novelLee Jiwon Part II
| ← Ch.296 | Ch.298 → |
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
The mall located at the very hub of Gangnam was the same mall I had bought the really nice suit from. It cost me a blistering fourteen million Won, the most I had ever spent on any one thing. Thankfully, the luxury clothes store still had the same suit. Manager Park Soohui, the same woman who looked down on me, was working there as well.
I walked right up to her."Have you ever had that happen to you?"
"Excuse me?" Park Soohui was surprised that I, of all people, came up to talk to her.
"You know, those crazy situations where your customers who were dressed in shabby clothes turned out to be either rich or heirs to conglomerates."
"..."
"Well, it's not easy to have that happen to anyone. But that's why I'm giving you, Manager Park, a chance to experience it."
Park Soohui didn't say anything for a moment, before putting on a warm smile."What do you think about this suit? I think it would fit perfectly on you." She pointed to the suit I wanted.
"Hmm... I like it, " I replied with a smile of my own. So this time around, I bought the suit through Park Soohui instead of the employee who was cleaning at the back of the store. Again, I bought a shirt, a pair of shoes, and a belt to go with the suit.
"Thank you."
"Please, come again soon!" Park Soohui and the middle-aged regional manager bid me farewell as I left the store. Sharply dressed, I exited the mall.
——
I headed straight back to my rooftop room from the mall. It was a piece of cake for me to cross several kilometers in a matter of minutes.
'Hey, you shitty master! When are you going to get rid of all this radiation? You took my precious gold, so do something already!'
"Will you wait? I need to get hired first." I had a week left until the Sunbin Group's special recruiting workshop ended. I didn't know exactly how I was going to meet Haein and my mother, but I wanted to meet them as a real member of society.
I did check on them already and had watched over them for a few days. The twenty-seven year old Song Haein was doing her best at her grandfather's company, while my mother was still doing kitchen work to punish herself. I really wanted to meet them, but I held in the urge. It wasn't the time yet.
"Should I go to Mexico first?" I had spent a total of twenty years on Earth during the Otadolon stage, thanks to Regression. But thanks to that time, I now knew that the world's strongest guilds and organizations had all stemmed from powerful and rich businesses and organizations, like how the Sunbin Group became the Sunbin Guild. The Shire and Abu Dhabi Guilds and the Werewolf Clan all had similar pasts.
"Hey, Earth. You like it if there are fewer people doing drugs and killing each other, right? I felt the same before I became your owner."
'Hmph. Get rid of all the radiation first. '
"It's easier said than done. Do you want me to sink the Japanese Isles or something?"
'You can just go educate them properly!'
"Ugh, okay, okay. I'll do it after I get hired, start dating, and meet my mom. I promise."
'Tsk! Screw you!'
"Hey!"
'...'
——
Mexico City, Mexico...
It was easy to find the NCR cartel since it controlled 55% of the drug trade in this country. There were drug dealers everywhere in the slums of Mexico City.
"Buenos días, amigos. Quiero drogas." (Good morning, friends. I want to get drugs. ) These guys obviously spoke Spanish, but so did I. I didn't know if it was an aftereffect from knowing Genenian, but I was now able to speak any and all languages. But, to be honest, I didn't know why I didn't lose this ability. Hell, I still had every single ability and Skill. I was pretty shocked about it, but elated at the same time. I had more to show off to Haein and my mother.
"Get the fuck out of here, crazy bastard." {TN: They're still speaking Spanish, just so ya know. }
"Just tell me where to go. I'm looking to buy a lot."
"Hah! Fine, follow me. You got balls for an Asian, " another shabbily dressed Mexican said.
I knew very well that they were going to do something bad to me if I followed them, especially since I was an Asian. But that was a danger only for normal people. I followed them without a care in the world. The Mexican led me to a small cave.
"What do you want?"
"Kekeke. This crazy bastard wants to buy some drugs."
"The Asian?"
"Yeah."
The people inside the cave looked me up and down."Just take his money and chase him away."
I expected as much so I addressed the people inside."You guys are from the NCR Cartel, right? Or are you guys just their pack mules?"
"What did he just say?"
"Kill him!"
"Don't shoot him. It's a waste of a bullet."
"Fine." One man pulled out a machete and came towards me.
"Hmm... if you really want to live the rest of your life as a cripple, which one do you want to lose first? Your arm or your leg?"
"What the hell is this guy saying?"
"Just kill him already."
"If you're not going to answer, I'll be taking your left knee then." It took me less than a minute to smash all seven guys' left knees.
"Gah!"
"Ahh!"
"Fucking...!"
"Shh. If you keep jabbering on, I'm going to take your other knee."
"Son of a bitch!"
"What did he just do!?"
"Shoot! Shoot him!"
Even though they had all lost a knee each, they were able to react. It must have been because of their hard lives down here in the slumps. The nasty crack of gunfire echoed through the cave.
"What the hell... is this bastard?"
"What the fuck...?"
I had caught all of the bullets that were fired at my chest and head with my left hand. I let the ten bullets drop to the ground."I thought you said it was a waste of bullets."
"..." Finally, they decided to shut up.
"Good. Now we can talk. Are you or are you not from the NCR cartel?"
"No...no, we're not. We're just mules and street dealers."
"Then where do I need to go?"
"The Marka Hotel in the city belongs to the cartel. Big buys always take place there. The police and prosecutors can't touch it."
"Really? Thanks."
I quickly left the slums, since I no longer had a reason to deal with these guys anymore. I knew that they were going to contact the cartel, but that was what I wanted them to do. That way, I could meet with them faster.
I quickly found the hotel and entered the lobby. The moment I walked through the door, I was approached by glaring men dressed in black.
"Is it you?"
"Yup, it's me." It was just as I had expected. He was waiting for me.
"Follow me."
"Right behind you." I followed the man closely."I shouldn't expect to see José Alejandro where we're going, right?"
"Hah. You're funny and got a lot of balls to ask for José Alejandro like that."
"Yeah, I'm hearing that a lot these days."
The man led me through the hotel's back door. José Alejandro was definitely not there. Instead, thirty guys were waiting for me, equipped with rifles and machine guns. One guy was even holding an RPG-7. It was tough to see all that firepower outside of a military force. It seemed the mules had made enough of a fuss, or maybe they were just that careful in the first place.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who would like to meet with José Alejandro."
"Se?or Alejandro has told us he has never seen you before." They must have gotten the report the moment I had stepped inside the lobby, thanks to all the security cameras everywhere."
"Did he forget about me already? José doesn't have hair growing on his right armpit. He also a skull and bones tattoo on his back that he says is to cover up a bullet wound when he actually didn't get shot there."
"What the hell are you saying?"
"Oh, did you not know? My bad. I guess you aren't that close to José." I knew every inch of José Alejandro from when I had him imprisoned for a whole month. Well, almost every inch. I also knew all of his secrets. The Abu Dhabi guys were really good at their job.
"Well, let's get this over with. I've got places to be, people to meet."
"Fire!"
The guys fired their rifles, machine guns and the RPG as well. The rapid pops and cracks echoed in the alleyway and when their weapons clicked empty, the only sound that could be heard were the clinks of the final shells falling to the floor. The sheer amount of high-caliber bullets would have shredded a normal person to pieces. But they may as well have been BB pellets to me.
"I know we're behind the hotel, but to fire those guns in the middle of a city... you guys really are something."
"..."
"..."
I had caught the grenade with my right hand, and had caught a good chunk of the bullets with my left. I let them all fall to the ground in a pile at my feet."Ugh. That smell of gunpowder. I hated it when I was in the army, and I hate it now. By the way, did the mules tell you how I broke their knees, too?"
It took me three seconds.
"Gah!"
"Fuuuck!"
After breaking their left knees, I returned to my original position before turning to the guy who brought me here in the first place."It was Guadaloupe, right? The one closer to Guatemala?" That was where the NCR cartel produced and stored most of their drugs. It was also where Pedro the Avenger lived, and had his family taken away from him.
"I'm going to go there and raze the place to the ground. It will also be my first and only warning. If José Alejandro still doesn't show himself, I will go all around Mexico and destroy his precious cartel. That will also be the day José Alejandro dies. I won't just stop by just breaking his knee. So you make sure he understands. And show him the security footage." I raised my foot and smashed his other knee. I stomped so hard that I could feel the eight-story tall hotel shake.
"I'll be seeing you." I jumped high into the air and landed on the hotel's roof."Is it that way?"
——
Guadaloupe, Mexico, the southernmost Mexican state, bordering Guatemala...
This certain Mexican state was the most heavily guarded province in the entire country, as the NCR cartel had also bought the Mexican military. But the normally quiet state was now abuzz with activity, ever since the call that came through the hotline from the capital city. At first, the military thought that it was an attack from the US, but the call from the hotline was even more shocking.
"Some sort of superhuman is heading your way!"
"Use all the tanks and short range missiles you have!"
"Sortie the helos and whatever large armaments you have!"
—
The orders didn't make any sense at all to Hugo, but he followed them to the letter, because the call was made by José Alejandro himself. And just as the boss said, a lone Asian man soon revealed himself.
"Attack!"
"The tanks and helos too?"
"No shit! Why else would I have ordered them to dust off? Attack him now!" Hugo wasn't sure about the orders he received, but he would ask questions later.
"Yes sir!"
All tanks, short range missiles, rifles, and gun turrets were fired on one person. It was like a full-scale war had just broken out in the small province. But it didn't matter; this wouldn't even show up in the papers around the country. The soldiers soon realized that they shouldn't be worrying about news articles, and instead about the actual superhuman that stood in front of them.
"What... the fuck?"
"Is he... real?" The soldiers were shocked to see their target walk out of the fire and black smoke alive, with not a single scratch on him. That was only a thing of movies, not real life!
"Don't...don't let up! Fire all weapons again!"
Again, the soldiers fired their powerful weapons at the lone man, but the second volley didn't last very long, as they all knew by now that they couldn't hurt him.
—
"It's a good thing I wore cheap clothes today." I think I knew now why all the heroes in movies all had closets full of the same outfits. They needed the extras because of all those explosions they had to deal with.
The high-caliber bullets and missiles and tank shells didn't hurt me, but my clothes weren't safe from harm. I had to turn my body to try to at least save my pants. I could have just avoided those slow projectiles of doom in the first place, but there was someone filming this whole thing. That video was definitely going to be taken to José. I could have also just destroyed the Marka Hotel to force him to meet me faster, but I didn't want to become a mass murderer. This was the only choice I had.
Now these soldiers pretty much knew that they couldn't kill me, I jumped on top of a tank in one leap. I bent the main gun of the tank with one hand and tied it like a butterfly knot. I did the same to the other ten tanks in less than a minute.
There were still thousands of soldiers all equipped with enough firepower to invade a small country, but I ignored all of them and calmly walked over to one person."Your name was Hugo, right?" He was the guy who had managed to hide himself as the NCR Guild imploded on itself. I also knew him as the right hand man of José Alejandro.
Hugo abruptly fell to his knees and prostrated himself before me. When he spoke, I didn't hear single trace of fear in his voice."Yes. My name is Hugo."
"I don't like this place. I want to get rid of it. I want to uproot every single poppy plant."
"Whatever you want, we can make it happen."
"I also want to free everyone you have enslaved and forced to work for you."
"I can make that happen, as well."
"I'm glad you're easy to talk to. Oh, and make sure to provide the proper reparations to them. You guys made a lot off of them, right?"
"I will personally make sure none of them ever know hunger and hardship for the rest of their lives."
"Good. Finally, tell José to come here. If he doesn't, I can go find him. If he makes me do that, then that's the day he dies."
"Understood. I'll make it happen."
"Good. Well, go on already. I'm a busy man."
"Yes, sir."
Hugo was a lot more diligent than I expected. It didn't take long for him to have the cartel members cease all production and distribution of drugs, and to free all of their enslaved workers. True to his word, he made sure they were all paid handsomely. I also got to see Pedro among the workers, huddled together with his family, crying.
"Your reward and Ripped Advance helped me out a lot. So now, we're even. Have a good life, kid." I had ordered Hugo to help Pedro and his family get settled comfortably, telling him that their hardship and struggle was their greatest weapon. {TN: The "proverb" the author uses here only comes up in another Korean novel called Dream Rider, so I'm not sure if I conveyed the right message, but that was the best I could come up with. }
Finally, I met José Alejandro, who trembled in fear as I drew closer."Hey! It's been a while."
| ← Ch. 296 | Ch. 298 → |