The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 33

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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 33: Cleanup and Preparation

There were three Mages in total.

All of them died by Tae-ju’s hand.

All the Self-Defense Corps and Special Forces Unit did in Chilheukdong Daldongne was clean up the corpses.

When they dug up the front courtyard of the house where the Mages had lived, countless bleached skeletons came pouring out.

Was that all?

They also came out from inside the house.

Along with the belongings the victims had carried.

“Phew, those bastards.”

The skulls were all different sizes.

Men and women, young and old, all mixed together.

Master Oh Jin-hyeong, his face red with anger, asked Tae-ju.

“Chairman Kim Tae-ju, tell me just one thing. How did those bastards die?”

“As you can see. I didn’t give them a peaceful death.”

“Well done. Well done. Still, if you had kept at least one alive… keeping them alive for a long, long time, extracting everything from them, and when they beg to be killed, pretending to kill them then reviving them again, that would have been nice.”

There was someone here more extreme than himself.

“…I’ll do that next time I meet Mages.”

Tae-ju watched as all the corpses were excavated.

Recently buried bodies also came out.

Probably the friend Soon-cheol had been searching for.

He observed a moment of silence.

Just then!

“Are you Kim Tae-ju?”

Someone who appeared to be elderly approached Tae-ju, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.

“Who might you be?”

“I’m Min Dong-yeol from Cheonwang Group.”

Cheonwang Group, a local Gurye company.

Looking at Empire-wide corporations, it ranked far below, at a distant position, but it was still Gurye’s top conglomerate.

“Do you know how much I’ve wanted to meet you?”

“Ah, yes yes.”

Even though it was bothersome, he gave a response.

“I have a business proposal, so I’ve been continuously trying to contact you through Taehong Bio’s secretariat, but you seemed very busy. I hardly received any replies.”

Was it because he was busy?

Baek Seo-yeon probably didn’t even report it because she didn’t think it was worth mentioning.

“This isn’t the right place to discuss such matters, but shouldn’t people doing business together in Gurye help each other out?”

Ah, it was obvious what story would come next.

“The production volume of antidotes and recovery medicines seems insufficient. I’ll help you out. If we do contract manufacturing at our factory, the problem will be solved. The royalty contract is also good, so if we share the manufacturing formula…”

“Sorry, but let’s talk about that later.”

“…Hmm?”

“I’m tired right now, so I’m not in the mood to have a conversation.”

“Wh-when next time?”

“Well. There’ll be an opportunity sometime.”

Chairman Min Dong-yeol’s face turned red.

Until now, nothing in Gurye had failed to go his way.

Then someone came over glaring with bulging eyes.

“Young man, you have no manners. Chairman Min made his proposal with good intentions.”

“Who might you be?”

“I’m Ji Gwang-in, an administrative officer dispatched from the Imperial government.”

He really seemed to have succeeded.

All sorts of strange people were coming to try to get even scraps somehow.

‘I need to set them straight.’

If he just left them alone, they might cross the line like that bastard Jo Hun-seok.

He had to deal with them before that happened.

He had been fooled once before, and he’d be an idiot to just sit still.

But for now, he held back.

Because there were too many watching eyes.

“It’s not too late even now. If you listen carefully to Chairman Min’s words, it would be good for you too…”

That’s when it happened.

“You sons of bitches!”

Click!

Master Oh Jin-hyeong appeared, drawing his pistol from his waist.

“Right now others are busy cleaning up victims’ corpses, and where are you pulling this crap?”

“…Uh uh. C-Commander, why so suddenly?”

“Why? Because I’m going to put a bullet each in your heads.”

“Y-you’re pointing a gun at an Imperial government official right now…?”

“Hah, fucking bastard, do bullets not go into civil servants’ heads? If you don’t like bullets, should I kill you so quietly that not even rats or birds would know? The water temperature at Castle Artificial Lake has been warm lately, so I could just give you a tour underwater.”

Ji Gwang-in’s eyes widened greatly.

Castle Artificial Lake.

Jo Hun-seok’s body recently found there with a car, then could it be?

Oh Jin-hyeong looked at Lee Jeong-hak and said.

“Lee Jeong-hak!”

“Yes!”

“Write up a detailed report about what these bastards were doing here and submit it. Ah! And Ji Gwang-in, our military intelligence has secured evidence of the money this bastard has been taking, so investigate immediately,”

“…”

Ji Gwang-in’s face turned pale.

Min Dong-yeol was the same.

The two men hurriedly fled.

Oh Jin-hyeong still seemed to have unresolved anger.

“Tsk! We can’t leave the Gurye Autonomous Committee as it is. The water has stagnated and rotted completely. We need to change the water quickly.”

Tae-ju smiled bitterly to himself.

It was good that he dealt with the troublesome guys, but wasn’t he going too far?

It seemed like the military had also dealt with Jo Hun-seok.

But thinking about it again, going overboard seemed necessary too.

Treating bad bastards kindly actually had the opposite effect.

This was true even from Jeoldaedokma Danggumak’s experience.

‘Should I try going overboard once too?’

Anyway, it was time to head down slowly.

Since he’d dealt with the Mages, he should return to daily life.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Uh uh, do that. Ah right! I have a favor to ask you.”

A favor?

“…I won’t re-enlist.”

“Huh, this guy! I don’t force people who say they don’t want to.”

“Then what is it? Do you need more medicine?”

“No, that’s not it. The favor is, the date for the great Jirisan Wilderness subjugation operation has finally been set.”

“Ah!”

Oh Jin-hyeong spoke subtly.

“It’s going to be a large-scale operation. So what I’m saying is…”

After pausing for a moment.

“It would be good if you participated too.”

“Me?”

“This is my first major subjugation operation. I really want to achieve results.”

The Jirisan Wilderness major subjugation operation.

He had already heard that they modified it from a defensive to an offensive strategy due to the antidote development.

Tae-ju pondered for a moment.

It was a military operation, yet they were requesting civilian participation.

Gurye Free City’s chronic problem.

The masu waves.

Waves had been occurring roughly every 5 years.

Initially there were enormous casualties, but the city’s response had gradually improved.

They built the Castle, created underground shelters, and while human casualties had drastically decreased compared to before, the city still got destroyed when waves occurred.

So the major subjugation operation wasn’t just the military’s problem.

Tae-ju made his decision.

“Yes, I’ll participate.”

“Oh! Thanks. And this subjugation operation will have many external personnel participating besides the Jirisan Masu Defense Corps.”

“Really? Who?”

“Imperial VIPs and graduating cadets from the military academy who are scheduled for commissioning. Don’t worry, they won’t be a bother.”

The imperial family was one thing.

‘Military academy cadets?’

If they were graduating class, that meant they had awakened, but would newly awakened kids be helpful?

Probably for observation purposes.

Then he needed to prepare.

Replenish his throwing knives and stabilize his poison cultivation.

* * *

Gurye was turned upside down by the aftermath of the Mage appearance.

The military temporarily took over Gurye’s administrative authority.

Complete suspension of Jirisan masu raids for 3 days, aptitude testing for all awakened individuals residing in Gurye, active reporting campaigns for suspicious behavior in the vicinity, strengthened inspections and searches centered around Gurye train station and airport.

Due to this, Gurye had to suffer for a while.

However, not many people were dissatisfied.

The Mage appearance was an enormous incident comparable to a masu wave.

It was also criticized as performative formalities for show.

Mages could only be identified when in their transformed masu state.

How could they find them if they were determined to hide?

After 3 days, the military withdrew and inspections were reduced.

Gurye Free City returned to how it was before.

Though Tae-ju was the one who eliminated the Mage, he stepped back.

In other words, he gave the credit to the Self-Defense Corps and the Special Forces Unit. There was nothing good about being known and it would only be bothersome.

However, he decided to accept the 100 million won reward for reporting the Mage.

Tae-ju added 100 million of his own money to that 100 million and handed it to Jang Soon-cheol who had been discharged from the hospital.

“Give this money to the parents of your friend who was sacrificed. It’s practically thanks to that friend that we discovered the Mage.”

“…Thank you, President.”

His body had fully recovered, but his heart probably hadn’t.

“I’ll give you time off, so rest well for a few days.”

“No! I’m fine. I’m perfectly okay.”

“Won’t you listen?”

“…Yes.”

Now the Mage incident had come to an end.

Tae-ju checked his physical condition in a quiet place.

Though Honweonmusangdokryeongong had reached 6-star level.

‘It’s not all good. I need to be careful.’

He had always been aware of it.

That his poison cultivation achievement was too fast.

Honestly, it couldn’t be helped.

He already knew the path to take, so he couldn’t deliberately take detours.

Since it had come to this, he would definitely rush to 7-star level.

After that, he would take a breather and try to coordinate his mental enlightenment with his physical enlightenment.

Also, the Mages.

It was fortunate they were relatively low-grade ones.

Before their masu transformation progressed, they hadn’t even reached Expert level.

So even after executing masu transformation, their minds remained intact.

‘Really, the more I think about it…’

There were too many similarities.

With the Cult Members.

Absorbing others’ internal energy with absorption techniques, and because of that, being exposed to madness and transforming into monsters…

‘Could there be bastards like the Heavenly Demon too?’

It was a sufficiently grounded speculation.

In countries other than the Samhan Empire, there had been catastrophes presumed to be the work of Mages.

The higher the awakening grade, the dramatically stronger the masu transformation becomes.

Demonic Cult extermination.

For Jeoldaedokma Danggumak, it had been like a duty.

Then what about Kim Tae-ju of Earth?

‘I should go with Mage extermination.’

There was no guarantee that Mages wouldn’t appear in Gurye again.

He didn’t want people related to him to get hurt.

Let’s make more elixirs.

Let’s teach useful martial arts too.

‘The martial arts of the Sichuan Tang Family too…’

Originally, family martial arts were secret traditions that shouldn’t be transmitted carelessly.

But Tae-ju was thinking of spreading the Tang Family’s martial arts except for Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

What did it matter?

‘I am Danggumak.’

Of course, there was the principle of not transmitting to unworthy people – not teaching those whose character wasn’t upright.

He just needed to be firm on this one principle.

‘For mental cultivation, Five Elements Cultivation would be better, right?’

The basic mental cultivation that anyone who was part of the Tang Family learned, whether direct or branch lineage.

The advantage of this cultivation was that it nurtured the energy of the five elements, so when one reached the realm of 5-star or above, it could also be applied to medicine manufacturing.

Five Elements Cultivation was originally the foundation of poison cultivation.

Jeoldaedokma Danggumak had combined Five Elements Cultivation with insights from various poison cultivations to create Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

All descendants of the Tang Family learned it as a requirement.

Thanks to this, whether direct or branch lineage, everyone was skilled in medicine manufacturing.

‘There’s no need to teach throwing knife techniques.’

They had poor cost-effectiveness for masu hunting in the first place.

‘Proper sword techniques or spear techniques would be more helpful.’

Finally, movement techniques.

Let’s teach just three things.

With a small elite group.

Currently, exactly 2 people came to mind: Baek Chang-hun and Jang Soon-cheol.

He planned to develop these guys and make good use of them.

Once they became skilled, they could also serve as martial arts instructors.

Teaching them would probably create skills like before.

What about Baek Hong-pyo and Baek Seo-yeon?

Making elixirs for them to consume should be sufficient.

So they can live long and healthy lives.

* * *

Just because he’s the chairman doesn’t mean Tae-ju pays no attention to the company at all.

Once a day, he always discusses Taehong Bio’s future plans together with Baek Seo-yeon and Baek Hong-pyo.

The two were furious about what Chairman Min Dong-yeol and Ji Gwang-in had done to Tae-ju previously.

“Corrupt government bastard!”

“We can’t just let this slide. I’ll definitely make this an issue.”

They must have thought he looked easy to push around.

No matter how successful Taehong Bio was, that was only limited to Gurye.

If it were a nationwide conglomerate, those guys wouldn’t have dared to move.

“I’ll handle the standing committee members on my end. And I’m thinking of gradually adding one more medicine…”

“What kind of medicine?”

“A hemostatic agent. Something that also treats wounds. And a nutritional tonic that relieves fatigue too.”

“Oh!”

“You’ve… you’ve developed more again?”

“Yes.”

Was it just wound medicine and nutritional tonics?

Virility enhancers, intelligence pills, herbal medicines that boost the energy of specific organs…

There were still tremendously many things yet to be introduced.

They were fundamentally different from the traditional herbal medicines that had spread on Earth long ago.

Back then, there was no mana.

Now that mana had spread throughout Earth, the environment had become similar to the Gangho Murim.

Every medicinal herb harvested contained mana, that is, qi .

Combining the manufacturing methods used in the Gangho Murim with Earth’s pharmaceutical technology would show effects far superior to existing medicines.

“But there’s one problem.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a risk of being copied. Anyone can make it if they just analyze the components.”

“Ah!”

“So we probably won’t get approval in Gurye.”

Originally, new drugs can’t be copied at will.

It was only possible because it was Gurye.

Gurye, where approval and sales of new drugs are free.

On the other hand, patent protection is difficult.

There’s no patent office or anything like that to begin with.

However, in other major cities, while new drug approval is strict, patent rights are thoroughly guaranteed by the imperial government.

“So you’re saying we should expand into New Seoul.”

“Is that really necessary? For example, even if we just build a factory in Daejeon…”

Once approval is obtained, patent rights would be recognized.

“Yes! That would work. But we need to prepare for interference from large corporations.”

“What kind of interference would come?”

“I worked at a large corporation, so I know their business expansion methods well.”

Baek Seo-yeon began her explanation.

“When others work hard to invent new drugs, they interfere with patent applications, insert spies to steal manufacturing formulas, use the stolen formulas to file patents first themselves, devour promising small pharmaceutical companies through hostile takeovers, then raise the prices of medicines made by the companies they acquired to reap excessive profits…”

Why are there so many different methods?

They’re complete bastards.

Not ordinary bastards, but great bastards.

“Don’t worry and proceed!”

“Yes! I’ll give it a try.”

It’s not like we can’t make soybean paste because we’re afraid of maggots.

Then let’s slowly prepare for a major subjugation operation.

But first, let me have a little meeting with Ji Gwang-in and Min Dong-yeol.

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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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