novelDeclaration of War (3)
| ← Ch.058 | Ch.060 → |
Translator: miraclerifle
The CIA agents and Yoo Jaeha's faces looked astonished for different reasons as Ju-Heon smiled. However, Ju-Heon wasn't fazed at all by their reactions and asked once more to confirm.
"Please let me use your map-type artifact."
"You!"
Thomas tried to say something but the Monarch of War was laughing on the other side of the call. Her laughter sounded as if she didn't know whether to call Ju-Heon shameless or ridiculous.
[You want me to let you use my map-type artifact? Then you'll be able to find the PM?]
"Yes ma'am."
The Monarch of War played along as if she found his confident attitude to be cute.
[Fine, let's say I let you do that. But you see... ]
"?"
[How do you know that I have a map-type artifact?]
She sounded as if she was laughing but anger was clearly present underneath the laughter.
However, Ju-Heon just chuckled at her question. It was something the entire world would know in the future, but it was not that time yet.
That was why he calmly sold someone out.
"How else would I know? Edward blabbed all about it."
'Hey!'
Yoo Jaeha looked toward his boss in shock.
'Can you really tell her that so easily?'
Edward probably told Ju-Heon this secret information because he trusted Ju-Heon. In addition, the one that told him that Keira had a map-type artifact was not Edward but Vivian.
'Wouldn't it be better to sell out that little girl?'
Yoo Jaeha thought that it should be that little Medusa punk Ju-Heon sold out instead of Edward because he was close to Edward.
But Ju-Heon had a different thought.
Why?
'That old bastard. He ran away after arrogantly saying that he could schedule a meeting with Keira. '
His sin was being too arrogant.
The old man who did not even show his face here deserved to eat shit.
That wasn't the only thing.
He was also trying to make Edward's relationship with the US bad so that he would have no choice but to take Ju-Heon as his only business partner.
Things seemed to go according to plan as the CIA agents became angry after hearing Ju-Heon's response.
"That old bastard with such loose lips, why I'm going to-"
Edward seemed to have instantly become a victim, but Ju-Heon did not care. The important thing was whether Keira accepted his offer or not.
Keira laughed out loud at Ju-Heon's statement.
[Fine, I'll trust you. But you are being ridiculous. Save the PM with my artifact? Why don't you be honest? Aren't you just trying to take my artifact?]
Ju-Heon chuckled.
'I guess it really won't be that easy. '
The Monarch of War was one of the future Four Emperors.
She would not have been able to rise to that position if she would be tricked by his words and the US would not have given full command over any artifact-related issues to Keira.
She definitely was not someone to take lightly.
And lo and behold, Keira sounded almost as if she was threatening him as she continued to speak.
[I will also consider you as an enemy of the US and put you on the national wanted list if you say anymore nonsense. ]
She sounded overbearing and threatening.
However, Ju-Heon was not the type to lower his tail at such threats.
"It's fine if you don't want to do so. It has nothing to do with me wherever the English PM ends up dying."
[Hoh. It has nothing to do with you?]
"Does it?"
[The press won't leave you alone if we announce that you put some weird device on the artifact before you sold it. ]
"What total bullshit."
[?!]
"Feel free to do so if you have any proof."
Ju-Heon scoffed before continuing to speak.
"I'll be blunt. I have no issues going back like this. I'm not the one who sold the item to you. Edward was the one who sold it and I have no involvement with it whatsoever. Furthermore, I would not have come here if I really sold you a fake."
That was true.
Edward was the one to make the deal with the US and there was no proof that he sold a fake.
"You're just trying to make us the scapegoat when you made a mistake while using the artifact."
Ju-Heon said that before he chuckled.
"No. I guess you want to push the blame for doing that to the English PM to someone you despise."
[Can I take that as you trying to provoke me?]
"It doesn't matter. You should know who is the one in a more urgent situation right now. I told you I'll rescue the PM if you do as I say."
He really was good with his words.
Ju-Heon's attitude made even Yoo Jaeha who was a professional scammer gasp in shock.
It was at that moment.
An unexpected message appeared as if it was impressed with Ju-Heon's shameless ways.
[You have received the title of ~ Scammer who cannot be stopped ~ and the user's level information has changed. ]
[Tomb Raider Seo Ju-Heon]
Level 3.
- A Tomb Raider who is now improving even his scamming skills without digging through tombs.
'What the hell?'
Ju-Heon laughed in disbelief at this message that only he could see. But there were pros and cons because of this as well.
[Your infamy has increased as a result of receiving a dishonorable title of scammer. ]
[Your Affinity has decreased a bit. ]
[The artifacts may have more hostility toward you, but the charm of a bad boy might appeal to the artifacts as well. ]
[Artifacts C-Grade and under will be easily tricked by your words. ]
[The chances of artifacts being trucked by you have increased. ]
'Wait, what the hell would I use the charm of a bad boy to appeal to artifacts for?'
He was shocked but it was fine.
This was time to finish this battle with Keira right now.
The Tomb Raider, no, Scammer Seo Ju-Heon, ruthlessly landed another punch.
"It doesn't matter to me whether the English PM disappears, but it's different for you. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what decision you need to make."
Ju-Heon knew Keira well. She was a female General with extremely high pride who did not do anything that might put the US in difficult situations.
'That is why she'll choose to save the English PM. That's the kind of woman she is. '
Based on the information he got from Vivian about this woman's artifacts, she had no way of finding the English PM. She would want to find any traces she could.
A few minutes later...
She finally responded.
[Fine. Give it a go if you think you're the shit. ]
The CIA agents threw a fit about it.
"General-nim! How can you say that?! This bastard is a thief! He's a damn robber who stole our artifacts too! It's obvious he is aiming for your artifact as well!"
Thomas was the most riled up. He was ready to drag this bastard to the US if General Keira had not said they should hear him out first. His crime would have been stealing their artifacts.
However, ownership of tombs and artifacts was quite awkward right now because ~ Pandora ~ had yet to be created, so he could not legally punish Ju-Heon.
They had swiped the artifact from another country's tomb in the first place and the world had not decided whether these mysterious artifacts were considered private property or not yet.
But what?
"General-nim! That's like leaving a fish with a cat!"
"That's right! How can you let him use your artifact?!"
Ju-Heon then started to laugh as if he had expected this.
"You guys can observe me like a hawk in a place of your choosing if you can't trust me. You can even have all of my artifacts during that time."
'What?'
The CIA agents and Yoo Jaeha were shocked by that statement. They were thinking Ju-Heon was going to trick his way to steal that artifact.
That was why Yoo Jaeha was even more shocked.
'What the hell is he planning on doing?'
What was he going to do?
Proceed according to plan.
Ju-Heon had that thought as he and Yoo Jaeha went to meet the Monarch of War. It was at a hotel right next to the one they were just in.
It was a similar suite but the difference would be that there were scary looking soldiers whose gaze alone made it feel difficult to breathe.
There were about twenty of them.
They were probably a Special Operations Forces team like the Green Berets. They were probably the Special Forces team working for Keira as the Tomb Excavation team.
Their physique and presence could not compare to the average Ju-Heon or Yoo Jaeha, making Yoo Jaeha feel small.
'Damn it, it's not like we came here as prisoners or something. '
They might end up kidnapped without even the rats or birds knowing at this rate.
That wasn't the only thing. They couldn't even plan an escape route because they had never been here before.
That was why Yoo Jaeha pulled at his hair as they were getting patted down.
'Wait, why am I the one worrying when this reckless captain is the one causing all the issues?'
It happened as Yoo Jaeha grudgingly glared at Ju-Heon.
"It looks like you really didn't bring any artifacts with you."
"Yes, I left them with someone I can trust."
Ju-Heon chuckled and turned toward the source of the voice. There was a tall and skinny woman in uniform standing in front of them.
This woman with the overbearing smile was Keira Clark.
She was one of the Four Emperors of the past, the Monarch of War who the entire world feared as much as they feared Hitler.
However, Yoo Jaeha was anxious for a different reason.
"W, wait, Captain-nim. It's not my eyes that are weird, right?"
Yoo Jaeha seemed to be really shocked as he mumbled in Korean. Of course, it was obvious why he was acting like this.
And lo and behold.
"I thought you said Keira Clark is a US General! Is she a proxy... ?"
"No, that is her."
She looked the same as the Keira in his memories. However, Yoo Jaeha asked if he could not believe it.
It could not be helped.
"Then how is she so young?! Furthermore she's a tall and busty noonim... she's totally my type... no, no, that's not the issue... can she even earn a star at her age?"
That was indeed the case.
The woman in front of them was a young woman who was at most in her late twenties or early thirties.
She had a refreshing appearance with black hair and blue eyes.
She had the image of a commander who would kill you if you said something wrong, but she would probably be a total babe in civilian clothes.
Either way, it would be one thing if the US was in a time of war or was a newly industrialized country, but she seemed too young. She seemed too young for the US President to give full control over anything related to artifacts.
However, Ju-Heon was not very shocked.
'Artifacts are powerful. '
And even if she was a beauty...
'She's still someone who would launch a bazooka at someone's house while they are sleeping. '
He still got the chills thinking about when she had ambushed him while he was sleeping.
He had lost his house that he barely managed to buy by getting a loan. It was a terrible thing for Ju-Heon who was the Captain of the world's greatest tomb raiding team but earned a rat's tail of a salary.
All of that had happened in the past, but he was interested in something else right now.
That was why he asked the following.
"And the artifact?"
"How rude. It is over here."
The General quickly walked into the next room. There were familiar artifacts on the table inside the room.
[Barbarossa's Pirate Map (B-Grade: Rare-Grade - Consumable Artifact)]
[A Copy of Philosopher Anaximander's World Map (C-Grade:General-grade - Consumable Artifact)]
[Columbus's Age of Discovery Map (A-Grade:Treasure-Grade - Possession Artifact)]
All sorts of map-type artifacts were gathered here.
The Monarch of War soon sat down and crossed her legs while telling Ju-Heon let's see what he can do.
"Alright, go ahead. Just know that we will kill you if you acted like a hotshot but can't get it done."
The US soldiers pointed their guns that had been hidden until now once the Monarch of War motioned with her hand. Yoo Jaeha gasped and raised both hands.
However, Ju-Heon just laughed.
'The Monarch of War sure did love to threaten people. '
"Don't worry, ma'am. As I've mentioned before, I am much better at handling artifacts than you are. It's easy to locate the PM. But before that..."
Ju-Heon asked for a pen. The Monarch of War found this to be odd but had her subordinate give him a pen.
She didn't know what he planned on doing, but she knew that regular items could not affect artifacts in any way.
Ju-Heon who received a blunt color pencil smiled and tried to write something on the map.
One of the Special Forces member pointed his gun as soon as he saw what Ju-Heon was trying to do.
"What are you doing?!"
"Please move your gun away. This is an incantation to use an artifact more effectively."
The Monarch of War frowned before telling the soldier to let Ju-Heon do it. One was a Possession-type artifact and she knew that he could not do anything to the other two with a simple color pencil.
"I'm sure it won't work, but just know that a bullet will go through your head if you do anything suspicious."
"Why don't you think about how much you will give me as a reward for finding the PM instead?"
Ju-Heon then looked at the three artifacts.
He then started to draw something on all three artifacts with the pencil.
At first glance, they resembled hieroglyphics. There was no way that other people would know that these were Toombglyphs, the text of the tombs.
This was the first step to destroy the artifacts.
Ju-Heon channeled a significant amount of Dominance into the maps once he finished writing on them.
The artifacts then started to scream.
[#$&#$&#!] [##$*$&(!]
What the hell, who the hell are you, human?!
Who do you think you are trying to dominate?!
The artifacts that seemed to have been jolted awake started to get angry at Ju-Heon and told him to get lost. This was the start of Ju-Heon's scam.
"I figured it out! I know where the Prime Minister is located!"
"W, what?"
| ← Ch. 058 | Ch. 060 → |