The Poison Demon’s Strategy for the Martial Tower Chapter 100

Chapter 100: National Power Level (3)

[Solitary Confinent Cell — Detention Center]

Chief Han sat quietly, lost in thought.

In the past, when she had gone undercover at the Black Market, she had crossed paths with the Naless Hero.

He had taken her precious necklace, and the Naless Hero had left her with one parting word.

"Until we et again."

But at the tournant arena not long ago—it was different.

‘It was half sincere.’

His final words—that he had considered killing her.

……There had been no ‘until we et again’.

‘It's my fault.’

It was she who had needlessly t with the Naless Hero.

She had received the Iron Instrunt God's Sword from him, and in her excitent, had gone as far as hosting a tournant.

Even that she had failed to manage properly—and so soone the Naless Hero held dear had been gravely injured.

The incident had exploded into sothing massive, and in the end, her father and herself had been placed under arrest.

He would be on the run, just as she was.

President Park Jae-yeol was a tenacious and terrifying man.

Horrible images kept surfacing in her mind.

The Naless Hero collapsing, riddled with bullets.

That must never co to pass.

"……Haaah."

Chief Han buried her face in her knees.

The climber who had once represented the Republic of Korea.

The Poison Spider, Han Jang-mi, was withering away.

It was then.

"Chief Han."

A correctional officer approached.

The governnt called her a traitor and a defector and worse—

But the officers had treated her with respect and taken care to ensure she was comfortable.

"Yes."

"You've had a hard ti."

"I'm fine."

"That hardship is over now."

"……?"

"You've been released."

***

The released Minister Han put on his jacket and straightened his clothes.

At his side stood Chief Han.

The door opened, and Attorney Jang Hyeon-seung stepped in.

Minister Han recognized him and greeted him warmly.

"Prosecutor-General Jang!"

"Ha ha. It's been quite so ti since I took off the prosecutor's uniform. Minister Han."

"Ha ha ha. I'm no longer a minister either."

"In the National Murim Bureau, there is only one minister—and that is you, Minister Han."

"And in my heart, you will always be Prosecutor-General."

"You flatter ."

The two n exchanged words.

Minister Han introduced him to Chief Han.

"Pay your respects. This is Prosecutor-General Jang."

"A pleasure to et you. I've heard a great deal about you from my father."

"It's been a long ti, Chief Han. Last I saw you, your head barely ca up to my knee."

Chief Han knew of Attorney Jang as well.

He had been nominated as a candidate for Prosecutor-General and was expected to pass without difficulty—but at the ti, he had resigned for personal reasons.

Minister Han smiled and spoke,

"I was surprised to be out sooner than expected—it seems Prosecutor-General Jang lent his strength to make it happen."

"I did nothing at all."

Minister Han leaned close and spoke,

"It seems so friends of mine entrusted my daughter's and my defense to you, Prosecutor-General. Who was it? Yun-su? Yeong-sil?"

Jang Hyeon-seung said nothing, only smiled.

"Oh co now, please tell . I'll need to repay the favor, won't I?"

"It was the Naless Hero."

"……Pardon?"

The unexpected na caused both Minister Han and Chief Han to look up in surprise.

Jang Hyeon-seung spoke calmly.

"The Naless Hero asked this of . I am simply repaying a debt, however small."

"Aah."

Jang Hyeon-seung turned to Chief Han this ti.

"He asked to give this to you."

"What is it?"

Jang Hyeon-seung reached into his pocket and produced sothing.

It was a secret communication device.

"……Aah."

A dizzying rush of feeling struck Chief Han, and she swayed.

***

【Bonus Mission Success】

【Raid the Hidden Vault of Wunbo Trading House.】

① Mission (34th floor) Deed Complete!

② Happiness Points 1,500,000

③ Eight Great Extre Poisons — ‘Bangu Blood Plasma’ Fragnt 1/3 has been awarded.

【Ti Taken to Complete Mission: 9 Minutes 58 Seconds】

【Overwhelming Completion (GOLD)!】

【Murim Tower 34th floor turns golden.】

【The entire world turns its gaze to the tower in France.】

"Phew. That was cutting it close."

I let out a sigh of relief as I read the 34th floor success ssage.

34th floor through 36th floor were the main stage of Wunbo Trading House.

It was the place I had turned back to after descending and returning to the Sacheondang Family, only to see Im Jo-yang's corpse hanging from the Murim Alliance gates.

The reason I had headed to Wunbo Trading House was simple.

In my past life, becoming a Poison Demon to carry out my revenge was my most urgent priority.

And so I had been gathering the Eight Great Extre Poisons—the necessary materials for that.

Among the Sacheondang Family's Eight Great Extre Poisons, Bangu Blood Plasma—

Bangu was a poison crafted from the blood of an imaginary toxic bird, mixed with all manner of ingredients.

The reason I call Bangu an imaginary bird is because I myself had never actually laid eyes on one.

But Bangu Blood Plasma existed.

And in a perfectly intact state, no less.

The one who possessed Bangu Blood Plasma was the master of Wunbo Trading House, the Golden Money Demon, Bae Geum-sang.

He was a rchant who had ties with both the orthodox and unorthodox paths.

Of course, the trading house was a front.

Its true nature was loan sharking.

Lend 100 nyang and bleed 1,000 nyang out of the debtor.

You might call him the Gangho equivalent of the Happy Loan Office.

In any case, Bae Geum-sang possessed enormous wealth accumulated through the trading house he had inherited from his forebears—and he had a peculiar hobby.

Collecting rare and precious things.

When the Sacheondang Family was wiped out, Bae Geum-sang set his sights on them.

Bae Geum-sang burned to obtain the family's core hidden weapons and the Eight Great Extre Poisons.

But the hidden weapons had been divided up by various prominent factions of Gangho, beyond his reach.

The Eight Great Extre Poisons had been left in no proper state—and without the Sacheondang Family's secret knowledge, extre poisons could cause mass death if mishandled, so they were not sought after.

For these reasons, Bae Geum-sang had approached the Qingcheng Sect, which had sohow managed to preserve Bangu Blood Plasma relatively intact, and purchased the extre poison for a vast sum.

Why did he purchase it?

I don't know.

He simply wanted it, I suppose.

There were 2 things I felt toward Bae Geum-sang—1 gratitude, and 1 apology.

The gratitude: thanks to him, I had obtained Bangu Blood Plasma with ease.

The apology: while sneaking in to steal the Bangu Blood Plasma, I had been discovered—and in the process, I had brought mass death upon Wunbo Trading House.

‘It's not for nothing that I'm a Poison Demon‘.

And so I had taken considerable care on the 34th floor's mission.

The main mission of 34th floor was:

【Raid the Treasure Vault of Wunbo Trading House.】

But when climbers entered, the treasure vault held virtually nothing of note.

A handful of gold coins, a few jeweled earrings and necklaces.

Nothing but stone statues of past masters of Wunbo Trading House lined along the left and right walls of the vault.

They were bound to be confused.

I had certainly felt the sa in my past life.

And if one so much as touched even one of the ordinary gold trinkets—

Clang-clang-clang-clang!

The trap chanism would trigger instantly, and the trading house's warriors would co flooding in.

I too had fought my way out then, becoming the perpetrator of a mass slaughter in the process.

And so climbers went in ready for a fight from the start.

"But for , a bonus mission is given."

【Raid the 'Hidden Vault' of Wunbo Trading House.】

"The key word is Hidden Vault."

Secret vault, in other words.

No one else knew—but I and Bae Geum-sang did.

Among the statues lined up in the vault.

A statue of a man whose generous, rounded belly gave him a warmhearted look.

I grabbed that statue by the neck and twisted.

Grrr-grrr-grrr-grrr—.

The trap chanism engaged, and the hidden vault opened.

‘Looking at it again, Bae Geum-sang was clearly out of his mind.’

The thought that twisting his own father's statue 90 degrees would open the door.

There was no way a person who ca up with that was in his right mind.

The hidden vault was open.

What was my task now?

Swish—thud.

I set down on the floor the bag I had asked the old geezer to make for in advance.

It had no special function.

My request had been simple.

‘Make it completely large and sturdy, so it can hold as much as possible.’

What a struggle it had been in my past life—standing before treasure like this with nothing proper to carry it away in.

Oh.

Big and beautiful.

My very own Infinity Infinite Haul Bag.

‘Now I just sweep everything in.’

I swept everything in sight into the bag.

Crash!

Oops. A porcelain piece that looked quite precious shattered under my rough hands—but.

"Doesn't bother ! There's plenty more!"

Humming a tune to myself, I cleaned out the vault.

‘This is more than enough to build several buildings in Gangnam and still have change.’

The bag was stuffed to bursting, nearly too heavy to lift.

I had to drag it along.

But then.

‘The mission completion ssage isn't appearing.’

What had I missed?

Could it be because of the porcelain I had just smashed?

My gut told that wasn't it.

I looked around but found nothing.

‘I'm sure I got everything.’

I turned my head and it hit .

"Oh, the Night-Glow Pearls."

The Night-Glow Pearls hanging from the ceiling.

Those counted as treasure too, apparently.

I drew Iron Instrunt God's dagger and jabbed at the ceiling.

1 Night-Glow Pearl, 2, 3……

It took quite a bit of ti.

After quite a while I had pried off 12—and still 20 or more remained.

The ti left was barely over 20 seconds.

"Damn it!"

I was running out of ti.

Just then, the shattered porcelain caught my eye.

‘……Destroying them must count too!’

I channeled my sword energy and swept it toward the Night-Glow Pearls I hadn't been able to pry loose.

Slash-slash-slash—!

Apparently 1 intact Night-Glow Pearl was worth the price of a traditional tiled house—and treasure like that was shattering in my hands.

"Not sad about it! Not sad at all! No wait, I am sad! Damn!"

I still had 35th, and I had 36th floor.

And so, as I smashed the final 20—

Ding!

【Bonus Mission Success】

【Raid the Hidden Vault of Wunbo Trading House.】

The success ssage finally appeared.

Phew, that gave quite a fright.

Getting rich is both simple and not.

***

I did not climb 35th floor.

I left the Infinity Haul Bag in the poison herb field, put on the Dark Moon Mask, and stepped outside.

It was a world of its own.

France's Murim Tower was located near Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles—and the Murim Tower rising imposingly before it.

"Bonjour, monsieur. Paris Baguette. Tous Les Jours."

Foreign-looking people everywhere.

I had suddenly erged from the vicinity of the France Murim Tower—

But since I was wearing the Dark Moon Mask, no one paid any mind.

‘So this is France.’

The land of the great Napoleon and the even greater guillotine!

The grand irony—a Murim Tower, symbol of Eastern culture, standing before the Palace of Versailles, symbol of Western culture.

"East and West in harmony, I suppose."

Looking at photos of it, I had thought it a horrifying hybrid—but seeing it in person, the two suited each other remarkably well.

Having the Murim Tower in France sohow made it feel like art.

Well.

There was no rule saying the Murim Tower erected by the Space-Ti Reversal Formation had to exist only in the East.

Equal opportunity, equal suffering, for all.

Just as I was taking it in for a mont—

"Kyaaaaaa!"

A scream rang out.

A French person looking at the Murim Tower pointed at 34th floor and let out a shriek.

Slow to react. They must be stunned.

……Because it was a Golden Tower.

【So residents of Versailles let out screams of happiness. 300,000 Happiness】

Citizens of France!

The Poison Demon has arrived.

Wait a mont.

Where do I exchange currency?

Would they take……gold coins here.

***

The French and global dia erupted.

【France's Murim Tower 34th floor! The Golden Tower Has Manifested!】

Just like that, France's Murim Tower—which had been inching along at 37th floor—suddenly produced the sa Golden Tower as the Republic of Korea.

The French Murim Tower administration imdiately launched an all-night investigation, but among France's climbers, there was no owner of the Golden Tower.

And then the news broke.

【Republic of Korea's Murim Tower suddenly loses 1 year of ti!】

There was only 1 possible conclusion.

The evening news headline exploded.

【Ghost and Naless Hero Naturalize as French Citizens!】

The French President, despite the late hour, imdiately made a public address.

"France welcos the naturalization of Ghost and the Naless Hero! Vive la France!"

Boom-boom-boom!

Fireworks burst from the Eiffel Tower.

From the Arc de Triomphe as well, from the Champs-Élysées.

From Notre-Da Cathedral, recently reopened.

Citizens poured into the streets, singing and dancing—

And thanks to that, I—

Couldn't even catch a taxi.

I had barely managed to reach Paris using Wind God Steps.

‘Damn. I forgot to bring euros.’

Worried the National Murim Bureau might track , I had brought nothing—no phone, no credit card, nothing.

My pockets were stuffed with gold coins from raiding Wunbo Trading House—but.

‘I need to exchange them first!’

Furious at my own oversight, I barked out loud—

"Woooo! Chinese! Ching-chong! Ching-chong!"

At the sound, people sward over and began cheering around .

Racial discrimination!

I nearly lost my temper on the spot.

‘I ought to kill them all!’

When I shot them a glare, the crowd scattered and fled.

【The citizens of Paris are overjoyed by the sudden occurrence. 1,000,000 Happiness】

Phew.

Be grateful it was the ssage that saved you.

Anyhow—France.

Far better than Korea?

‘A country that knows how to be happy.’

Avoiding the crowds that filled the streets, I looked for a gold exchange shop.

Drawing on Kim Tae-yang's knowledge and the English I had picked up over ti, I fumbled my way through.

"Hello, foreign person. I have gold. You have money. Show the money. Right now."

But I was turned away instead.

The shopkeepers, finding it suspicious when an Asian man with poor communication skills presented them with gold coins, had called the police.

It was only natural to arouse suspicion—an Asian person suddenly showing up with gold ingots and asking to exchange them.

‘Paranoid lot.’

I considered robbing the exchange shop that had turned away.

Co to think of it, they seed to understand English at first, but then played dumb. Then when the gold ca out, they called the authorities.

While I was briefly deliberating—

Swish.

A hand thrust itself suddenly into my pocket.

Snap!

I seized the pickpocket's wrist—

"Aaagghh!"

A cry of pain from the pickpocket.

Mid-twenties or so. A Romani with a thick beard.

You picked the right mark.

I fixed him with a wide-eyed stare and said,

"Hand over everything you've got."

***

The whole world was in uproar, and France was in full festival mode—

……But the Republic of Korea was no different from a house in mourning.

"Ghost has naturalized?!"

"The Naless Hero too?!"

"Isn't this because the governnt persecuted them?!"

Reporters were practically vaulting over the walls of the Blue House in their fervor to cover the story.

Trapped by surging, furious citizens on all sides, the staff couldn't even leave to go ho.

Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring-ring!

"I told you to pull all the phone cords!"

The maddening sound of ringing drove President Park Jae-yeol to roar.

A staff mber hurriedly yanked out the cord and threw it aside.

"What on earth is happening! What is this!!"

Park Jae-yeol shouted at his cabinet with eyes wide—but.

The cabinet mbers only looked back at him with heavy, complicated eyes.

Park Jae-yeol read those eyes.

Every last one of them was blaming him.

‘……This is your fault.’

The Republic of Korea was finished.