At Ma Manager’s actions and words, surprise and fear spread among the people gathered in the banquet hall.
Ma Manager wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve and released Yang Wooguk’s leg, glaring at the crowd.
Soon he let go of the sashimi knife in his hand and stood up.
“Since everyone’s gathered here, let’s hold the general eting right now and decide the chairman. Anyone object?”
Ma Manager’s voice was flat, without any rise or fall. If anyone opposed him, he intended to deal with them all in one go today.
“If there are no objections, tell them to stop fighting now. Only departnt heads and above stay in the banquet hall. Send everyone else out.”
Just then, an old man in a wheelchair ca forward.
“Excuse .”
Instead of answering, Ma Manager simply looked at him.
Cold sweat naturally ran down the old man’s back under that emotionless gaze, but he showed none of it and spoke with a smile.
“My juniors gathered today to celebrate my eightieth birthday. Did there really have to be bloodshed on such a day? Let’s call it a day and head ho now...”
The old man trailed off and glanced at Yang Wooguk writhing on the floor like a worm before continuing.
“How about sending him to the hospital for treatnt? With this kind of commotion, the police will surely be dispatched. I’ll handle it all. I’m on brotherly terms with the Busan Police Commissioner. I can easily smooth things over.”
Even in this situation, the old man flaunted his influence.
He seed completely unaware of the power Kim Muhyuk and Ma Manager possessed.
Ma Manager, who had been quietly watching him, asked back.
“You’re close with the Busan Police Commissioner?”
“That’s right. Today’s matter will be quietly buried. So be satisfied with this much and—”
Ma Manager cut him off.
“Old man. If your death date’s already been set, stop spouting nonsense and just sit there and watch quietly.”
At Ma Manager’s brutal insult, the old man’s smiling face instantly stiffened.
“Hey. Young man. You’ve got no manners. Do you even know who I am?”
Ma Manager curled up one corner of his mouth.
Of course he knew.
He was soone Park Dongsu had once said he respected deeply while he was alive.
But when people grow old in disgrace, they live drunk on the glory of the past.
Once he had been revered as a legendary figure among gangsters, but now he was just an old man who had aged badly.
“Does that matter? Anyone with no connection to Chunha Group doesn’t get a say here. If you don’t want to be dragged out, just watch the shaman dance quietly and eat so rice cake.”
Humiliated by the continued insults, the old man’s face turned red and blue.
“You insolent bastard!”
Finally he slamd the armrest of his wheelchair and roared.
“A brat who’s not even my grandson’s age dares to hold his head high like that? One phone call from and you’ll be behind bars!”
“Then make the call. Tell them to co here right now and arrest .”
Whether the old man raged or not, Ma Manager left only those words and jerked his chin toward Lim Hwasu standing behind him.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to clean up this situation? If the fight keeps going, it’s Chunha Group’s people who’ll get hurt.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes! Understood!”
Only then did Lim Hwasu snap back to his senses.
Turning around, he went outside the banquet hall with the executives of his faction and shouted.
“Stop! Stop fighting! It’s over!”
Seeing Lim Hwasu acting as if he were obeying Ma Manager’s orders, the old man beca even more furious.
“You ungrateful bastard! What are you doing! Bring that Lim Hwasu bastard here right now!”
But no one moved.
Even the directors supporting Yang Wooguk stayed still.
“You sons of bitches! How dare you ignore my words?”
The old man pointed at the people in the banquet hall and shouted angrily.
Ma Manager slowly walked toward him.
As Ma Manager drew closer, the old man’s voice gradually weakened.
“W-What! Don’t co any closer!”
The old man shouted, but Ma Manager did not stop.
At that mont, the large man pushing the old man’s wheelchair stepped forward and blocked his path.
“Stop. Speak from there. If you co any closer—”
Before the sentence even finished, Ma Manager’s fist smashed into the man’s face.
“Ugh.”
A heavy impact rang out, but perhaps because Ma Manager had not used his full strength, the man did not collapse.
Ma Manager glared at the staggering man and spoke.
“You have to push the wheelchair of the man you serve, so I went easy on you. Don’t step forward again. There won’t be a next ti.”
The large man, who had already tasted Ma Manager’s strength, clutched his nose and stepped aside without resisting.
“Hey! Hyeongseok! Aren’t you coming back?! You bastards...!”
Like a defeated dog barking louder, the old man shouted desperately.
But when even his attendant stepped aside, fear slowly appeared on his face.
Now no one remained to stop Ma Manager.
“D-Do you know who I am! If you lay a hand on —”
“I’m not such a scoundrel that I’d lay a hand on soone who’s about to die anyway, so stop barking. Now then, go ahead. Try whatever you want.”
It seed the fight had ended. Ma Manager’s subordinates who had been fighting in the lobby poured into the banquet hall.
The sturdy n holding batons were enough to instill fear even in large gangsters.
“I’ll give you a choice. Leave now, or stay and watch Chunha Group’s new chairman be decided before continuing your eightieth birthday party.”
“...I’ll leave.”
The old man glanced around and answered quietly.
With no one helping him, staying here was pointless.
“I will never forget what happened today.”
Even as he fled, the old man tried to act tough until the end.
He called the man who had been pushing his wheelchair and turned around.
Gangsters bowed their heads toward the departing old man, but he did not acknowledge them.
After leaving the hotel, the old man waited for the car that would take him away.
Outside ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the hotel stood rows of fresh recruits who had only recently joined the organization, but none of them dared approach the old man.
After getting into the car, the old man shoved the wheelchair into the trunk and shouted at the man sitting in the driver’s seat.
“You bastard! You’re supposed to protect ! Why did you step back back there? You take money but can’t do your job!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Haa... forget it. Just give the phone.”
The man took out the old man’s phone and handed it back.
Snatching it roughly, the old man made a call.
“It’s .”
— Elder, what brings you to call? Ah, before that, congratulations on your eightieth birthday.
The Busan Provincial Police Commissioner offered his congratulations, but the old man replied bluntly.
“What congratulations. My whole party’s been ruined! Where the hell are the police?”
— Orders ca down from above. We were told to withdraw. So we withdrew.
“What? From above?”
— Yes. We received orders from above and pulled everyone out. Is that a problem?
“That’s what you call an answer—”
The old man flared up and tried to speak, but the commissioner cut him off.
— Elder. I don’t know what happened inside, but you’d better watch your words.
“What? What did you just say?”
— With your influence, you cannot deal with that person. Not a single line about today’s events will appear in the news. Forget complicated matters and spend the rest of your life peacefully. I’m advising you out of old friendship. I’ll hang up now.
The call ended one-sidedly.
This had never happened before.
“Hah. This bastard.”
The old man stared blankly at the phone emitting the call-ending tone and muttered.
“What the hell happened today?”
But there was no one to answer him.
Ma Manager grabbed Yang Wooguk by the hair as he bled on the floor and dragged him toward the podium.
Just then Lim Hwasu returned after finishing the cleanup outside.
“Everything’s been taken care of. For now, the staff have all been told to stand by.”
Ma Manager nodded.
“No one resisted?”
“Director Yang’s people looked like they might resist, but I had one of the directors from his side who ca with us persuade them. Also, by the ti we got downstairs, the situation had already mostly been settled.”
As expected, Lim Hwasu handled things very efficiently.
Even in that chaotic situation, he had thought to bring along one of Yang Wooguk’s directors.
There was no way gangsters could hold out against well-trained rcenaries. Besides, if things looked like they might lose, firearms could always be used as a last resort.
Thanks to Lim Hwasu’s quick response, an even bigger disaster had been prevented.
“Did you gather everyone above departnt head level in the banquet hall? Confirm it.”
“Yes. Everyone’s here. The rest are waiting in the lobby and outside the hotel.”
“Don’t make noise. Send the rest ho.”
Lim Hwasu hesitated, and Ma Manager raised one eyebrow.
“Even if we block them, there’s a limit. Send them all back. The people gathered here are the ones with decision-making authority anyway.”
“Understood. But...”
Lim Hwasu glanced at Yang Wooguk lying on the floor like trash.
“Shouldn’t he at least receive treatnt? He looks like he’s going to die.”
Ma Manager looked at Yang Wooguk as if he were an insect.
“What? You want to save him? You’re quite kind.”
“That’s not it. Even if we kill him later, it would be better to keep him alive for now.”
“Don’t worry. He won’t die before the boss returns. The doctor will arrive soon.”
Ma Manager had already arranged for a doctor to be on standby.
Once the situation had stabilized sowhat, he had ordered a subordinate to bring the doctor.
“When Vice Chairman Chu Dongbin and Chairman Lee Sanggeun arrive, we’ll start the general eting imdiately.”
Planning to finish everything today and report it, he had summoned Chu Dongbin and Lee Sanggeun to Busan.
“You’re saying the general eting will be held here?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, none.”
The unexpected general eting left Lim Hwasu quite flustered.
“No need to drag this out. The longer it drags, the more blood gets spilled. I’ll cleanly settle things and hand over the chairman’s position. Just keep that in mind.”
“...Understood.”
Lim Hwasu bit his lip and bowed his head.
He had no choice.
Not only was that person’s will firm, but the banquet hall was already completely under Ma Manager and his n’s control.
“Then I’ll go send the staff ho.”
Ma Manager nodded, and Lim Hwasu left the hall with several n.
As he passed by them on his way out, one of Ma Manager’s subordinates returned with the doctor.
“Treat him just enough so he doesn’t die.”
At Ma Manager’s words, the doctor said nothing and imdiately began treatnt.
He looked quite accustod to this kind of situation.
“What about the dead?”
One of the subordinates answered Ma Manager’s question.
“Quite a few are injured, but no one’s dead.”
At the ntion of many injured, Ma Manager frowned.
Even with the difference in skill, if people rushed in swinging sashimi knives like their lives depended on it, injuries were inevitable.
“Send those seriously injured to the hospital. Treat the rest here for now.”
“I already gave those instructions before coming up.”
Seeing his subordinate handle even unassigned tasks efficiently, Ma Manager nodded with satisfaction.
“Then before the general eting starts, shall we clean up the remaining trash?”
He ordered his n to separate the directors and elders who had followed Yang Wooguk from the others.
“Let go! Let go, you bastard!”
“What’s wrong with this lunatic?”
They resisted desperately as they were dragged away by Ma Manager’s n, but after taking a few punches to the face or stomach, they quickly fell silent.
As a result, even those who weren’t dragged away looked visibly tense.
Soon the banquet hall doors opened.
Chu Dongbin, Lee Sanggeun, and Lim Hwasu entered together.
All three had just witnessed the chaotic scene with their own eyes.
Lee Sanggeun, who knew Ma Manager’s thods better than anyone, seed unfazed as he looked down at Yang Wooguk receiving treatnt.
But Chu Dongbin could not react so calmly.
“...Did you handle this personally, Manager Ma?”
Looking disgusted at Yang Wooguk’s mangled state, Chu Dongbin asked.
“Yes. I did it myself.”
“Hoo... I heard stories, but you truly show no rcy.”
“He dared oppose the boss. I’d like to kill him right now, but the one who decides that isn’t , so I left him alive.”
Ma Manager spoke calmly, frighteningly composed.
Trying to calm his racing heart, Chu Dongbin looked around the banquet hall.
Seeing the forces clearly split into two sides, he asked.
“Are you going to purge them all?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“Chunha Group’s power will weaken if you eliminate them all.”
Concern filled Chu Dongbin’s voice.
Looking at him, Ma Manager spoke firmly.
“As long as the boss remains in good health, Chunha Group’s power will never weaken. So don’t worry unnecessarily. If you don’t cut out the rotten parts, they will keep rotting. Until now we left Chunha Group’s internal affairs for them to handle themselves, but that ends today. I will cut out all the rot.”
From Park Dongsu to Lee Sanggeun, and then to Yoo Seongjin, the chairman’s position had passed along with full authority granted to them.
But the result of that indulgence was that so people had forgotten who the real master was and bared their fangs.
Ma Manager intended to root them out completely and carve fear into everyone’s hearts so such a thing would never happen again.
“...Understood. Then let’s begin the general eting.”
After staring into Ma Manager’s eyes for a long mont, Chu Dongbin stepped forward and declared the general eting open.
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