The Regressor Only Protects Me Chapter 77

#Episode 77. Double Operation (3)

“… … This isn’t it?”

Madame lifted her glass after saying those words.

The sound of her gulping down soju lingered in Zion’s ears.

Dark clouds gathered.

The welcoming atmosphere changed in an instant with Madame’s one word.

Zion frowned at the changed atmosphere.

In fact, the hierarchical relationship between the two was clear.

Zion was above, and Madame was below.

Zion was the monarch of a certain force, and Madame was a high-ranking official under the monarch of that force.

It was this madam who expressed her dissatisfaction to the monarch.

Madame was showing off her influence.

Madame subtly revealed that she held power that was comparable to that of other monarchs.

And above all, Madame was a businesswoman.

A businessman hates to suffer losses.

“Two of our gamblers have died. And you’re telling me that they were pretty good people, right? Gambling is the best entertainment and tourist attraction in our town. But now that you’ve killed such experts, what’s the cost to me? I have to calculate this.”

Madame picked up a biscuit and broke it in half.

And I took a bite and chewed it thoroughly.

“I can’t help but take it as an act of provocation. The Lord of Manan suddenly came and killed our expert… What would you have done? You would have executed him or taken him to the guillotine and killed him, right? If I had done that.”

The madam was blaming him for killing her men in the tavern.

But Zion had no other option in mind.

Because I thought that if I just killed her subordinates, I would be able to meet her.

In the end, that thought was right.

Because of this, Madame was wary of Zion, but Zion was not like that at all.

Just as Madame knew about Zion, Zion also knew information about Madame.

chin.

Zion placed five packs of cigarettes on the desk.

Madame, who was tearing off a biscuit little by little with her fingernails, took a look at the cigarette pack and then smiled.

Zion said, shoving a cigarette in Madame’s hand.

“I heard that one pack of cigarettes will kill a person. They are experts in their own right, so they give two packs each. The remaining pack is an apology. And this is a deposit for now.”

The cost of murder is at most a pack of cigarettes.

In this world, a person’s life was worth a pack of cigarettes.

And from the beginning, I was planning to give this to Madam as a courtesy.

What was important was what came next.

Jiiiiiik-.

Jin Jae-hee, who was standing nearby, opened the zipper of a large bag and took out a black envelope.

And she carefully took the pack of cigarettes out of the envelope and stacked them one by one.

For a moment, Madame’s eyebrows furrowed.

Chin, chin, chin, chin, chin!

Ten packs of cigarettes.

Two thousand cigarettes.

By their calculations, it was worth a hundred human lives.

A huge amount of money that could buy a small force whole.

Besides, this ten-year deposit was a deposit.

“… … !?”

Squeak-.

The startled madam straightened her back.

It was a huge amount of money.

The currency that circulated in Man-gyeong was basically lighters, but cigarettes also had value.

This was because most powers used cigarettes as currency.

That is, to the local residents, the tobacco baron was like a giant gold bar.

“Ahaha… … No. What is it… … ?”

The smile never left Madame’s face.

Such a big deal.

It hasn’t happened since the league started.

The biggest deal for Madame was one bulwark.

“Hahahaha… … Ah, wait a minute. Wow-.”

The threatening words that had been used just a moment ago were nowhere to be found.

Madame interlocked her fingers and moved them wildly.

He couldn’t control his emotions because of the huge amount of money.

Madame is a thorough businesswoman.

Zion took advantage of that merchant’s temperament.

He was trying to negotiate with the madam, offering an amount on a different level from that of the previous monarch.

“Okay, Your Majesty. Good. Good. Perfect. Tell me. What kind of deal do you want with me?”

Now the madam seemed to have forgotten about the gamblers who had died earlier.

In the end, Zion was able to bring out the story he wanted.

“I have only two suggestions.”

Zion continued calmly, stating the two conditions.

“Not to pass on any information about the Manan forces to the current monarch. And one more thing.”

Madame’s expression slowly brightened as she listened to him.

But Madame frowned when she heard the second condition.

* * *

After the deal with Madame was over, Sion and Jaehee returned to Man-gyeong.

In Man-gyeong, the police station building was like an emperor’s palace to the residents.

No one was allowed to enter the West, and only those who were permitted were allowed entry.

Security was so tight that even those with permission were not allowed to enter above the 4th floor of the police station.

From the 4th to the 5th floor.

Both floors were Zion’s personal offices.

It was full of Zion’s unique facilities.

Shower, bath, restaurant, bookstore, personal space, and even a safe.

It was a space created by the managers.

Zion said that he only needed an office space, but his managers had different opinions.

The existence of Kang Shi-on went beyond the concept of a simple monarch.

The people thought that Zion would soon become a power, and that Zion’s fall would mean their own fall.

Kang Shi-on was the force, and the force was Kang Shi-on.

The popularity of one monarch has shaped his power in this way.

The day that King Kang Shion falls, the people of Man-gyeong will also crumble like a sand castle before the waves.

So the managers had no choice but to devote their utmost attention to Zion’s safety.

In fact, the managers were also negative about Kang Shi-on leaving the force.

Because it’s dangerous.

But Zion was not one to listen.

On days like this when I went to Bisan, the managers were in an uproar.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“You shouldn’t keep wandering around. Even if Jin Jae-hee is following you around… … .”

“First, please get a checkup. The doctor is waiting.”

As Zion walked down the long police station hallway, the chief and deputy chiefs followed behind him like a tail.

Zion ignored their opinions and headed towards the vault.

I knew very well what the managers were thinking, but I just couldn’t get used to being nagged at for every little thing.

Zion arrived at the vault room and took the key out of his pocket.

A pile of keys.

Most of the rooms here were accessible by key.

And the key was only held by Zion and the chief priests.

Zion took off his beanie, put it under his armpit, and began searching through the pile of keys for the safe room key.

Clink, clink.

The sound of keys clinking against each other was loud.

“When will you hear the report? The managers are waiting.”

The woman who was the chief of order asked cautiously.

Zion, who was still searching for the key, answered her words.

“Do I need to hear the report? Aren’t you doing well?”

In fact, even without receiving reports on a daily basis, the abilities of the managers and executives were outstanding.

Of course, that would be so, since each and every one of them was directly appointed by Zion.

The fact that the power was able to grow to this point was largely due to the role of the heads of each division.

Clank- clack.

Zion found the key, put it in the hole, and turned it.

Creak… … .

The old iron door began to open with a loud creaking of its hinges.

Zion looked back at them.

“For the time being, I don’t have the luxury of worrying about internal affairs. Just report to me the information that is absolutely necessary. That’s why you are here. And please prepare war supplies.”

“If you say it is war material.”

“Food, water, weapons, training. That’s it.”

“Your Majesty, then please let me know when. If you start an all-out war with Dongan, I will change the items of production of my forces accordingly and increase efficiency.”

All-out war with Dong-an.

It was an inevitable future.

The managers were also aware of this fact.

Zion remained silent for a moment, then answered.

“… … as soon as possible.”

Creak… … .

The iron door opened, and the contents inside became visible.

A room filled with stacks of cigarettes.

A total of 1,305 bastions.

261,000 units each.

These were the cigarettes that Jin Jae-hee started collecting as soon as the round started.

Jin Jae-hee already knew that cigarettes would become more valuable than gold, and he had been steadily collecting cigarettes for him for the past year and a half.

When the price of cigarettes was low, I started saving them since I could find dozens of cartons just by searching convenience stores or marts.

The result was 1,305 bastions.

Thanks to this, Zion was able to gain an overwhelming financial advantage over other monarchs.

If Madame turned a blind eye to ten cartons of cigarettes, ten cartons of cigarettes were nothing to Zion.

Knock, knock.

Zion stacked the packs of cigarettes he had in his bag back into the safe.

These were the remaining cigarettes left over from the deal with Madame.

* * *

The method Zion came up with to take possession of the ‘river’ was simple.

First of all, Man-gyeong had to avoid any direct clashes with the warriors of the time.

That is why we are using the third force of Manan.

Supporting the 3rd Manan Force with combat troops, keeping Dongangu in check and further ‘hunting’ human hunters.

But during this process, King Park Ji-su would have been suspicious of Man-gyeong.

If Park Ji-soo suspected that Man-gyeong was supporting a third force, an all-out war could have begun from that point on.

So Zion declared war on the Third Power of Manan.

This way, Zion will be able to subdue the enemy’s core forces without Park Ji-soo’s eyes.

The idea was to use politics to gain clear benefits.

Zion was systematically and deliberately confusing the enemy.

Double operation.

Externally, it may seem like they are fighting a battle with a third force, but in reality, they are joining hands with the third force to destroy Dongangu.

By this Zion will possess the river.

The center of that operation was Choi Myeong-jun.

And tonight, the attack will begin.

* * *

“Ready to attack.”

One of the commanders in the blue armband bowed his head to Zion and said.

Zion answered while sitting down.

“Let’s get started.”

“yes.”

The commander bowed his head toward his soldiers.

At Zion’s command, a soldier from Man-Gyeong who was on the roof of the police station turned on his flashlight.

Then he made a shadow of his finger and projected it onto the wall of the building on the opposite side.

Then a giant hand shadow created a pattern on the building.

Another receiver, having confirmed this, repeated the same pattern on the wall of the building across from him.

One, two, three, in relay format.

Receiving posts were stationed at regular intervals to quickly transmit the monarch’s orders to the operational area.

Just like a beacon fire from the Joseon Dynasty.

This type of reception had the advantage of being able to quickly transmit missions to the operational area, but it also had the disadvantage of being possible only at night.

After all, it was a reception using shadows.

That’s why the operation began late at night.

And Choi Myeong-jun, who was stationed at the 3rd Manan Force, confirmed the signal projected on the wall of the building.

A fist made with two hands pressed together.

It was the monarch’s order to attack.

Choi Myeong-jun threw the cigarette he was smoking on the ground and put it out.

Behind him were a hundred fully armed elite troops and three catapults.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“yes!”

The soldiers lowered the catapult pole mounted on the city bus and secured it by wedging it between the window frames of a telephone pole.

Then he grabbed a sack full of glass bottles and placed it on the catapult.

The conductor shouted.

“Ready to fire!”

“firing.”

“firing!”

Chick-.

Choi Myeong-jun turned on his lighter and lit another cigarette.

No matter how expensive cigarettes became, Choi Myeong-jun couldn’t quit smoking.

Phew-.

The projectiles were fired along with the thick smoke from his cigarette.

Choooook- Chook!

With the sound of the wind cutting through, numerous glass bottles floated into the night sky of Anyang City.

The target point is the border area between Dongan and Manan.

It was a defensive force close to Bisan-dong.

(Continued in the next episode)