Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 66

Ranker (5)

 

 

 

Magic Dragon thought as he gradually regained consciousness.

‘Jet… Jet has returned.’

Lee Hyeon, who had returned after breaking the Great Curse called the Ring of Extreme Cold, was like a ghost.

‘He’s become an even more troublesome opponent… Gwiroae is… Gwiroae might be him…!’

That fact sent chills through his mind.

So all he could think about was somehow informing the Committee of this fact.

However,

‘How exactly do I get out of here? I… I no longer have any strength left…!’

The reality he soon realized made him shrink back.

The Thunder God had abandoned him and left.

Nothing remained in his mana circuits.

Even his nervous system seemed damaged – his body was filled only with pain, unable to move even a finger.

‘Still… I endure.’

But despair was only momentary.

Magic Dragon forcibly renewed his resolve.

He was a proud pioneer of the Chinese people.

He should be able to endure such difficulties with a smile as if they were nothing.

‘If I survive… an opportunity will somehow present itself. So for now, I’ll pretend to cooperate as much as possible…’

Magic Dragon followed the protocol Seo Chang-woo had left behind, reviewing what to follow when captured as a prisoner and thinking about how to respond to Lee Hyeon’s interrogation.

“You’re awake. Why don’t you open your eyes?”

Fortunately, Lee Hyeon’s words were still understandable.

Magic Dragon barely opened his eyelids.

But,

Something was strange.

‘His eyes…?’

Lee Hyeon’s eyes were shining with a brilliant golden light.

Paaaa!

 

[Unidentified eyes are observing you.]

 

It felt as if his insides were being read completely.

Still, he thought he had to somehow deceive this guy,

“Pretending to cooperate as much as possible to make me feel at ease?”

“…!?”

Magic Dragon felt his heart sink with a thud.

“That Chang-woo guy really taught you a lot of useless things. Did he tell you all the protocols for when you become a prisoner too?”

“…!”

Now Magic Dragon’s mind turned white as a blank sheet of paper.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t expect you to answer obediently from the start either.”

“…”

“So keep that mindset of yours until the very end. Otherwise, I think I’d feel too disappointed.”

Magic Dragon couldn’t understand what Lee Hyeon was trying to say.

So he forcibly squeezed his throat to say something,

Crack!

Suddenly, a terrible sound of joints twisting came from somewhere inside his body.

At the same time, a chilling coldness climbed up his spine.

Before he could even check what it was, both inside and outside his body were completely covered with frost.

“…!!”

Crack!

He couldn’t even make a sound.

Every muscle felt like it was contracting tightly.

As his blood froze, his blood vessels expanded as if they would tear, and it felt like ice picks were being forcibly shoved into every joint of his bones.

Tremendous cold followed, as if he had fallen into a frozen hell.

‘Ring of Extreme Cold…!!’

Magic Dragon realized the identity of the curse and wanted to scream.

How did Lee Hyeon get this power…!

Crackle!

“…!?”

“Painful, isn’t it?”

“…Kek.”

“You want to say something but it’s hard to get it out. You want to scratch it away with your hands and feet, but it’s inside your body so that’s difficult too.”

“…Urk.”

“You’re being quite dramatic. It’s only been 3 minutes since we started, so you shouldn’t be suffering from just that much. I endured it for over 4 years.”

Ridiculous!

This was absolutely not the kind of pain a human could endure.

How could anyone possibly endure this for 4 years?

‘This means it’s even more vicious than Xu Changyou’s… Does that even make sense?!’

Right. This must all be deception to intimidate him.

This pain must be at its maximum level, and normally it would be much weaker than this.

So before it reaches a bearable level, he’s trying to break my will,

“Oh, by the way, the Ring of Extreme Cold is like compound interest. The longer it goes on, the more severe the freezing becomes and the pain increases. Your pain receptors will also be paralyzed so adrenaline won’t help you.”

“…!?”

“Still, try to endure until the end. You’re the great Magic Dragon, aren’t you?”

Magic Dragon fell straight into a swamp of despair.

 

* * *

 

“Ple… ase… stop this…”

“That depends on your attitude.”

“Questions… Please ask questions…!”

“Name?”

“Wei Gang-ning…”

“Age?”

Lee Gun-san let out a hollow laugh while looking at Magic Dragon covered in frost.

It was exactly 57 minutes.

The time it took for the incredibly stubborn Magic Dragon to be completely knocked down.

It hadn’t even taken an hour.

‘He really endured this terrible thing for 4 years?’

Lee Gun-san sighed while looking at Lee Hyeon.

Though he was called a master, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps even he didn’t truly know his disciple’s real nature.

“…….”

Go Jin-woo, who had been closest to Lee Hyeon, hadn’t said a word for a while now.

Meanwhile, the interrogation was getting to the main point.

“What were you planning to do in Korea?”

“Investigation into Gwiroae…….”

“In detail.”

“A month ago…… in a dungeon under separate management by the committee…… signs of movement were detected from…… a target we had been tracking and observing…….”

「Kekeke. A story related to me, I see.」

Sha Wujing’s cold laughter.

Lee Hyeon looked at Lee Gun-san and Go Jin-woo as he spoke.

“Could you step out for a moment, General?”

“You…….”

“I would appreciate it.”

“……Understood.”

Lee Gun-san realized that Lee Hyeon still had something he wanted to hide, so he turned off the recording button temporarily and went outside with Go Jin-woo.

“Continue speaking.”

“But Gwiroae first appeared where that target had disappeared…….”

What followed was exactly as Lee Hyeon already knew.

But the most important part came right after that.

“Following the elder’s orders, I entered Korea and began the operation…….”

“What was the operation?”

“Investigation into Gwiroae…… Search for Z Team, who were in that dungeon when he was first discovered…….”

“And among them, you suspected me?”

“…….”

“Answer.”

“……Yes.”

The strength completely drained from Magic Dragon’s voice.

“You wouldn’t have just entered Korea normally. Who did you make contact with?”

“White Burn…… Executive Director Jeong Gyu-han.”

Lee Hyeon’s eyes lit up.

This was where the real story began.

“What did you discuss with him, or were there any items you traded?”

“He agreed to build a bridge for our committee to advance into Korea…… We would support him in becoming White Burn’s next representative and help him gain worldwide recognition…….”

“Stop beating around the bush. Just the main point.”

“…….”

“You exchanged something, didn’t you? What was it?”

“…….”

A long silence.

“If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. The one suffering is you, not me anyway.”

When Lee Hyeon started to get up without much regret, Magic Dragon shouted desperately.

“N-no! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you, so please don’t leave me! That, that was…… Kraaaak! Aaak!”

Suddenly, Magic Dragon began trembling violently. This was different from when he suffered from the Ring of Extreme Cold.

His eyes rolled back, and the blood vessels in his neck and face swelled as if they would burst.

「Kekeke. A prohibition spell!」

‘Yes. And it’s quite a high-level technique.’

When trying to reveal important information during interrogation, a subconscious brainwashing was placed to absolutely prevent disclosure.

So that he would kill himself.

But this was useless against Lee Hyeon.

Prohibition spells were ultimately just another type of curse.

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ is activated to begin detoxifying the prohibition spell corrupting the target!]

[Curse Incantations ‘Curse Detection’, ‘Prohibition Interference’, and ‘Suggestion Reversal’ are granted.]

 

Lee Hyeon succeeded in breaking the prohibition spell by waving his hand in the air a few times.

 

[The prohibition spell is forcibly dispelled!]

[Successfully decoded the basic principles of the prohibition spell. The types of curses you can implement have increased.]

 

Crack!

“Haa…… haa…….”

Magic Dragon’s body convulsed greatly then collapsed powerlessly.

His eyes were now filled with confusion.

As if he couldn’t believe it.

“You trusted the prohibition spell as your last resort? Sorry, but it doesn’t work on me.”

Magic Dragon was now truly buried deep underground in a swampland of despair. Even his final scheme had been seen through.

Lee Hyeon seemed to truly read his mind clearly.

「Kekekeke! No matter how high that bastard jumps, he’s still in Son Wukong’s palm under Buddha! Where does he get off trying to be clever in front of our apostle!」

「……Whose palm did you say?」

「Kekeke. No need to be embarrassed. It’s senior brother’s dark history that everyone knows about.」

「This bastard?」

Son Wukong wanted to flick that wicked youngest disciple on the head, but now wasn’t the time since he needed to focus on Magic Dragon’s words.

There would definitely be something related to him in the testimony this guy was about to give.

Sha Wujing felt the same way.

He was just joking around to cheer up Son Wukong, who had become too sentimental since Bull Demon King’s letter,

but he too wanted to hear Magic Dragon’s testimony more than anyone.

Perhaps,

‘Kekeke. He might know the whereabouts of our missing sister-in-law.’

Then, Magic Dragon, who had hit rock bottom in despair, finally opened his mouth.

“……Executive Director Jeong agreed to provide conveniences so our identities wouldn’t be exposed as much as possible. With ‘City Cartel’ and ‘Sons of Zeus’ also entering Korea, we didn’t want any interference.”

City Cartel was the underworld organization Camila belonged to, and Sons of Zeus was an alliance of apostles who inherited the legends of Zeus’s children.

“So what did you give in return?”

“Great Elixir and Small Elixir.”

“Shaolin Temple’s spiritual medicines. What else?”

Magic Dragon hesitated to answer and moved his lips.

But he lowered his head under those golden eyes that still seemed to see through him.

“What is it?”

“……Ah.”

“Speak properly.”

“……The Golden Headband.”

“……!”

「……!!」

「……These crazy bastards!!」

The bombshell declaration he dropped made both Sha Wujing and Son Wukong stir.

Even Sha Wujing, who always wore a good-natured smile, was outraged.

Son Wukong, grinding his teeth, was ready to smash Magic Dragon’s head right then and there.

But Lee Hyeon was only surprised at first, then calmly continued the conversation.

“What was the reason for giving the Golden Headband?”

“The Golden Headband not only clears the mind but also has the same effect as raising one’s magic power grade. We expected that if Executive Director Jeong used the Golden Headband after taking the Great Elixir, he could sufficiently aim for top ranker status or reach a level close to it.”

Once his mouth opened, words poured out endlessly.

“The bigger his position grows, the more it will help the Main Committee. And,”

“We’ll be able to pierce through Executive Director Jeong’s nose too. Right? Since the Golden Headband is also a restraining device.”

“…….”

Magic Dragon gave no answer, but Lee Hyeon took it as silent affirmation.

The Golden Headband was what Tripitaka Xuanzang received from Buddha Shakyamuni and placed on Son Wukong’s head to control him.

It’s said that by reciting a special incantation called the Golden Headband Spell, one could inflict tremendous pain to subdue Son Wukong.

‘Unless Executive Director Jeong is a fool, he couldn’t have failed to read their intentions… What did he do? Did he throw away the poisoned chalice knowing what it was? Or did he drink it?’

But a few things were certain.

That they had to strike Executive Director Jeong immediately after this to recover the Golden Headband.

And,

‘The Central Hero Committee knows far more about Journey to the West than expected. Those chasing the Peng Demon King are definitely them, or those working together with them.’

Now his mind finally felt organized.

“What’s the source of the Golden Headband?”

“I don’t know… I merely received what the elder gave me to deliver.”

Lee Hyeon had expected as much. Chairman Peng wasn’t the type to show his cards even to his subordinates.

Then, Magic Dragon’s eyelids trembled as if he had realized something.

“You didn’t even flinch when hearing about Journey to the West… As expected… the one who took Sha Wujing was… Jet, it was you…!”

“Now for the final question.”

Lee Hyeon coldly cut off Magic Dragon’s words.

“Your fate will be decided based on this answer, so choose wisely.”

“…….”

“You’ve been pretending otherwise while continuously trying to hide the most important thing.”

“……!”

Lee Hyeon was astounded by Magic Dragon’s venom, trying to hide his true purpose until the end while pledging loyalty to the Committee.

But that’s exactly why he had to crush it more thoroughly.

Their plan.

“Several Ping Xin unit members who entered Korea with you suddenly disappeared. Where did they go? And what are they looking for?”

“……That’s,”

“The thing you’re looking for.”

Suddenly, Lee Hyeon’s Golden Eyes of Truth blazed even brighter.

“Is it the Peng Demon King?”

“……!!!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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