The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 194
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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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Chapter 194: If It Really Gets Connected, That Would Be Big Trouble…
The explosion incident that occurred at Gurye Happiness Village.
The explosion was so massive that vibrations could be felt throughout all of Gurye.
The media also covered it as breaking news.
【Bomb terror attack occurs at Gurye Happiness Village orphanage.】
【Director Baek Hong-pyo in critical condition, fortunately no harm to the children.】
【Gurye Deputy Mayor Lee Jeong-hak vows to catch the culprit and make them pay.】
【His Majesty the Emperor enraged! Declares orphanage terror as tantamount to treason.】
【Orders Jirisan Defense Corps to blockade Gurye. Declares severe punishment for those who interfere with investigation.】
The Imperial Intelligence Agency came down to Gurye in large numbers with an investigation team.
While investigating whether any traces remained at the scene, they began tracking where the bomb truck came from.
The citizens of Gurye were also outraged together.
They voluntarily provided CCTV footage and actively cooperated with the investigation.
Tae-ju decided not to inform the Immortals.
What would they have to do anyway?
He and the Imperial Intelligence Agency could catch the culprit themselves.
Bzzzzt!
A phone call came to his smartphone.
“Yes, this is Tae-ju.”
Demon Valley Immortal had contacted him.
– Are you alright? Is there anything I can help with?
“No. It’s not like we’re catching demons or anything. Please rest comfortably.”
– How can I do that? I contacted the Swordsman and Jecheon Daeseong. Go to Gurye as quickly as possible.
“You really don’t need to co…”
Click!
The call ended.
There was no choice.
If they were coming to help, he couldn’t refuse.
Though honestly, even if they came, it wouldn’t make much difference.
The investigation proceeded quickly.
Chief Mun Gyeong-sik from the Imperial Intelligence Agency reported directly to Tae-ju.
“It’s been confirmed as a stolen vehicle. It seems they disguised it as a food supply delivery truck to enter the orphanage.”
“Who was driving it?”
“We’re tracking that. As you know, there aren’t CCTVs everywhere…”
They could confirm the vehicle up to near Happiness Village, but finding out where it first departed from would take time.
“We plan to search by cross-referencing with car dashcam footage. We will definitely find them.”
Mun Gyeong-sik was confident.
There was good reason for that confidence.
“The cooperation from Gurye citizens is tremendous. They’re even stepping forward saying they’ll catch the culprit themselves.”
Tip calls poured in continuously.
Even without requests, citizens submitted dashcam footage.
And so time passed.
“We caught him.”
“Who is it?”
“His name is Jo Man-gu. He’s not an outsider but a local.”
“…A Gurye citizen?”
“That’s right. No criminal record, currently self-employed.”
This was somewhat unexpected.
He had thought it would be an outsider.
“Are you certain?”
“We confirmed it with CCTV footage and dashcam recordings.”
“What about a confession?”
“Naturally, he’s denying it.”
“May I interrogate him? In my office, just the two of us.”
“Yes!”
Chief Mun Gyeong-sik brought the suspect to Tae-ju’s office at TJ Group headquarters.
Jo Man-gu shook his head in denial as soon as he saw Tae-ju.
“Ch-Chairman, I absolutely didn’t do it. This is truly unfair.”
“…”
“That I drove that car! I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything at all.”
“Hmm, I see.”
The Hwangcheon realm’s treasure, the Magistrate’s ring on his finger, didn’t react.
In other words, Jo Man-gu’s words were true.
Could the Magistrate’s ring be malfunctioning?
Let’s test it.
“Mr. Jo Man-gu.”
“…Y-yes.”
“From now on, please answer my questions with lies.”
“L-lies?”
“That’s right. Lies, not the truth.”
Jo Man-gu nodded.
“What did you have for breakfast this morning?”
After thinking for a moment.
“I had pork rice bowl.”
Bzzt.
The Magistrate’s ring reacted.
A lie.
“Are you married?”
“No.”
Bzzt.
A lie.
“You’re uncomfortable being here, aren’t you?”
“Not at all…”
A lie.
“Then did you kill Director Baek Hong-pyo?”
“N-no!”
A response that came out reflexively.
It was the truth.
‘Hmm.’
This was troubling.
The Magistrate’s ring was functioning normally.
‘But then why exactly?’
Before meeting Jo Man-gu, Tae-ju had also seen the footage from Chief Mun Gyeong-sik.
It was definitely Jo Man-gu who drove the explosive vehicle.
However, he was desperately denying it.
And it was even the truth.
What did that mean?
‘Brainwashing, bewitchment, or hypnosis. There’s nothing else it could be.’
Since he said he couldn’t remember, that was the most likely possibility.
Could it be broken?
There’s one method I can try.
Sound attack.
A martial art that infuses internal energy into one’s voice to shake the target’s mind.
The most representative example is Buddhism’s Lion’s Roar.
Instead of internal energy, other types of energy can be infused.
Immortal energy that dispels evil auras.
Tae-ju glared at Jo Man-gu and shouted loudly.
“Gal!”
In that instant, Jo Man-gu was startled.
“Come to your senses!”
“…Huk!”
His expression became blank.
Then, as if remembering something, his pupils began to shake.
At the same time, memories surfaced.
The terrible thing he had done.
“Uah… Hueong! Hueoeoong!”
He burst into tears and continued speaking.
“I, I did it. Hueong, heuk heuk, I drove that car.”
“Calm down and tell me in detail.”
“Th, that…”
Jo Man-gu spoke haltingly.
“I, I was driving when there was a contact accident… Ah, the car in front suddenly stopped.”
“And then?”
“I tried to talk to the driver of the front car to handle the insurance, but out of nowhere he gave me instructions. He said there was a refrigerated truck in that paid parking lot over there, and told me to drive it to Happy Village at the right time.”
“Did that guy have markings on his face?”
“Th, that… I’m not sure about that.”
It was as expected.
Jo Man-gu had been brainwashed.
“I, I absolutely couldn’t refuse. I just did as I was told. I followed another refrigerated truck, parked it next to the cafeteria, pulled out the key and went home. And then… I completely forgot about it.”
All true.
Understandable.
The reason that bastard didn’t kill Jo Man-gu. It was to frame him as the culprit.
A culprit would definitely be caught, making it a perfect crime.
“You know where the contact accident happened, right?”
“I remember.”
“Please tell me where that was.”
“Yes… But, but I’ll be arrested, won’t I?”
“…”
Tae-ju sighed and said.
“No. You can go home.”
“Ahhh…”
What crime did this person commit?
The real bastard is someone else.
The investigation started from square one again.
Centered around the location and time where Jo Man-gu had the contact accident.
The Imperial Intelligence Agency found out again.
“Here, this is the guy.”
“…He’s not an Awakened.”
“The suspect is certain. As for appearance, he could just wear a polymorph ring.”
Polymorph items can erase not only facial features but even markings.
The Imperial Intelligence Agency knows that too.
Yet if they specified a suspect?
“You must have someone in mind?”
“Yes, the Imperial Intelligence Agency has input data on height, body type, gait, behavioral habits, etc. of major villains worldwide in cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies.”
Meaning that while faces can be changed, unique behaviors cannot be hidden.
Moon Gyeong-sik handed the tablet to Tae-ju.
“Hu Dong-pyeong, a Chinese contract killer. Almost perfectly matches the input data.”
Found him.
The conditions for activating the tracking unit are sufficient too.
* * *
Hwangcheon-gye.
Yama was observing the Human Realm through the Yeonmyeong Mirror that shows the affairs of the living world.
‘It seems there are signs of mass slaughter.’
Signs of a great war are visible.
The Human Realm here is no easy place either.
They say there are no demonic beasts, but there are groups of the Black Dao, madmen of the Unorthodox Faction, remnants of the Demonic Cult, and Righteous Factions united in hypocrisy.
All they do after eating is constantly stabbing with swords, spears, and punching.
How many people die each day because of this?
At least Earth has common enemies like demonic beasts and demons.
Martial artists, whether Righteous or Unorthodox Faction, are bastards solely focused on killing people.
Originally, when humans die, most of their souls naturally ascend to the underworld.
However, souls that have problems during the dying process are different.
Especially the souls of evil bastards who committed wicked deeds in life or people who died with bitter resentment wander the living world.
Such souls have a high risk of becoming evil spirits, so Jeoseungsaja or Chasa must be dispatched to forcibly bring them.
‘There will be a lot of work ahead.’
Well, this much is manageable.
We endured the great war between the Righteous Faction and Demonic Cult in the past too.
After finishing his observation with the Yeonmyeong Mirror.
Yama went to his quarters in Eophwagung and opened a cool can of beer.
Chik!
Gulp gulp.
“Kheoh! Good.”
A refreshing feeling.
Even though he can’t cross over to Earth like the Immortals, he has no complaints.
He can enjoy everything here too.
Still, didn’t he get to smell Earth’s scent?
Well, some unpleasant incident almost happened, but he returned quickly so no major trouble should occur.
That’s what he was thinking.
Until Kang Rim came rushing to find him in a panic.
“My, My King! My Kiiiing!”
“This bastard, making a fuss again over nothing.”
“It’s really a big deal! A, a displaced soul has crossed over to Hwangcheon.”
“I knew this would happen. Displaced fates happen all the time, don’t they? You handle it yourself.”
“Haah, listen carefully. What happened was…”
Kang Rim began explaining.
And Yama’s eyes widened.
“…What?”
“I’m telling you it’s certain.”
“Baek, Baek Hong-pyo is a soul from Earth? And from Gurye at that?”
“I definitely heard it. Kim Tae-ju even knew his name.”
“Uh… hmm…”
What kind of situation is this?
A soul from another world’s Earth came to Hwangcheon-gye?
Did the soul somehow travel between dimensions?
“If you get caught lying…”
“You know, don’t you? That it’s not a lie.”
This is maddening.
Why is this happening?
‘Wait!’
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘…Could it be from when I went to Earth?’
It was less than 5 seconds.
Did the laws get twisted in that gap?
“Where is that Earth person now?”
“He’s in the VIP room.”
“I’ll go see him, so contact Dok-seon immediately.”
“Yes.”
Yama hurriedly rushed to the VIP room.
Then he saw the human – just as Kang Rim said, he was a person from Earth.
“Greetings. Welcome to the Under… no, anyway, I’m called Yama.”
Baek Hong-pyo was also startled.
‘Y-Yama?’
The Yama King from mythology?
‘Ah…’
Immortals and Jecheon Daeseong in the living world, and now Yama King in the afterlife.
What’s going on with everything?
“Let me ask you one thing. What’s your relationship with Kim Tae-ju?”
“…Pardon?”
“Are you relatives?”
This was getting more absurd by the minute.
Now being killed in a bombing had become a trivial fact.
The mere existence of the underworld was shocking enough, but even this person called Chasa from Hwangcheon-gye and even Yama knew Tae-ju?
Anyway, he had to answer.
“…We’re not blood-related, but we’re sworn brothers.”
“Huh!”
Yama squeezed his eyes shut.
He wasn’t certain, but there was a part he could guess.
‘So it was because of that.’
Tae-ju’s temporary ascension, which caused Hwangcheon-gye to form a connection with him, and he himself had also visited Earth for 5 seconds.
‘That’s when the causality was created.’
Before Kim Tae-ju began exchanging with the Immortal Realm, Earth and Hwangcheon had no relationship whatsoever.
But now it was different.
Tae-ju and the world surrounding him had become connected to Hwangcheon.
As a result, primarily the soul of a human close to Tae-ju had crossed over to Hwangcheon.
If it just stopped at this level, it might be fine, but…
The complicated entanglements of human affairs.
When connections call forth connections, and human relationships cross bridge after bridge, and cross again?
‘…This is driving me crazy.’
It was similar to a floodgate bursting.
A small hole in the dam would grow larger, eventually completely destroying the dam.
‘No, why is Earth’s soul going to another world?’
Don’t they have an underworld over there?
That aside.
‘I’ll need to experiment.’
The most definitive proof that Earth and Hwangcheon were connected.
That would be the creation of a ‘gate.’
Of course, it hadn’t worked before.
Because Hwangcheon and Earth had no direct connection.
But this time?
If he could open a gate to send down Saja and Chasa, Earth and Hwangcheon would be practically one world.
Yama concentrated his mind.
And imagining the Earth he had visited in the past, he opened a gate.
Crackle! Crackle-crackle!
A dark blue shadow forming in the void.
However.
Crack! Fizzle, fizzle!
It soon disappeared.
‘Heh.’
Opening the gate was a failure for now.
Nevertheless, Yama’s expression wasn’t good.
Because it hadn’t failed to open completely – it had started to form before stopping.
It was tantamount to half a success.
Meaning it could be opened someday.
‘If they really get connected, it’ll be a disaster…’
Yama was half out of his mind.
This place was already hell, and he feared another kind of hell would unfold.
‘Should I recruit more Chasa and Saja?’
He’d also need to expand the size of hell.
“Whew…”
Yama sighed deeply and fumbled in his pocket to pull out an e-cigarette, taking a deep drag.
The cigarette taste that should have been sweet was bitter.
Seeing this, Baek Hong-pyo was dumbfounded.
What kind of Yama smokes e-cigarettes?
And what’s with the Rolex watch on his wrist?
It seemed quite different from the underworld he had always imagined.
Very different indeed.
* * *
Immortal Realm.
Danggumak had smoothly completed his deal with the Dragon Palace negotiation team.
Dragon Palace Prime Minister Hyeonmun clicked his tongue.
“Dok-seon, you’re really ruthless, ruthless.”
“If you really don’t like it, take it back.”
“…Your immortal name isn’t Dok (poison) for nothing.”
“Before ascending, I was even called Dokma (Poison Demon).”
“Tsk tsk.”
The purchase price for the Dragon Orb: 3 million coins.
It was practically highway robbery.
However, he felt no guilt about it.
It might have been different if they had good intentions from the start.
Still, he had agreed to provide a permanent gate between Dragon Palace and the Immortal Realm, plus Immortal Realm network installation, and free dedicated smartphones, so this was good enough.
Danggumak placed the baseball-sized compressed Yeouiju and letter inside the Wuhan warehouse.
The negotiation team had also returned, and now they just had to wait for the delivery signal to sound…
‘I should meet with Yama too.’
Since I need to install a gate connecting to the Dragon Palace in the Immortal Realm.
‘…How is the situation on Earth going?’
There was nothing to worry about regarding the Beyond monsters.
He hadn’t even given them a thought.
He was only concerned that the Swordsman and Jecheon Daeseong might cause some trouble.
But right at that moment!
Kang Rim came running frantically, calling out to him desperately.
“Dok-seon, Do-ok-seon!”
Sigh.
Whenever he called like that, something always happened.
“What’s the matter? Kang Rim.”
“A, a soul has ascended.”
“So?”
“It, it’s a soul related to Dok-seon.”
“Huh?”
Related to himself?
Did someone from the Sichuan Dang Clan in the Human Realm die?
‘…What’s the big deal about that.’
Danggumak had already ascended to immortality.
Therefore, his ties to the mortal world had been severed.
Even if the Dang Clan were to be completely destroyed, that would only be a matter of the Human Realm, and he neither could nor should intervene.
“Those ties have already been severed. It has nothing to do with me.”
“Th, that’s not it…”
Kang Rim explained the whole situation once more.
Danggumak’s complexion suddenly hardened.
Swish!
He quickly passed through the gate to the Honored Guest Room of the Underworld Inferno Palace.
“Director Baek! What on earth happened?”
Through his soul connection with Tae-ju, Danggumak knew everything about what kind of person Baek Hong-pyo was.
He had also met him once when he went to Earth.
At that time, he had hidden the fact that he was an Immortal and brushed it off as someone who had connections with Tae-ju from the past.
“Gasp! Elder! Th, this is the Underworld…”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not dead. I came from the Immortal Realm.”
“…The Immortal Realm? Where is that exactly?”
It seemed like they would need to have a conversation.
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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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