The Poison Demon’s Strategy for the Martial Tower Chapter 48

Chapter 48: The Real Thing Appears(1)

Chief Han of the Gukmubon had a pounding headache.

It was because of what had happened a few days ago, when she had led the Gukmubon's elite team and raided the Red Dragon Gate.

"Hand over the Naless Hero!"

Red Dragon Gate's Sect Leader Lee Won-ryong's eyes went wide at those words from Chief Han.

"What the hell is that?!"

Chief Han's fury surged even higher at Lee Won-ryong's expression of complete ignorance.

"Sect Leader! We ca here knowing full well that you've been oppressing Park Jeok-sa and the Naless Hero!"

"What the hell are you talking about! Why would I be keeping so 'Naless Hero'?!"

"Naless Hero? Ha! You've even given him a na now. Search everything!"

Crash!

The Gukmubon's elite team tore the Red Dragon Gate apart.

Lee Won-ryong didn't take it lying down.

"Bastards! Stop them right now!"

The Red Dragon Gate's climbers grabbed their weapons and blocked the elite team.

Clashes erupted everywhere.

True to its reputation as one of the Three Great Sects of the Republic of Korea, the Red Dragon Gate was no pushover. The Gukmubon's elite team swept through them, yet they refused to yield a single step.

Elite versus elite!

On Teheran-ro, the Red Dragon Gate's desks went flying through glass windows and shattered on the road outside. When civilians were nearly caught in the chaos, the police SWAT team was ultimately forced to open fire.

A clash between climbers — superhuman beings.

Without firearms, there was no hope of matching them.

Rat-tat-tat!

As the gunfire began, the Red Dragon Gate's warriors had madness flashing in their eyes and were ready to go even more berserk — but it was Lee Won-ryong himself who held his people back.

"Stop!"

"Sect Leader! Those bastards have one or two magazines at most. We can sweep them out where they stand!"

"Shut your mouths, you idiots! What have I always told you. I said bow down before soone truly strong!"

"……But—"

"Are you going to fight gloriously and go sell goods in heaven starting tomorrow? Drop your blades! Now!"

Clatter.

Lee Won-ryong threw his blade to the ground.

Chief Han, who had braced herself for heavy losses, felt a quiet relief inside as the fighting ended thanks to Lee Won-ryong's decision.

Lee Won-ryong shouted with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Chief Han, you crazy woman! What kind of confidence did you have to co barging in here?!"

"……"

"I had my doubts, but you even opened fire? Have you completely lost your mind? Are you sure you can handle the fallout?"

He had thrown down his blade, but Lee Won-ryong kept on yelling.

Chief Han strode over and stood before him.

Lee Won-ryong looked her up and down and said,

"So what are you going to do. Do you even have a warrant?"

"……A warrant? I have one."

"That's hilarious. If you did, you'd have shown it long—"

Thud—!

The barrel of a pistol touched Lee Won-ryong's forehead.

A cold sensation.

Chief Han, holding the pistol, said to him.

"This is the warrant."

Confident as she was, she had ultimately been forced to let Lee Won-ryong go.

They had turned the Red Dragon Gate upside down, but not a single piece of evidence regarding the Naless Hero had turned up.

"I'm not going to let this go! Gukmubon — I'll rember this clearly!"

Lee Won-ryong roared at the top of his lungs as he was released from Gukmubon.

In the end, the incident had blown up far beyond control.

Even she couldn't handle it anymore.

"Chief Han, can you take responsibility?"

Even her father, Minister Han Seung-pyo, was holding her accountable for the reckless raid on the Red Dragon Gate.

"Yes, Minister."

"There's been a lot of talk about this Red Dragon Gate raid!"

"I'm sorry."

The politicians who had connections to the Red Dragon Gate saw it as an opportunity and piled on Minister Han from every direction.

The gunfire had been the tipping point.

Protest statents from the Red Dragon Gate and allied sects followed one after another.

The Goryeo Sword Sect and the Changbai Sect were relatively quiet, but the Bell Tower Sect kept firing off hardline statents one after another.

The Bell Tower Sect — recently grown enough to be counted among the Five Great Sects. It was hard to believe they had once been dismissed as a fanatical cult, given how far they had risen.

Flush with money, they were extending their reach into corporations and the political world, and the Bell Tower Sect, which boasted hundreds of thousands of followers, had seen its mbership surpass one million following the recent ergence of the Golden Tower.

That left even President Park Jae-yeol — with votes to worry about — with no choice but to keep quiet.

"Huuuu……"

Minister Han was so frustrated that he even tore off his wig and threw it onto the desk.

Beads of sweat had ford on his completely bare head.

"……"

Chief Han bit her lip.

Her father, a man who treated his wig like his own life — the fact that he had thrown it ant just one thing.

……He was furious to the very top of his head.

Minister Han opened his mouth.

"Take a month off."

"Father!"

"There are tis when you need to step back!"

***

"Damn it."

Chief Han muttered a curse as she pulled her baseball cap down low.

A month of disciplinary leave.

She couldn't even rember when her last vacation had been.

During a previous climb, she had suffered a severe injury to her right arm and had gone through a major surgery and rehabilitation.

Even when doctors urged her to rest further, she had kept on with her work at the Gukmubon.

Even on leave, her investigation showed no sign of stopping.

"Back to square one."

She headed for the Black Market.

The place where information about the 21st floor climbers had surfaced.

She planned to track down any trace of the Naless Hero on her own.

"It's been a while since jeans."

A baseball cap and a mask.

Even the long scar on her cheek — practically her trademark — had been covered with makeup, and she had even used the Gukmubon's prized Human Skin Mask.

She had been the type to show up at work even on weekends, so putting on sothing other than a suit felt slightly awkward.

Honestly, as the spring breeze drifted in, she had felt a small pull toward the dress hanging in the corner of her wardrobe.

"……A dress, really."

She smiled and chose a baseball jacket and jeans instead.

Looking in the mirror, she was quite pleased with the disguise.

"No one will recognize like this."

***

I had entered the Black Market.

There were a lot of people in the market.

With the Golden Tower having appeared, the number of climbers tackling the tower had surged dramatically. That ant a lot more goods were starting to circulate.

dicinal herbs and elixirs were still scarce, but—

"Right then. Where to start."

Today's items for sale were the spears taken from the Blue Dragon Gate.

I went into the shop with a lollipop in my mouth.

Creak—

"Welco."

The owner of the weapons shop I had stopped by once or twice gave a greeting.

I was in disguise.

I had transford into a middle-aged man who appeared to be around fifty.

A half-face Human Skin Mask, torn from below the nose.

This too I had bought at a steep price in the Black Market.

The torn lower half was filled in with a beard.

Acting naturally ca easier since I now looked about my actual age.

Thanks to my masterful disguise, honed over a past life—

Even the shop owner who had seen a few tis appeared not to recognize .

There was one female custor in the shop.

Jeans, a jacket, a baseball cap, and a mask.

She was dressed plainly, but sothing about her atmosphere was oddly off.

……Strange.

She didn't seem to have any companions.

"I'd like to take a look at the goods."

Under the pretense of browsing the shop's wares, I kept an eye on her.

A straight-backed posture. A sharp set of eyes glimpsed beneath the baseball cap.

……I feel like I've seen her sowhere.

The woman appeared to have trained in spear arts; she was handling one of the spears in the weapons shop.

She pulled a spear out and lifted it lightly.

Calluses in the palm of her hand.

So it's Chief Han.

She might be able to fool other people's eyes, but not mine — the Poison Demon.

She's apparently got a Human Skin Mask on under the mask too.

The way she had put it on was slightly clumsy.

You're supposed to wear it with so slack, but she had pulled it too tight.

Since there seed to be no need to cross paths, I was about to leave the shop when she asked the owner—

"Do you happen to have any newly arrived movent technique or footwork secret manuals?"

"Movent techniques? There are so, though the grades aren't very high."

"Show ."

She was asking about martial arts.

Sowhat out of curiosity, I decided to linger in the shop a little longer.

She was one of the top masters representing the Gukmubon.

There was a chance I could pick up a bit more information about her martial arts.

She flipped through the secret manuals the shop owner showed her and handed them back.

"Nothing catches my eye."

"It's not easy to find sothing rare these days."

"True."

Hmph, I suppose not.

As if superior movent techniques and footwork thods are easy to find.

A movent technique isn't simply about running fast and stopping.

It's a martial art that refines your energy with extre precision to control your entire body, from your eyes to the tips of your feet.

You know how it goes, don't you?

F1 drivers finish a race and after all that rapid acceleration and deceleration, blood rushes to their eyes and the capillaries burst.

Even at an amusent park, a few sharp turns and the blood rushing to your head leaves you dizzy.

A movent technique is what makes a person run faster than a horse.

How to use the body and how to circulate energy through the ridians.

Even controlling bodily fluids like blood — all of that is part of mastering a movent technique.

They are more wondrous than any sword technique.

It's not for nothing that a master of lightness arts makes the list of the Ten Great Masters of the Martial World.

Unlike the others who only seek powerful combat techniques, the fact that Chief Han is interested in movent techniques ans at least she has the basics down.

I smirked and was turning to leave when—

"Oh? Sir, is that a spear?"

She spotted the tip of a spear blade poking out from the top of the golf bag slung over my shoulder and asked.

"Ah…… This."

Damn. I should have left earlier.

I wasted ti and now I've drawn attention.

Chief Han approached.

"Ah, yes. It's a spear."

"It's from the tower, isn't it? Did you buy it here?"

"No."

"Are you selling it?"

"Yes."

"Could I take a look?"

She was asking to see it.

But I had to refuse.

"The shop owner is right there — asking to see my goods out here like this seems a bit discourteous, don't you think?"

I looked toward the shop owner.

If you're going to buy or sell, you do it through the shop — the owner was right there with both eyes wide open, and she was asking for a private transaction.

That wouldn't do.

As soon as the owner scolded us and chased us out, I would slip away.

"Oh ho. Let have a look too."

Wait?

The shop owner gave his ready approval.

Well, I've been cornered here.

Reluctantly, I pulled the spear out of the bag.

A spear taken from the Blue Dragon Gate warriors.

It wasn't Blue Dragon Spear grade, but it was a well-balanced weapon.

"……This is good."

Chief Han's eyes lit up.

"Oh ho. Not bad at all. And you've got two of them?"

Even the shop owner was tempted.

Originally I'd brought more than ten, and sold them off bit by bit here and there — now two were left.

I had saved the best of the lot for last, holding onto them until today to sell.

"I was lucky."

"You got these conquering the Blue Dragon Gate, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"The drop rate for Blue Dragon Gate spears is low……"

She stared at .

Uh oh.

Would she recognize ?

"You really must have incredible luck, sir."

She didn't recognize .

Thank heavens for the masterful disguise arts I'd honed in my past life.

"I'll buy this from you."

"Pardon?"

"Two hundred million per spear."

At that, the shop owner cut in.

"Two hundred million? Don't do that — sell it to for two hundred and ten million."

"Two hundred and twenty million."

"Two thirty."

"Two fifty!"

Suddenly the bidding was climbing.

And I hadn't even said I was selling.

"I won't sell for even two hundred and fifty million. The shop next door offered two hundred and eighty million. What do you……"

"Three hundred million."

"Can't be helped. Well then, our shop will also offer three hundred million. But you sell both spears at once."

"Three hundred and ten million."

"My goodness! This young lady keeps—"

The two of them raised their voices.

‘To hell with it.’

"Rather than money…… Do you happen to have any dicinal herbs or elixirs? Ones with the roots still attached would be even better."

"Herbs?"

The shop owner shook his head.

As expected, finding herbs isn't easy.

But Chief Han actually said yes.

"I have so."

"Really?"

"Yes, Blue Bell Grass and Blood Cloud Blossom. The Blood Cloud Blossom even has the roots. I had them in the fridge, so they should still be usable."

I don't need Blue Bell Grass, but Blood Cloud Blossom is sothing I don't have.

Blood Cloud Blossom……

It's an herb effective for strengthening the ridians, but if handled carelessly, there's a risk of the blood energy running out of control.

Tempting.

But a fridge.

"If they've been kept in a fridge, I'm not sure they'd be usable."

"Why? The dicinal properties are intact. It's not like I need to grow them."

"I intend to grow them."

At my words, the corner of her mouth curled slightly.

A hint of casual dismissal.

Of course.

Even pharmaceutical companies with state-of-the-art facilities struggle to cultivate rare herbs — and here was an ordinary person attempting it.

Still, she continued.

"It's an energy fridge. It was brought over from the Murim Tower as-is, so it might be possible."

Well, if that's the case. Hmm.

As she and I moved toward making a deal, the shop owner's expression soured.

The owner raised his voice.

"Hey, young lady! While we're on the subject of spears, what about this?"

The owner went into the back of the shop and ca out with a long wooden box, which he set before Chief Han.

The lacquered black wooden box was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay.

By its size and shape, it was clearly a spear inside.

Click.

She opened the box and let out a gasp.

"Oh—!"

A sleek yet imposing spear blade held a golden hue.

The shaft wound with a golden dragon, and at the tip, red tassels fluttered in the breeze, radiating a fierce presence.

The only flaw was that the shaft was snapped, and everything below the midpoint was simply gone.

"This is broken. There's only half of it."

"Now now, just pick it up."

The shop owner spoke with a tone full of confidence.

"It's the Azure Dragon Spear. I've been saving this one for real. If my husband finds out I sold it, there might be hell to pay…… well, better to sell it when a custor with deep pockets shows up."

She examined the spear closely and said—

"It looks like it could be fine if repaired."

"Exactly. I knew you'd have an eye for it."

"And the price?"

"A bit expensive. Twelve billion."

Twelve billion? For this?

I made a face of disbelief, but Chief Han actually looked tempted.

"It's good, but twelve billion is too expensive."

"My goodness. What are you saying? Twelve billion is actually cheap for this."

Swish.

The owner leaned forward and whispered in a low voice.

"It was made by the Iron Instrunt God."

"The Iron Instrunt God?!"

"That's right. You know too, don't you? That sothing made by the Iron Instrunt God is cheap even at a hundred billion. It's only half, but twelve billion is practically a giveaway."

"……"

"Even the sword belonging to Jang Ae-guk — that was an Iron Instrunt God piece too, wasn't it. Well, it's been handed over to Japan now. Rotten bastard."

The owner sighed and turned the Azure Dragon Spear over to show the other side.

Iron Instrunt God.

Those three characters were engraved in a sleek script.

At the sight of them, Chief Han's eyes went wide.

"Where did you get this?"

"Ahh, why would you ask that? You know asking about origins in the Black Market is taboo."

She placed a hand on her chin and made a thoughtful expression.

Hold on — so what about my Blood Cloud Blossom?

Never mind the Blood Cloud Blossom for now — the Iron Instrunt God?

That was sothing I couldn't let slide.

I called out in a loud voice.

"That's a fake."

"What?"

"What — what did you say?"

"And a sloppy one at that."

I pointed to the part where Iron Instrunt God was written.

"The character in Iron Instrunt God is vessel, as in the character for vessel. Not chanism, as in the character for chanism."

"……!"

"The spear itself is good. Fine enough to be called a masterwork. But it doesn't co close to a genuine Iron Instrunt God piece."

"Goodness gracious! This person doesn't know what he's talking about!"

You're the one who doesn't know.

It's true that the Azure Dragon Spear was made by the Iron Instrunt God, but the genuine article is in the hands of the head of the Shandong Ak Family — renowned as masters of spear arts.

The Shandong Ak Family hadn't even appeared up through the 37th floor.

Of course, being the Murim Tower, it might drop unexpectedly, but still.

Sothing about this is off.

The shape is almost identical to the Azure Dragon Spear I know, but there's sothing subtly crude about it.

It doesn't feel like sothing created by the Tower either.

The shop owner burst out.

"Hey, you! Sticking your nose in with half-baked knowledge — do you know how long I've been running this shop?! Seven years!"

"Wrong is wrong."

"Why you—!"

As the owner began rolling up his sleeves and hurling curses, Chief Han grabbed my wrist and led outside.

"Let's go."

The shop owner was still screaming insults outside.

……Didn't expect that from him.

The two of us were now alone, away from anyone else.

Chief Han let out a short breath—"Huu—" — and spoke to .

"Thank you. I nearly got fooled."

"The shop owner probably didn't know either. Well then, I'll be off."

I turned to leave.

Grab!

She seized my wrist and asked.

"Where did you learn about the Iron Instrunt God?"

The subtle surge of energy that passed through the hand gripping mine.

That wasn't a question. It was an interrogation.

"That's classified information."

A dangerous gleam began to surface in her eyes.