boulevard, some of which glinted strangely—the walls and windows were clearly the product of arcane technology; compared to China’s large cities, however, the level of technology and infrastructure was laughable.
Anyone halfway cultured could see the truth: Seoul was Korea’s poor imitation of China’s splendor.
“What is it?”
“Look for yourself.” Jiang Lei curled his lip and inclined his chin toward the window. “Is this all there is to Korea? If that’s so, then it remains but a shallow imitation of our great nation...
Tsk.
The harder Korea tries, the more it highlights its own incompetence and vain nature. When will its people learn?”
“What’s there to be surprised about? Koreans have never known their place.”
“Indeed. Remember five years ago? They even refused to unlatch their grubby hands from Lion’s Castle, even though it was China that kept it from the United States.”
“That’s right. If our seniors hadn’t kept the US players in check, Lion’s Castle would’ve swiftly fallen into their hands.”
“
Hmph.
They shamelessly benefited off the backs of our players.”
Jiang Lei’s frown deepened. He turned his eyes back to the window before sighing and shaking his head. “It’s my fault for having expectations. As for the past, there’s no use dwelling on it now. The world is filled with the ungrateful sort. All we can do is hold our heads high, knowing our Nation acted in the best interest of Asia.”
“
Sigh
. Well said. If not for us, the United States’ player base would’ve gained a foothold in Asia and slowly intervened in all our sovereignties, Korea’s not the least of which.”
China was a superpower considered fourth in the world in terms of military and economic power. Still, it differed from the United States, Russia, and Australia—the top three superpowers—in that it lacked a stranglehold over its land’s Continental-grade gates, and thus fell short in terms of resources.
The reason for this was self-explanatory; as the name suggested, to clear a Continental-grade gate, the best players across the continent were usually required to rally together. But Asia was a continent divided among multiple countries, one of which being Japan—another superpower among the world’s top five. As things were, it was impossible for China to smoothly steal food from Japan’s mouth, and vice versa.
Thus, it was inevitable that China would suffer losses.
In fact, the European countries faced a similar issue. The United Kingdom, Austria, and France were all great powers trapped in constant conflict with no clear victor.
In both cases, no one benefited from being forced to share a bed; whenever a Continental-grade gate appeared, neighboring countries were forced to tolerate each other, making concessions to clear it, which included sharing the resources therein or—at the very least—providing an equal opportunity to fight for benefits.
China was one such victim of this forced generosity.
As a result, China’s rate of development remained perpetually slower compared to the top three superpowers ranked above it, which were capable of monopolizing everything within their lands.
Year by year, the disparity that stemmed from this grew, and the Communist Party’s urgency had grown in proportion. They feared the day would come when their sovereignty slipped, and Japan and foreign countries alike would smell blood in the water.
Thus, the Communist Party had seen it as a huge opportunity when Lion’s Castle had appeared in Korea.
In claiming Lion’s Castle, the Communist Party would’ve established a strong foothold in Korea, allowing China to grow its leverage against Japan while simultaneously securing more benefits for itself.
Of course, China was far from the only country to recognize Lion’s Castle’s strategic value.
Originally, as Lion’s Castle had appeared within Korean borders, its ownership should’ve fallen into Korean hands. However, the gate was simply too valuable for the world’s top powers to let it pass; they swarmed toward Korea in force, proclaiming that Lion’s Castle, with its unique ecosystem, was a gate unlike any other and thus the scientific discoveries therein were not for Korea to selfishly hoard.
When the dust settled, the Communist Party had insisted that without China’s help, Korea would’ve lost Lion’s Castle to the United States, and with it, much of Korea’s sovereignty.
In the end, China had dubbed this war for Lion’s Castle the Asian Peace War—and China’s fending off the United States for the good of all was one of the most important lessons taught to the Chinese people when studying world history.
“Look there—” One of Jiang Lei’s teammates stuck his face against one of the car windows. “Shameless Koreans. Not only do they not know the words ‘thank you,’ they even resort to stealing our culture.”
The others looked over, and the rest of the Chinese players joined their compatriot in his righteous anger. They scoffed and snorted as they watched the old palaces intermingled with Seoul's modern architecture scroll by.
To them, any resemblance to Chinese cityscapes was evidence of culture theft. After all, they had grown up learning that China was the center of the world and the origin of Asia; they neither knew nor cared to know about the cultures of other countries.
It sounded preposterous, but had anyone overheard the Chinese players, their words wouldn’t have come as any surprise.
Among the player Community, Chinese players were widely known for their pride and hair-trigger sensitivity when it came to perceived slights against their homeland. Naturally, that did not mean others were tolerant of their antics; the friction between Chinese players and players from other countries was not small. The belligerence of Chinese players had led to them being unwelcome in many places.
“Welcome.”
Several of the Death God guild’s higher-ups came out and greeted Jiang Lei’s group politely.
After Jae-Hyeok had killed Death God’s guildmaster, the guild had fallen into steep decline. Despite this, Death God’s higher-ups hadn’t lost all hope; they believed in the relationship their late master had nurtured with China. If things went well, they may yet hold onto their status as one of Korea’s five major guilds.
“Is Kim Byeok-Jae really dead?”Jiang Lei asked, despite having guessed the answer.
The fact that Death God’s guildmaster was nowhere to be seen was telling enough; were Kim Byeok-Jae alive, he would’ve rushed out to greet them even if he were barefoot.
“Yes... to the Yaksha’s son...”
“Yaksha, Yaksha, Yaksha! This is truly a sick country. It’s been eight. That man is nothing but a breathing corpse, and you Koreans still can’t keep his name from your mouths.”
“......”
The moment Jiang Lei’s displeasure became apparent, the members of Death God flinched and bowed their heads.
Jiang Lei had asked them to provide his group with conveniences during his visit to Korea.
In fact, the Death God guild had been tempted to refuse.
They knew the personalities of Chinese players well; speaking with them was like playing with matches around gas.
It was impossible to know when they might be set off.
However, turning them away was not an option. Their late master owed China far too much, or more precisely, he owed China’s Black Dragon Guild far too much—of which Jiang Lei was a member.
Had they turned down Black Dragon’s request to support Jian Lei and his group, Black Dragon would have most certainly accused them of stealing favors.
Of course, the primary reason they had decided to host Jian Lei and his group wasn’t simply to uphold old debts...
In any case, this is our lifeline.
According to the Player Development Policy, Korea’s top five guilds received all types of benefits from the government. Following the death of Kim Byeok-Jae, Death God’s position among the top five had been growing more precarious by the day. Thus, to maintain their guild’s status, the higher-ups in Death God knew they could only cling to China for assistance.
Given Yeon Ho-Ryeong’s recent announcement, they knew Black Dragon had likely sent Jiang Lei and his group at the behest of the Communist Party to pressure Korea.
Thus, as long as Death God maintained close ties with Jiang Lei, the Korean government would later find itself relying on Death God as a key mediator.
Reminded of their purpose, the Death God higher-up apologized again. This time with a bow.
“Please understand. None of us holds any esteem for the Yaksha. I spoke his name because it’s easier for me to address that brat Kang Jae-Hyeok as the son of another rather than address him as if he were some mature player.”
“Hmph. Why am I not surprised by your petty mentality? Did that ‘brat’ not slay your guildmaster? What matters is level and Skills when evaluating a player, not their age. Fully acknowledge Kang Jae-Hyeok’s abilities.”
Jiang Lei hadn’t seen the National Treasure candidate exam, but through multiple sources, he had a precise understanding of what had happened during the event. He knew Jae-Hyeok had received considerable help from the Thunder Emperor, but some of the feats Jae-Hyeok had accomplished made it clear that Jae-Hyeok was not weak by any means.
In particular, Kim Byeok-Jae was a master of killing techniques and had at one point been recruited as a teacher for Black Dragon. The fact that he was defeated one-on-one betrayed the depths of Jae-Hyeok’s abilities.
He is at the beginning of S-class.
In addition, he has fully mastered the Kang family’s sword-drawing technique. The lethality of his surprise attacks can’t be ignored.
Jiang Lei assessed Jae-Hyeok’s skills fairly highly, not that it really mattered.
He wasn’t here to assess a kid but to exploit Yeon Ho-Ryeong’s open alliance with the Kang family.
For years, Yeon Ho-Ryeong had been plundering Chinese ships without consequence. The Korean government refused to extradite him on the pretext that he wasn’t actually in Korea and that his actions were unrelated to the Korean government. And while that excuse had worked so far, now that Yeon Ho-Ryeong had announced ties to one of Korea’s ducal families, the Korean government could no longer affect uninvolvement.
What type of guts does someone hiding at sea have to start official activities like this?
Jiang Lei couldn’t begin to guess why Yeon Ho-Ryeong had done something so foolish, but in any case, it worked out well for China.
This time, Korea wouldn’t be able to shirk responsibility—if they still refused to hand over Yeon Ho-Ryeong, then China would be in a strong position to pursue heavy recompense from Korea.
Recompense like a share in Lion’s Castle, for example.
A gate that no one has ever cleared...
The reward for clearing an S-grade gate for the first time was beyond an ordinary person’s imagination.
Jiang Lei had become a National Treasure with the full support of the Black Dragon guild, but even he had never claimed a first clearance reward.
He was among the newer generation of China’s National Treasures; by the time he’d transcended, the older veterans had already cleared every gate there was.
Thankfully, Korea was different from China. This minor nation still held onto a gate that had gone uncleared for the last half a century.
And it wasn’t just any gate, either.
While the rural Koreans may not comprehend it, the Chinese Communist Party knew better. Their top experts had analyzed the data and determined Lion’s Castle to be at least an SS-grade gate.
If only I could get my hands on it...
Jiang Lei was clear on his mission: he was here to worsen the pressure on the Korean government prior to negotiations. And to that end, the Communist Party had granted him permission to devastate the Kang family and use fear tactics if necessary.
The Communist Party clearly had a lot riding on this mission, and in truth, Jiang Lei wasn’t surprised that they had entrusted him with it over his seniors. His talent, strength, and mission success rate were all excellent.
There was only one problem...
Jiang Lei had taken on many tasks on behalf of the Communist Party, sacrificing his blood, sweat, and time or the sake of his homeland. And every time, the result was the same. As the newest among China’s National Treasures, he was sent to do the work and yet would see none of the benefits.
And this time, Jiang Lei knew it would be no different. If, through his preliminary efforts, China won the right to challenge Lion’s Castle, the Communist Party would send over the senior National Treasures for the opportunity, whereas he would be called back.
I’ve slaved away for the Communist Party and my seniors for far too long without a single benefit in return. I refuse to let my talent go to waste. I’ll seize Lion’s Castle for myself. Once all the power is mine, my seniors and the Communist Party will have no choice but to welcome me back with stiff smiles...
“What?”
“Is this what I really think it is?”
His team’s exclamations brought Jiang Lei back from his thoughts, following which Jian Lei also showed a look of surprise.
“This is the energy wave of an S-grade gate.”
The mana within a twenty-kilometer radius was resonating around a single point.
The fluctuations were so faint that players below A-class couldn’t sense them, as seen by the Death God players’ clueless expressions. But Jiang Lei’s group was all S-class, and so were instantly aware of the omen in the ambient mana.
“Let’s go.”
Just when I was thinking of Lion’s Castle, Heaven decides to bless me with a double boon.
Jiang Lei’s eyes burned with expectation.
***
“Step back! Didn’t you hear the evacuation alert?”
“Don’t be like that. Players are already here waiting to clear it. What’s the worry?”
“Yeah. I’m just going to take a look. What’s the problem?”
Judging from the density of mana leaking from its fluctuating mouth, the gate was S-grade.
Once fully stabilized, whatever mana hadn’t assimilated into the portal would be released in a shockwave.
Nevertheless, the citizens showed no fear and instead flocked to the gate. Some people even jumped over barricades to shoot videos from close up. This was Seoul, an area where the Association’s headquarters and the Capital Defense Forces were stationed. As far as the citizens were concerned, the gate was as good as contained already. They saw nothing to fear, and many people were even cheering, overjoyed with Korea’s fortune in acquiring a new asset.
“Get back! It’s dangerous!”
An Association staff member stared in shock at the rapidly rising mana gauge and cried out in alarm.
Kuweeeeeoh!
Suddenly, a monster escaped from the gate. This was another common risk with fresh gates. Monsters that happened to be near the portal were drawn into crossing by the smell of humans.
“An ogre!”
“Wow! It’s scary!”
Cast in the shadow of the green giant, the crowd exclaimed in admiration, seemingly expecting the players to handle it.
But strangely...
“D-dodge!”
Rather than rush in, the surrounding players were instead shouting from behind the barricades with pale faces. None of them were aces from the Association or the military. With their low levels, if they rushed in, they would only join the citizens in an untimely death.
“Uh? Uhh?”
The citizens who’d hopped the barricades seemed to finally realize the situation. They watched with dawning horror as the ogre raised its foot over their heads.
A single thought flashed in everyone’s minds:
Death.
Suddenly, three flashes of sword light swept past the ogre’s legs and neck, accompanied by the smooth sound of blades being sheathed.
Jae-Hyeok, Jiang Lei, and a Japanese player exchanged looks as they stood atop the ogre’s corpse.