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Chapter 619. Face to Face (4)

After that, the Martial Assembly became mind-numbingly busy.

This was how all epoch-changing \'events\' played out, anyway—rather than the actual event itself, the clean-up afterward was usually much harder to deal with. And the ripples from last night\'s battles had left behind a much bigger impact than Lee Hyeon-Su had anticipated. The number of injured people was figuratively uncountable, while scores had died.

Obviously the aftermath wouldn\'t be straightforward at all. And the responsibility of handling all this mess was naturally dumped on the shoulders of one poor man.

“I bloody knew it! Why don\'t you just freaking shoot me or something!”

Lee Hyeon-Su was already regretting his life decisions while glaring at the mountain of paperwork sitting pretty right before his eyes. Why did they have to go and start this whole damn thing? When it was plainly obvious that he\'d have to deal with the aftermath!

“Sir! They say they don\'t have enough hospital beds!”

“What the f*ck!” Lee Hyeon-Su roared at his subordinate. “Haven\'t I told you to find more hospital beds already?! Are you telling me you still haven\'t found any yet?!”

“But, sir! We\'ve already called up every hospital we have connections with. Sending the injured to unaffiliated regular hospitals will only get the police involved!”

“Fine! What about doctors, then? Can\'t we just call some doctors and have them look at the injured? Shouldn\'t that be enough?”

“Please calm down, branch director! Sir, them being martial artists is the only thing keeping them alive. Without their stubborn cockroach-like lifeforce, they would all be dead by now.”

“Argh...!” Lee Hyeon-Su rubbed his face hard.

All these injured people... Goddamn injured bastards! Lee Hyeon-Su suddenly realized why landmines to blow up people\'s ankles were commonly used in war. He used to wonder what the rationale behind targeting people\'s legs instead of killing them outright was since the invention of land mines. But now...!

He was being flooded with so much understanding right now after trying to deal with these many injured people! As it turned out, one of the best ways to paralyze an organization was flooding it with lots and lots of injured people requiring urgent medical care!

Manpower exhausted while dealing with just a single injured person was far greater than Lee Hyeon-Su had bargained for.

“If we can\'t handle them all, send the injured to the Yeongnam Branch, too. That side also knows more than a few friendly hospitals," said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Transportation is not going to be easy, sir. Some of the injured are in critical condition, you see...”

“Fine! I\'ll get emergency helicopters ready, so send those with serious but stable conditions on ambulances in the meantime!”

“Yes, sir!”

Lee Hyeon-Su spat out a lengthy groan. “That\'s the situation with the injured, but... How are things on the media or the socials? Have any civilians caught wind of what happened?”

“We\'re busy monitoring both the social media and other online communities. So far, there aren\'t any rumblings yet.”

“Well, that\'s good to hear,” Lee Hyeon-Su sighed again, this time out of relief.

\'Gee whiz... It\'s so bloody hard to make a living in this era.\'

In the past, people like Lee Hyeon-Su didn\'t need to worry about any of this kind of stuff. If someone accidentally took a photo and released it to the public, martial artists could argue that it was a composite job or an attempt at ghost photography to discredit it. If that didn\'t work, they could always resort to money and coercion to make the photographer \'confess\' that the photo had been manipulated.

But the era had changed too much to do that. From smartphones to in-car cameras and black boxes, and even countless CCTV cameras... In this day and age, cameras could be found literally everywhere. Staying below the radar had become so much harder as a result.

If someone snapped a photo, it\'d spread online in the proverbial blink of an eye. Back when Lee Hyeon-Su was still working for the Yeongnam Group, a drunk martial artist got pictured using a movement technique to scythe his way through a crowded street. Remembering how much weight and sleep Lee Hyeon-Su had to lose while trying to bury that situation sent a shiver down his spine!

\'Right, not just my weight, I also lost blood back then, too... Way too much blood!\'

In any case... What a relief it was, then, that no one snapped a photo of this latest event.

\'Damn it. Things keep growing in scale, and that\'s giving me new problems to deal with...\'

Eyewitness problems weren\'t as concerning when only a handful of martial artists moved around and fought each other. But large-scale conflicts were seemingly happening with more regularity these days, and that worried Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Argh, my head... This damn migraine...”

Lee Hyeon-Su groaned loudly.

\'Gimme a break...\'

Despite his complaints, though, Lee Hyeon-Su was glad about suffering from only a migraine. If things had gone sideways, whining like this would be the last thing on his mind. Indeed, he could complain like this only because the Assembly\'s in-house clean-up event had been resolved as optimally as possible.

“By the way, did you secure Miss Lee Hyeon-Ju\'s safety?”

The subordinate nodded back at Lee Hyeon-Su. “Yes. She was found at the mansion.”

“So? Where is she now?”

“For the time being, she\'s under arrest.”

Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head. “Huh? Why?”

“Well, she\'s still Lee Jung-Geol\'s granddaughter, so we weren\'t sure what she might do...”

“It\'s fine. Let her go.”

“Sorry?”

“I said, let the woman go. You dumbass, are we still living in the Joseon dynasty or something? Are you applying that guilty by association rule to her now?”

“N-no, but...”

“Besides, wasn\'t she being confined, too? Do you have a hobby of locking up your collaborators?”

“...My bad, sir.”

“And we need to hold Lee Jung-Geol\'s funeral too, right? One of his disciples should be the chief mourner, but that doesn\'t mean she\'s not allowed to participate, or am I wrong? Release her already... No, hang on. Bring her to me. I need to personally apologize.”

“Huh? But, uh, is there a need to go that far, sir?”

“Even if she\'s from a disgraced family, Lee Hyeon-Ju is still royalty, you dumbass. No matter what, her being Lee Jung-Geol\'s granddaughter will appeal to the boomers in our ranks. Sure, those old timers won\'t act like rash idiots again, but that doesn\'t mean they\'ll suddenly become cooperative, either. So, we need a way to pacify them.”

“Understood, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su sighed while shaking his head.

\'Man, so bloody complicated. Complicated, I tell ya...\'

Nothing in this world was easy. At least half the members of the Martial Assembly formed Lee Jung-Geol\'s support base. Even after absorbing the Yeongnam Group, that percentage would still be around one-third of the total.

It\'d be unreasonable to kill all those people. So, they simply eliminated, arrested, or crippled the elders and directors acting like the foundations of the support base. With them gone, the base should gradually get absorbed into other factions or fracture into pieces without Lee Hyeon-Su needing to do something about them.

\'And we\'ve thoroughly demonstrated our combat power, too...\'

Vator and Wiggins had done a far better job than Lee Hyeon-Su had anticipated. Those who witnessed those two men\'s outstanding powers were shocked out of their minds and had already begun spreading \'rumors\' around. With that, no one would dare raise objections toward the Assembly\'s combat power.

As for soothing those old timers who offered their lives and acted like a bunch of noisy boomers... Director Jo Nam-Pyeong should be able to calm them down. Well, Lee Hyeon-Su \'won\' Jo Nam-Pyeong over to his side precisely for this job, didn\'t he?

“Fuu-woo... Finally finished, huh?” Lee Hyeon-Su sighed while leaning back against his chair.

“Branch director, you still need to attend that meeting.”

“...What? It\'s already that time? Did Mister Jin-Ho arrive, too?”

“Yes, sir. I received word that he arrived some time ago.”

“Dang it. I\'m on my way. You deal with the rest of the paperwork.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su urgently got up and rushed toward the conference room.

***

“You\'re late, you dipsh*t!”

When Lee Hyeon-Su arrived at the conference room, he was greeted by a very unhappy boar who looked suspiciously like Bang Jin-Hun!

“My apologies, sir.”

“You son of a... Hey, listen here! What you did was not nice, okay! That\'s not how a person should behave! You provided full support to everyone and sent them to important places, yet how dare you toss me some sundry chores?! Wait, is it because you have grudges against me or something? Is that it?”

“Definitely not, sir!” Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly shook his head. However, Bang Jin-Hun continued to glare at him like an ax murderer, and Lee Hyeon-Su could only avoid meeting the big man\'s eyes. \'What the heck... What was I supposed to do, then?\'

Of course Bang Jin-Hun was an important combat asset to the Assembly. However, his role became somewhat... diluted after Wiggins and Vator joined the organization. In terms of pure combat strength, Bang Jin-Hun couldn\'t even hold a candle to those two men. Which meant the current Assembly Master could only show his worth on things like leadership.

So, Lee Hyeon-Su assigned Bang Jin-Hun the role of leading his men to the Yeongnam Branch and tying up the rogue combatants from setting out to assist their elders, but... It seemed that Bang Jin-Hun\'s short fuse ran out too quickly last night, and he ended up beating some rebellious martial artists up.

“Assembly Master, I\'m being honest here. There was no one else but you who could do that role. Seriously.”

“I don\'t care, you brat. I\'m still pissed, okay?” Bang Jin-Hun tutted, then pouted deeply.

“Heol...” Kang Jin-Ho, sitting silently not too far from Bang Jin-Hun, chuckled helplessly at this temper tantrum.

Lee Hyeon-Su\'s expression brightened at Kang Jin-Ho\'s reaction.

\'Good. I guess his mood has improved.\'

Last night, Kang Jin-Ho didn\'t look so good on his way home after eliminating Lee Jung-Geol. But his mood seemed to have improved again. Truth be told, Lee Hyeon-Su had never seen a hint of depression in Kang Jin-Ho\'s expression until last night.

“Thank you for all your hard work last night,” said Kang Jin-Ho to everyone in the conference room.

Bang Jin-Hun suddenly groaned at that. “Mister Jin-Ho...”

“Yes?”

“You know, you don\'t need to use polite speech to me.”

“I\'m sorry?”

Bang Jin-Hun glanced at the others before carrying on. “I\'m the only person here that you use polite speech to speak to, isn\'t that right? That kinda makes me uncomfortable, you see? So, no more polite speeches, please.”

“No, wait a minute. That is not...”

“Even I feel uncomfortable about a much-older elderly gent speaking politely to me, you know?”

“...Who is this much-older elderly gent here?”

“Oh? You got triggered by that?” Bang Jin-Hun looked genuinely pleased by that revelation.

However, a thick vein was popping up on Kang Jin-Ho\'s forehead. Who the hell was an elderly gent here!

Bang Jin-Hun roundly ignored that unhappy look on Kang Jin-Ho\'s face and continued to speak. “I mean, let\'s be real here, Mister Jin-Ho. So what if your physical body is young? When your mind is as old as a human can get? Just admit it and use informal speech with me already.”

“Even so, I...”

“Oh? Then, you don\'t mind if I call you Mister Elderly?”

“...Informal speech it is, then.” Kang Jin-Ho sighed grandly. It seemed words wouldn\'t get through to Bang Jin-Hun here. After a brief head shake, Kang Jin-Ho addressed everyone in the conference room. “Mm, so... You all worked hard during the night.”

Bang Jin-Hun shrugged his shoulders. “Nah, it was alright.”

Wiggins coolly nodded. “I only did what\'s expected of me, my lord.”

“Let\'s not beat around the bush anymore and get to the main topic. Lee Hyeon-Su?”

“Yes, sir.” Lee Hyeon-Su quickly got to the debriefing. “Elders from the Yeongnam Branch and those captured in Lee Jung-Geol\'s residence last night are all under arrest, at least for the time being.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “Okay. What about the injured?”

“We ran out of hospital beds, so we\'re trying to source more through hospitals connected to the Yeongnam Branch.”

“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded contemplatively.

Lee Hyeon-Su cautiously raised his voice. “Uhm... Will those guys be okay? You know, from last night?”

“They only have minor injuries. They will be fine,” said Kang Jin-Ho as if there was nothing to be worried about.

\'...You consider such injuries as minor?\'

Lee Hyeon-Su blinked his eyes, wondering that maybe, Kang Jin-Ho didn\'t understand the meaning of \'minor\'.

After all, normal people suffering from such injuries would\'ve gone straight to the ICU or into a casket. Even if the injured were martial artists, was it okay to dismiss their injuries as \'minor\' like this?

\'Yup, it\'s the end of the world, alright...\'

Not because someone like Kang Jin-Ho existed, but the ironic fact that he was planning to start a welfare foundation, of course!

\'Should I get the members of the Assembly to hold a protest or something?\'

It seemed quite likely that Kang Jin-Ho didn\'t view martial artists as potential welfare recipients. Wasn\'t that a clear case of reverse discrimination against martial artists?!

However, what could Lee Jung-Geol or anyone else do about it? Other than shut their mouths since they didn\'t have the power to change anything?

“...Also, there is the matter of taking care of Lee Jung-Geol\'s funeral,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“His funeral? Why?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“The former Assembly Master didn\'t leave behind any surviving children, you see. The only blood relative is his granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter, you say...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered quietly as the image of Lee Hyeon-Ju entered his mind.

“It\'s kind of awkward to leave the chief mourner role to a granddaughter, Mister Jin-Ho. I was thinking of supervising the funeral under the Martial Assembly\'s banner but letting one of Lee Jung-Geol\'s disciples perform the chief mourner role.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly rubbed his chin. “Hmm? Wouldn\'t that be a little too awkward? Our side was responsible for killing him, so for us to hold his funeral...”

“That\'s more the reason why we should do it, Mister Jin-Ho. Lee Jung-Geol\'s followers are all as old-school as you can get. Old timers like them can get rather obsessed about the funeral and handling of the legacy after death. I have no doubt that their dissatisfaction will fade to some degree if we respectfully treat Lee Jung-Geol as the former Assembly Master and hold a grand funeral.”

“Hmm...” Bang Jin-Hun nodded slowly. “You\'re right. Those old folks are like that. So, have you found a suitable disciple yet?”

“Not yet, sir. We\'re still choosing the most suitable candidate.”

“I see. Don\'t bother. I\'ll do it.”

“I\'m sorry?” Lee Hyeon-Su blinked his eyes in confusion.

“This is what state funerals are like, right? If the country is holding the funeral, the government will select the chief mourner. Since the Assembly will be holding the funeral... It\'s only right that I take up the role of the chief mourner.”

“Well, if you\'re willing to do that...!” Lee Hyeon-Su smiled brightly in sheer happiness while staring at Bang Jin-Hun.

“Don\'t grin like that, you brat. I might start liking you if you keep this up. And that\'s the last thing I want.”

“...You\'re so decisive, sir.”

“Tsk...” Bang Jin-Ho tutted, then changed the topic as if this matter had been settled. “Before all that, though. Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes, Mister Bang?”

“No, it\'s not Mister Bang. I told you, drop the polite speech. Please.”

“Hah-ah...” Kang Jin-Ho held his forehead while grimacing. What had gotten into Bang Jin-Hun today?

Bang Jin-Hun ignored that reaction and carried on. “It\'s time to settle this.”

“What do you mean?”

“After the funeral is over and done with, I\'m going to resign from my post, so you take it over. Please.”

“...I\'m sorry?” Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes in shock.

“I already heard it from Lee Hyeon-Su. Lee Jung-Geol wanted you to take over the Assembly Master role, didn\'t he?”

“...”

“Which is perfect, really. I don\'t want to keep doing this job, anyway. Even if you insist I stay on, I\'m still nothing more than a figurehead, or am I wrong? Rather than getting all red-faced later, let\'s sort this out right now. Let me repeat myself. My plan is to resign from my post after the funeral, so let\'s not dither about and make it happen, eh? Okay?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced. What \'okay\' was Bang Jin-Hun even talking about?!

Whether it was this guy or that other dude, they just didn\'t want to leave a man alone!