Chapter 337: Chapter 337

Garhansha picked up the cup with a slightly sullen expression. He then suddenly remembered an old story of a vampire wandering in the Abyss.

-A vampire wandered aimlessly through the Abyss and ended up staying the night in a cave. As he went to sleep, he realized he was thirsty, so he tried finding something to drink. He quickly found a corpse which still had fresh blood. The vampire thanked his luck and quenched his thirst with the fresh blood; it was unbelievably delicious. However, at dawn, the vampire realized that he hadn’t drunk blood from a corpse, but water from a wooden bucket!

‘Indeed, everything depends on the mindset. I shall drink in gratitude of the wishes of the honorable one.’

Garhansha respected Choi Yeonseung, so he couldn’t ignore his gesture of goodwill.

The vampire gulped down the tomato juice.

“...!”

He was impressed by the taste

‘How?!’

Garhansha had lived in the Abyss for a long time and enjoyed all types of luxuries, but this was the first time he drank something like this.

Was this how it felt to wander through the desert for three days and three nights, tormented by an agonizing thirst, not finding a single drop of water, only to finally gulp down the cold spring water?

Was this what icy fruit juice tasted like after finally escaping a searing prison cell constantly heated by fire?

The tomato juice slightly touched Garhansha’s tongue, then it glided seamlessly down his esophagus, the exquisite taste leaving the vampire mesmerized.

‘Delicious...!’

Garhansha quivered. This tomato juice contained a surprising amount of potent magic power.

Not all magic power was the same; this one encapsulated the majestic vitality of the earth…

“Is it that bad? You don’t have to drink it.”

Choi Yeonseung took the cup away as he got a bit worried. He regretted having given Garhansha tomato juice made from the tomatoes grown by the orcs instead of blood.

This wasn’t the Fox and Crane. Giving tomato juice to a vampire was probably a bad idea...

“No! This tomato juice is exquisite! Only a constellation could’ve made something so pristine!”

“...?!”

How did Garhansha know?

“Thank you so much, human. I never thought someone would treat me with such gracious hospitality.”

Garhansha seemed even more impressed.

“Why did you call me, Garhansha? I shall do whatever I can to help you as long as it doesn’t taint my honor.”

Choi Yeonseung opened up about Almagoria, the vampire who had appeared in Guangzhou.

Garhansha listened attentively and nodded in understanding.

“Of course I know him. Almagoria… He is an old vampire. Most mortals in the Abyss probably don’t know about him. He is the one who lost a civil war among the vampires a long time ago.”

Vampires took bloodlines very seriously. The families that shared the same blood were united with a tight bond. Once outsiders, enemies, came in, those families fought fiercely to defend their lineage; they would never surrender.

Almagoria was the head and chief vampire of one of those vampire clans.

“In a way, you could say Almagoria was like me. However, he was ruthless and had no honor. He killed his own people over and over again and drained their blood.”

“I see...”

“Many clans were outraged by his atrocities and decided to take him down. Almagoria managed to escape but lost most of his power. No matter how much the other vampires searched for Almagoria, they couldn’t find a single trace of him. I wondered what happened, but it turns out that he was hiding, disguising himself as a different creature.”

“What is he like? Does he have any weaknesses? What does he like?”

“Almagoria is a vampire as strong as me. He might actually be stronger than me if he’s regained his full strength. As for things he likes… He’s obsessed with titles. His pursuit of titles betrays his unparalleled vanity. Call him a king and he’ll love it,” Garhansha said contemptuously.

‘He’s already claiming to be a king...’ Choi Yeonseung thought to himself as he remembered the specific details of the Guangzhou incident.

“Do you think sending another vampire will help with the negotiations?” Choi Yeonseung wondered.

“No. Given how conceited he is, it’s better for another Abyssal race to go. Once you meet him, compliment him on everything: the way he speaks, the way he fights, the way he handles his subordinates… Everything.”

‘This sounds somewhat familiar.’

Choi Yeonseung suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. Why did he feel this?

‘...Ah, it was the same dealing with the goddess of balance...’

-......

***

-It would be suicide to go to Guangzhou right now. There’s a huge barrier in place. They’ll detect you the moment you step foot into the city.

-Their defenses are no joke. Not only have they stolen military equipment, but they’ve also gathered new monsters. They even have the captive hunters!

-It’s virtually impossible to overpower them...

-Shut up!

The government officials responded fiercely to reports from the clans stuck in Guangzhou.

Caring for each individual clan and hunter wasn’t the style of the Chinese government. They preferred quantity over quality.

If one hunter needed help, they would send ten hunters to rescue them. If ten hunters needed help, they would send a hundred after them.

...That was the style of the Chinese government!

-Tell the clans at the scene that this Guangzhou incident is the fault of the clans who failed to contain it in the first place. Tell them that their sins can only be absolved if they come forward.

In response to the government’s response orders, the hunters reflected on it...

...No, they didn’t do that.

-What bullshit sins are you talking about?

-If I remember correctly, there were outside warnings, right? It was the government and businesses who ignored the warning! Didn’t those Saishin bastards screw up while they were experimenting?

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung gave that warning, but how did you react?

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung warned you. Don’t spread false rumors about us failing to stop the crisis. Who would do something like that?

The government tried to shut down the complaints from the hunters, but there were too many eyes on them to do so.

-The Korean people and the employees from Dragon Industry were evacuated before it got worse. If that wasn’t a clear warning, I don’t know what is. Should I go to the Tiananmen Square and hang a placard?

-I was contacted personally as well! Choi Yeonseung even contacted all the clans involved! Why are you lying like this?

-You people are foreign spies who want to see the party fall...

-I am going to die either way. Try me, asshole!

Bang!

The situation had become too much even for the Chinese hunters who could somewhat oppose the government. The clans erupted and ran wild. If they were going to die either way, they would do everything they could before they kicked the bucket!

One clan attacked a military base, destroying all the supplies there, and tried to flee to the United States. Another clan forced a party official to do bungee jumping without the cord before defecting to Japan.

Given the bleak situation, the Chinese government hastily changed its orders.

-Defend your current positions. There is no need to forcefully enter Guangzhou.

-This incident has been caused by the lack of discipline and moral insensitivity among several party officials. They have been punished, so hunters, please continue to be loyal!

“Is the president dead???”

“They’re being way too reasonable! This is terrifying!”

Whenever people did something extremely out of character it meant that something was horribly wrong. The Chinese government would always resort to aggression and intimidation. Thus, the hunters were horrified when they were offered the carrot instead of the stick.

“How can they just admit it like this? I’ve never seen it before.”

“This makes me even more scared as to what they’re about to do…

“Can I go into exile in Guangzhou? Will the vampire accept me?”

“...I really want to say that it’s a crazy idea, but I can’t, and I hate myself for that. If worst comes to worst, let’s go to Guangzhou. Serving a vampire is better than dying.”

***

The Korean companies that hadn’t evacuated despite the warnings were distressed. They couldn’t act as brazenly as the Chinese companies.

Chinese companies could use threats and say, “We have a ton of money and can afford to kill people. What’s the problem? Do you guys want to go after people too?”

The party could make any complaint disappear.

However, nobody could do something like that in South Korea.

The moment a Korean company said something like “Oh, I can make some money and kill people,” then the main gate of the company’s headquarters would be smashed open and the chairman would get dragged into the street and beaten to a pulp.

Now these companies had to rescue the Korean employees trapped in Guangzhou...

“Let’s ask Hunter Choi Yeonseung for a favor. Try to convince him by appealing to his emotions. Tell him how important human lives are.”

“But didn’t we completely disregard his warning?”

“Just use the excuse that the quotas forced us to keep those employees there! That’s the truth! It’s no one’s fault. If you wanna blame something, blame capitalism. We’re all victims here.”

The director’s excuse seemed to have moved Choi Yeonseung as he immediately mobilized the South Korean media and launched an attack.

-Company A ignored it and kept working even though an evacuation order was issued... Shocking!

-Even though the employees tried to leave, the higher-ups at Company B told them, “Is Hunter Choi Yeonseung a god? If you don’t want to lose your job, keep working!”... Frightening!

-Have the companies that remained in Guangzhou taken bribes from the Chinese executives?

“What?! If he has complaints, he should take it up with us. Why is he publicly slandering us? Isn’t he crossing the line?”

“They’re blowing this way out of proportion. Have they forgotten how much money they usually make?”

“I didn’t take bribes from the Chinese officials! What kind of bastard tells blatant lies like that?!”

The moment the media flapped their wings, a storm swept over the companies, causing their stock prices to plummet.

-I knew those bastards were going to do this. Shouldn’t the assholes who forced the employees to stay go to Guangzhou?

-They have no conscience.

-My uncle is currently trapped there! Shouldn’t we sue?

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung warned them eleven times. Didn’t they ignore it? Are they stupid or deaf? Or both??

The public opinion was so hostile that the executives of the companies immediately held a meeting to deal with it. Of course, a meeting for countermeasures didn’t always yield useful results…

“...Let’s apologize to Hunter Choi Yeonseung and beg him to help us.”

“...”

The South Korean companies waved the white flag.

-We’ll never ignore your warnings ever again, so please give us another chance...

The moment the American companies saw this, they had an epiphany. It was better to apologize than to end up buried in controversy...!

-We were wrong. We apologize!

-......

The executives of the Korean companies were furious when they heard that the US companies sent someone to apologize.

-They’re only doing this because we got into trouble first...!

***

“Long live His Majesty, the great ruler of Guangzhou, Emperor Xia Ling!”

“Long live His Majesty, the great ruler of Guangzhou, Emperor Xia Ling!”

“...”

Loud voices were heard as soon as he arrived at the airport. It was the airport staff shouting in unison.

Choi Yeonseung glanced suspiciously at them.

-We’re doing this because we want to. We’re doing this to survive.

-Understandable.

At the airport, there was already a pamphlet that had ‘The Governing Philosophy of the Xia Ling Empire’ written on it.

Choi Yeonseung wasn’t necessarily curious, but he read it regardless.

-The Xia Ling Empire is an absolute monarchy.

-The sovereignty of the Xia Ling Empire resides within Xia Ling. All power comes from Xia Ling.

-The territory of the Xia Ling Empire...

-......

-The Xia Ling Empire doesn’t have the freedom of blood. Blood every week...

-......

“I think it’s even worse than a constellation...”

Garhansha had said that Almagoria had originally been an efficient dictator and that he had done more things for his kingdom than other ruling constellations.

Weirdly enough, it didn’t feel that odd when looking at the streets from outside the airport. It looked like any other dictatorship.

“Welcome!”

Xia Ling had already built a decent palace.

The moment Choi Yeonseung arrived there, the hunters next to him instructed him on how to behave.

“Lay down and bow.”

“...I’m from a democratic country. I don’t bow to rulers. It’s been a long time since my country had a king.”

Xia Ling became furious. “How dare you disrespect me like that...?”

“Oh, I mean no disrespect. If I didn’t acknowledge Your Majesty, would I even be here?” Choi Yeonseung said quickly before Xia Ling got even more angry.

Xia Ling nodded in agreement when he heard “Your Majesty.”

“Fine, I allow you to speak. What have you come here to say?”

“I acknowledge Your Majesty’s kingdom, no, empire. However, other powers in the world don’t recognize your empire and are interfering with it.”

“Umm... That seems to be the case. After all, the Americans...”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s the Chinese who are standing in your way!”

“What? I thought they were Americans...”

“Your Majesty, think carefully. Can the United States act without China’s surveillance? They’re being pressured by China to act like this. Haven’t you learnt to do this too, Your Majesty?”

“Indeed, I have.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was speechless. Was it working?

‘What kind of education did he get?’