The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 94

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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 94: Frontier City of Napan (2)

The Imperial Exploration Corps is tasked with fighting magical beasts on the front lines while expanding territory.

A position that every Imperial Forces commander dreams of.

There are plenty of opportunities to achieve merit, and unless something special happens, there’s little external interference.

They’re granted broad authority.

To what extent? When pioneering succeeds and a city is established, that place falls under military jurisdiction.

It’s like governing a feudal territory.

Even so, ten million won for a single ring is too much.

They step back and put compliant civilian guilds forward.

‘From what I heard, the ten million won seems limited only to Suitable Ones or Awakened…’

Let me find out for sure.

So after subduing the Oasis Guild members, Tae-ju immediately called someone who would know.

– Frontier City of Napan ring? That… I know about it too. It’s legal. His Majesty approved it as well.

Palace Secretary Geum Su-ho was aware of it too.

“Even if it’s legal, you can’t sell copper rings that expensively.”

– Tsk tsk, being so petty over just one ring? I heard rich people are worse.

“You call ten million won ‘just’?”

– …Ten million won? What are you talking about? It should be at most 100,000 won.

“They were selling it for ten million won though?”

– Who?

“A civilian guild called Oasis in Napan, saying they got permission from the military…”

Tae-ju explained in detail what he heard from Oasis Guild’s Ju Cheol-yong.

– What? Is, is that really true?

“…It’s wrong, right?”

Then Geum Su-ho’s anger exploded.

– That fucking bastard! Damn bastard. Not enough even if we grind him up! I’ll cut off his limbs and throw him in the middle of the grasslands!

Ugh! My ears are ringing.

Tae-ju hung up the phone.

Click!

Then after some time passed, the phone rang again.

– Why did you hang up?

“Because it was loud.”

– Sorry about that. I have no face to show you.

“What I’m curious about is how far this involvement goes…”

– I took time to look into it. It’s not the corps commander.

“What’s your basis?”

– The Pioneer Corps supreme commander is Master Seo Gang-jin. That guy has tons of money, and his in-laws are loaded too. He’s a guy wearing general stars dreaming of becoming Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. If he got caught doing such things, all the merit he’s built up would crumble like a sandcastle, unless he’s an idiot.

“Ah.”

– It’s likely the work of a guy named Kwon Chee-yeol from the Pioneer Corps Military Police.

“Oh! He’s got guts. By himself?”

– Of course he has backing. That guy’s cousin is an Imperial Parliament member, and also the Defense Committee chairman.

I figured as much.

– By the way, was your business trip to the Gobi Grasslands? Why go to such a dangerous place alone? His Majesty would worry if he heard.

“I’ll stay low and come back quietly, so don’t worry.”

Tae-ju talked with Geum Su-ho for a few more minutes before hanging up.

* * *

The next day.

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol had an incredulous expression at the phone call he just received.

“What?”

– Anyway, we’re not doing the ring business anymore. We’re planning to return the money we made to people, so know that.

What kind of bullshit is this?

Today happens to be collection day.

He was just about to send his subordinates to the Oasis Guild.

“Haha, are you crazy right now? Did you take drugs?”

It’s so absurd that laughter comes out.

Is the dog he’s been using saying it will bite its owner?

– I didn’t take drugs, and the money we saved up is gone now, so don’t ask for it.

“Ju Cheol-yong, you bastard! You’re trying to run away with that money now, aren’t you? Do you think the Imperial Military Police deputy commander is a joke?”

– Fuck, I don’t know either! Some military police colonel, when the grim reaper has come, would someone like you even catch my eye? I’m about to die right now.

“…What?”

– I’m going to report everything and leave this scene, so don’t look for me!

“Ju, Ju Cheol-yong? Ju Cheol-yong? You bastard, don’t move from there!”

Click!

The phone was hung up.

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol’s expression twisted.

Something must have happened.

That guy doesn’t have the capacity to do this alone.

There’s someone behind him.

‘…Grim reaper? It’s not the Imperial Forces.’

All frontier cities in the Gobi Grasslands are under military control.

Then a civilian guild trying to take over the frontier city?

Or a master-level villain.

‘Whoever it is doesn’t matter.’

How dare they touch the Imperial Military Police?

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol called his subordinate.

“Did you call for me?”

“Mobilize all forces. We’re departing for Napan now.”

“A, all forces, sir?”

“Yes, officers, sergeants, regular soldiers, everyone! Assemble in full combat gear!”

The military police unit is independent from the corps.

It’s stationed at a midpoint between frontier cities Barun and Napan.

Do they only handle administrative security duties?

In emergencies, they also have to deal with magical beasts, so they possessed Awakened and Suitable Ones as well as cutting-edge heavy weapons.

The unit went on emergency alert.

Trucks and armored vehicles loaded with soldiers were moving in a line toward Napan.

‘Just what bastard…’

Originally, the administrative security of Frontier City of Napan had been handled by the military.

Pioneering doesn’t end just by pushing back magical beasts.

For it to become human territory, people must come and settle down to live.

Therefore, various benefits must be created to attract population.

First, let them come and farm, and when the city stabilizes, grant priority rights to buy land.

But the people who mainly flock there are displaced people and refugees wandering around after losing their homes.

These people don’t have identification.

It takes time to examine each one and issue identification.

But they can’t just accept refugees indiscriminately either.

Shouldn’t there be at least some control mechanism?

So as a temporary measure, they assigned serial numbers to refugees.

They engraved numbers on rings and distributed them for easy display.

The initial ring issuance cost was just 5,000 won.

They had to charge for the ring after all.

Once the city was stabilized, the Gobi Plains Pioneer Corps advanced westward again.

They left the remaining monsters in the grasslands to civilian Qualified and Awakened.

Thus, they also sold rings to the Qualified and Awakened coming into Napan.

The person in charge of this was Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol.

The price was 100,000 won.

From this point, the ring profits began.

Simply manipulating some documents would create untraceable money that no one would know about.

Raid teams could hunt in a relatively stable environment, so charging high prices was acceptable.

The military had also approved this.

Up to this point, it was legal.

But Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol wasn’t satisfied.

How much money were the Awakened and Qualified making?

The grasslands were full of profitable monsters.

As long as you were careful of the scorpion-type monsters carrying poison, hunting wasn’t particularly difficult.

The Pioneer Corps had already cleared out most of the elite monsters.

Dog-sized mutant saw ants provided carapace shells that could replace plastic, and black-bearded goats had excellent meat taste, making them as popular as Spore Poison Antelope Deer.

But the biggest jackpot monster in the Gobi grasslands was the aerial flying monster, the Three-eyed Peregrine Falcon.

It was a monster difficult to capture alive, but once caught, its price was enormous.

Especially a breeding pair – you could name your price.

If you tamed this creature to lay eggs and successfully hatched them, taming Three-eyed Peregrine Falcons became possible.

Of course, only for Awakened with taming skills.

Monster raid teams flocked in hoping to strike it rich.

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol began the ring business using Oasis Guild as a front.

He gradually raised the ring prices.

The targets were Qualified and Awakened who came to Napan for raiding purposes.

Double, triple, five times, ten times…

Eventually, it reached ten million won per ring.

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol was thinking about his post-retirement life.

His cousin was an Imperial Parliament member.

In exchange for providing political funds, he had secured a promise of nomination for the next election.

He was also preparing his own campaign funds.

Money had been pouring in steadily.

But now this incident happened?

‘Those damn bastards.’

Whoever they were, he absolutely wouldn’t let them get away with it.

* * *

In the backward town of Napan, there was only one place called the city center – around the Oasis Guild 5-story building.

Qualified and Awakened were lined up in a long queue in front of it.

It was because of the large banner hanging on the building wall.

【Refund process underway for rings purchased at excessive costs.】

All raid teams active in Napan had gathered.

They had already thought the ring prices were unfair, so if they were offering refunds, they absolutely had to get them.

Tae-ju was watching outside through the glass window from inside the 5th floor of the Oasis Guild building.

Suddenly, Ibaek-i sauntered over to Tae-ju’s side.

“Did you search around?”

“Meooooow…”

“No scent?”

“Meow!”

After the Chinatown demon incident, Ilisambaeyi had also become able to smell demons.

Whether it was a characteristic of spiritual creatures, thanks to eating Seondo, or possibly both.

“You searched everywhere else too, right?”

“Meow.”

“Good work.”

“Meooow!”

What would he have done without this guy?

Napan was a larger place than expected.

Searching for demons would take all day.

But having Ilisambaeyi do that work instead – how convenient was that?

‘I need to wrap this up quickly and head out to the field.’

He’d gotten caught up in an unexpected situation and couldn’t hunt properly.

The grassland area was home to various types of scorpions.

All venomous creatures carrying unique poisons.

There were giant scorpions 5 meters long, tiny scorpions less than 1cm in length, and assassin scorpions that used camouflage to target Awakened from behind.

Demon detection was one thing, but adding venoms to his poison registry was also an important purpose for coming here.

His schedule was tight.

He had entrusted Paju to reliable people, but staying away too long would be unbecoming of a lord.

Just then!

Vroooom!

Vehicles approaching from the grassland area, kicking up dust.

‘Finally, they’re here.’

Those guys Ju Cheol-yong mentioned.

The corrupt soldiers from the Pioneer Corps.

Screech!

Hundreds of soldiers got out of the trucks.

“Disperse everyone!”

An awakened officer wearing dark sunglasses, giving orders with his baton.

The civilian Awakened and Qualified who had been lined up for refunds resisted, but.

“What’s this about?”

“I need to get my money!”

“Damn it, just because you’re military!”

“Hey? Did you just hit me?”

It was useless.

No matter how strong Awakened were, how could they fight fully armed soldiers?

And did people think the military had no Awakened?

Everyone scattered in all directions.

‘They’ll come barging in soon.’

Tae-ju sat leisurely on the sofa and waited.

Clatter clatter clatter!

The sound of military boots climbing the stairs.

Shortly after.

Bang!

The office door burst open.

Click-clack! Click! Click!

Dozens of gun barrels pointed at Tae-ju sitting on the sofa.

And the military police commander entered, spinning his baton.

Rank: Colonel, name tag: Kwon Chi-yeol.

Kwon Chi-yeol removed his sunglasses and said.

“Where is Ju Cheol-yong?”

“Don’t know, he’s somewhere.”

“…What?”

Only then did Kwon Chi-yeol take a closer look at Tae-ju.

“You’re not an Oasis Guild member.”

“Of course not.”

“Is it you?”

“What?”

“The bastard who pulled this shit.”

“Oh, it’s true that I told them to refund the rings.”

“This damn puppy bastard…”

Kwon Chi-yeol tilted his head.

He didn’t run away even though he knew they were coming.

Is there something special about this guy?

It’s a face he’s never seen before, and he doesn’t even have an awakening mark.

“This is really strange, you know? You’re not even an Awakened. And you’re not that famous Chairman Kim Tae-ju either, so what exactly are you relying on?”

“Well… I am Kim Tae-ju.”

“Hehehe.”

Kwon Chi-yeol burst into a hollow laugh.

“Fine, let’s say you’re Kim Tae-ju.”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but…”

Tae-ju continued speaking while stroking the head of Sambaek-i, who was constantly yawning on his stomach.

“But you’re just an Imperial Forces colonel.”

“So what?”

“Money in the tens of billions is too big for a colonel to swallow. Is the rank of colonel really that impressive?”

Kwon Chi-yeol shrugged his shoulders as if asking what the problem was.

“You haven’t served in the military, have you?”

“No. I’ve done military service too.”

“How can someone who’s served not know that? You stupid bastard. In the military, it’s not about rank, it’s about position. It depends on what position you hold. Even generals tremble before me.”

“Come on, no way! And what if a real general hears that?”

“Nyang!”

Sambaek-i seemed to agree with Tae-ju’s words.

Actually, he had no intention of getting into a scuffle with someone like Kwon Chi-yeol here.

He had his social reputation to consider.

Let the military handle what happens in the military.

“Hey there, General? Did you hear everything? He says that if you’re a military police colonel, even generals tremble.”

“Nyaaaaaang!”

Suddenly!

Creak!

The door to the adjacent room connected to the office opened.

And people coming out from inside.

“Yes, I heard everything. So I’m trembling a little.”

They were all wearing Imperial Forces uniforms.

One of them had three stars on his rank insignia – Master Seo Gang-jin, Commander-in-Chief of the Pioneer Corps.

‘…Huh?’

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol doubted his own eyes.

‘Why is the Corps Commander coming out from there?’

It was bewildering.

No matter how much he rubbed his eyes and looked, it was Master Seo Gang-jin.

And was Seo Gang-jin the only one there?

Corps staff, division commanders, all generals and masters, glaring at them coldly with looks that could devour them.

Suddenly his legs began to tremble.

If it was the adjacent room, they would have heard the entire conversation.

And the situation unfolding now too.

‘What should I do?’

Kwon Chi-yeol’s brain spun at high speed.

He had to find a way.

Forget about losing his position, he might be executed on the spot here.

So the words he desperately squeezed out were.

“M-Master, th-that is, um, my cousin brother serves on the National Defense Standing Committee of the Imperial Council…”

Seo Gang-jin replied coldly.

“I know him well. Congressman Kwon Chang-yeol.”

“Ah! You know him!”

Kwon Chi-yeol’s face brightened slightly.

“He’s a brother who’s always living in hardship doing great work for the Empire. I know I’m in the wrong too, but for the Empire…”

“You were raising political funds?”

“Yes yes, that’s right. This all stems from a heart of patriotic loyalty…”

Seo Gang-jin chuckled.

Then looking at Tae-ju again.

“Chairman, I’m truly sorry. This is all due to my oversight.”

“It’s really difficult to keep good people under you.”

“I’m feeling that acutely myself.”

“Don’t worry about Congressman Kwon Chang-yeol. He’s probably been arrested by now.”

“That bastard is nothing. I only ask forgiveness for causing you worry, Chairman.”

Colonel Kwon Chi-yeol couldn’t understand what situation he was in right now.

Calling his cousin brother from the Defense Committee “that bastard”?

But more than that, why was Master Seo Gang-jin bowing 90 degrees to that young man and apologizing?

And Chairman? If it’s Chairman… could it be?

“R-really Kim Tae-ju?”

Seo Gang-jin exploded in anger.

“Shut up! That’s not a name to be carelessly spoken from your rotten mouth!”

“…Oh no.”

It really was Kim Tae-ju.

First-class hero of the Great Wall of China war, Lord of Paju Domain, lifetime mayor of Gurye, the rising sun of the Empire.

‘It’s all over.’

Kwon Chi-yeol couldn’t remain standing.

He collapsed right there on the spot.

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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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