The God of Death and the God of War - Chapter 44

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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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Evil Hegemon Martial God

 

Chapter 44

 

The interior of the abandoned mine was pitch dark.

 

If it weren’t for the torch that Jeok-un was carrying, she probably would have stumbled several times.

 

“Whee~.”

 

Even so, Jeok-un seemed excited about something, whistling as he strode forward with large steps.

 

‘He’s completely unpredictable.’

 

Watching him, Hae-yeon thought to herself.

 

But she wasn’t surprised.

 

After all, from their first meeting until now, had there been even one thing she could understand?

 

So Hae-yeon put aside trying to understand the man called Jeok-un and focused on what his purpose might be for bringing her here.

 

She concentrated her eyes and scanned all around.

 

Countless pieces of information that pierced through the dim view and struck her mind began to rapidly accumulate in her head.

 

Ore fragments protruding from the walls that had been partially mined.

 

Ores identifiable by their surface characteristics, combined with inferences about the overall structure from the direction of the tunnel’s progress.

 

Various kinds of knowledge that ordinary people couldn’t understand even if they saw it piled up neatly in her head, but…

 

‘No matter how much I look, there’s nothing special. Moreover, if they dug this deep, it means the gold vein has already dried up…’

 

No matter how she looked at it, this was a mine that had closed down because the gold vein had dried up.

 

Hae-yeon evaluated the mine objectively and considered other possibilities.

 

‘If there’s another reason?’

 

Then the most likely possibility would be that he bought it with the vain hope that there might be some gold left in the abandoned mine.

 

‘No, that can’t be it.’

 

Suddenly, the conversation she had with Jeok-un flashed through her mind.

 

-Are you perhaps purchasing several more mines like this?

 

-Hmm, definitely more than 10, right?

 

-…Excuse me?

 

If Jeok-un had bought just one abandoned mine, she might have reached that conclusion.

 

But the number of abandoned mines he had purchased was too many.

 

‘The Daeju I’ve seen is reckless but definitely not foolish.’

 

The world’s assessment of Jeok-un was that he was a fool who didn’t know his place and acted arrogantly.

 

But she would never evaluate Jeok-un that way.

 

If you examine Jeok-un’s actions one by one.

 

‘The matter with the No-ga brothers, rushing at Cheon-ju, and even the Ya-ju incident.’

 

Every action was clearly motivated by achieving and seizing a specific ‘purpose.’

 

Then coming to this abandoned mine was also.

 

‘Indeed, Daeju’s purpose isn’t gold, but something else.’

 

But thinking this way naturally raised another question.

 

Then what exactly was the task he intended to give her here?

 

Thud.

 

At that moment, Jeok-un suddenly stopped walking.

 

“Good, we’re here.”

 

“…!”

 

Hae-yeon suddenly looked around in surprise.

 

…What?

 

To her bewilderment, the front and both sides were completely blocked.

 

What’s commonly called a dead end.

 

The end of the tunnel was right before her eyes.

 

* * *

 

Jeok-un hung the torch on the wall.

 

The surroundings became brightly illuminated.

 

‘Good, they’re still here as expected.’

 

A faint gleam appeared in Jeok-un’s eyes as he found what he was looking for.

 

Treasures identical to his memories from before his regression were scattered everywhere.

 

Then, Hae-yeon behind him spoke quietly.

 

“The gold here has already run dry too.”

 

Hae-yeon suddenly threw something at Jeok-un.

 

Jeok-un caught it deftly with one hand.

 

After confirming its identity, Jeok-un smiled broadly.

 

“Then this must be what you were looking for, Daeju.”

 

“As expected, you’re not only quick-witted but also perceptive?”

 

What Jeok-un held in his hand was trash that the miners had left behind because it was worthless.

 

To be precise, an ordinary stone with no distinguishing features or characteristics.

 

It was so useless that no matter how hard Hae-yeon tried to recall, she couldn’t come up with a name for it.

 

“Could you tell me what it is?”

 

“It’s waste rock.”

 

“…Waste rock?”

 

Hae-yeon was puzzled.

 

Waste rock. The very meaning was stone to be discarded.

 

“You don’t need to rack your brain trying to remember. Only I know this thing’s name and true identity.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“This stone, you see.”

 

At Jeok-un’s following words, Hae-yeon’s eyes widened.

 

“It’s rock salt.”

 

“…!!”

 

Swoosh.

 

For quite a long time, silence descended.

 

Even Hae-yeon was too shocked to say anything.

 

Soon after recovering from the shock, Hae-yeon hurriedly looked around.

 

The walls and ground were embedded with countless waste rocks, and the ground was littered with discarded waste rocks.

 

‘Could it be that all of these are…!’

 

She had good reason to be so surprised.

 

If Jeok-un’s words were true, then things more valuable than gold and silver treasures were scattered everywhere.

 

Hae-yeon carefully spoke up.

 

“Daeju, if what you say is true and this really is rock salt, then what you’re planning to do is…”

 

To Hae-yeon’s question, which she couldn’t bring herself to voice completely.

 

Jeok-un proudly puffed out his chest and answered.

 

“That’s right, I’m planning to engage in salt smuggling with this.”

 

“…!”

 

Hae-yeon felt dizzy for a moment.

 

Salt smuggling. In other words, illegal salt trading.

 

That was it, the reason Jeok-un had bought numerous abandoned mines in the area.

 

It was because of the waste rocks, which were minerals containing salt (rock salt).

 

Though the imperial family and Court changed over time, their attitude toward salt was always similar.

 

They only recognized the monopoly system controlled by the Court, namely official salt.

 

All other private salt was strictly prohibited, and trading it was treated as salt smuggling and severely punished.

 

But since the country monopolized salt, the worst possible product emerged – poor quality and expensive – and naturally salt smuggling was bound to flourish.

 

Salt is an essential element for human survival.

 

So even though the price was cheaper than official salt, the demand was insanely high.

 

If properly established, one could literally earn enough money to ‘buy a country.’

 

‘That’s why he bought the abandoned mines.’

 

Because treasures more valuable than gold nuggets were piled up everywhere in the abandoned mines he had purchased.

 

Jeok-un planned to pour all of Bucheonju’s secret funds into this salt smuggling scheme.

 

If Bucheonju’s secret funds were 1, then a hundred times, no, a thousand times that amount.

 

No. Even that wouldn’t be enough.

 

He could inflate the funds to at least tens of thousands of times the original amount.

 

Upon hearing the word salt smuggling, Hae-yeon spoke with a trembling voice.

 

But as great as the rewards were, salt smuggling carried enormous risks.

 

“This isn’t just dangerous. Do you know that salt bandits are punished under national law with penalties equivalent to high treason?”

 

“Of course I knew that.”

 

“…Not only will Daeju be affected, but Sadocheon will be swept up in this too. The non-interference pact between government and martial world will be broken as well.”

 

The non-interference pact between government and martial world had its limits.

 

As mentioned before, the nation only recognized government salt.

 

This was a core element of national finances, so those who distributed smuggled salt were treated as salt bandits and punished equivalent to treason.

 

During the Tang Dynasty, wasn’t Huang Chao, who led a rebellion, also a salt bandit?

 

“Then why are you insisting on going through with this…?”

 

At Hae-yeon’s words, Jeok-un chuckled and spoke.

 

“How can a man who has set out to devour All Under Heaven not do what he must just because the nation stands in his way?”

 

“…!!”

 

Hae-yeon couldn’t say anything in response to Jeok-un’s words.

 

The shock seemed too great.

 

Seeing her reaction, Jeok-un shrugged and spoke reassuringly.

 

“Besides, there’s no worry of being caught in the first place. I told you, I’m the only one in all the Central Plains who knows these waste stones are salt stones.”

 

“…!”

 

Now that she thought about it again, it was strange.

 

Why was Daeju the only one who knew these stones were rock salt?

 

No matter how hard and difficult to extract rock salt might be, salt was worth its weight in gold in the Central Plains, especially in inland regions.

 

So by some means, the fact that it was rock salt should have been discovered.

 

There was only one reason.

 

“These waste stones aren’t ordinary rock salt. Ordinary rock salt just needs to be crushed and rinsed with water, but you can’t extract salt from these with just that.”

 

“Then how?”

 

“A special solution is needed. A special solution to separate the salt chunks contained within the ore.”

 

“…!”

 

“Without that, as people say, they’re nothing more than useless stones.”

 

That meant even if they mined and piled them up in broad daylight, people would at most think them fools for stacking useless rocks in warehouses, rather than suspect them of being salt bandits.

 

“And I know the ingredients to make that solution.”

 

“?!”

 

Hae-yeon showed a shocked expression.

 

It was a familiar expression.

 

In his past life, when Hyeol-hu had created the dissolving solution, he and his brothers had all worn the same expression.

 

‘If it hadn’t been for Hyeol-hu, we would have collapsed without even fighting properly.’

 

The waste stones that were rock salt had been Sadocheon’s war supplies.

 

Not military funds, but war supplies.

 

The Demonic Cult hadn’t invaded just to devour Gangho.

 

They were evil beings who would do anything to manifest the demon world, the realm of demons, upon this land.

 

They had restricted salt, an essential item for bringing down All Under Heaven.

 

‘In times of peace, salt merchants could travel back and forth on ferries and carrying loads on their backs.’

 

But after war broke out, it became impossible.

 

They used the strategy of cutting off salt, essential for survival, to starve their enemies.

 

The damage didn’t only affect martial artists.

 

Accordingly, not only martial artists but also common people died miserably.

 

Eventually, Sadocheon, being on the front lines and inland, had to find salt by any means necessary.

 

Hae-yeon had worked day and night to find new ways to obtain salt.

 

Finally, she found a method to extract salt from waste stones.

 

‘And next was creating the dissolving solution to extract salt from the waste stones.’

 

His role had been to procure the ingredients for the dissolving solution for Hae-yeon.

 

At that time, because Hae-yeon had earnestly entreated him to obtain them at all costs, Jeok-un still clearly remembered the ingredients for the completed dissolving solution.

 

And this was another reason for pushing forward despite the risk of extreme punishment if discovered.

 

‘Because it would be too late to prepare salt after war breaks out.’

 

Jeok-un, who had briefly reflected on the past, soon shook it off and spoke with a confident voice.

 

“Trust me. I definitely know the ingredients.”

 

At Jeok-un’s confident words, Hae-yeon made an incredulous expression.

 

‘Ha, this is really unbelievable.’

 

Literally unbelievable.

 

Normally, she would have been alarmed, calling it an impossible plan.

 

But why was her heart racing while listening to this impossible plan?

 

‘His courage and boldness are beyond belief.’

 

Truly, a plan that only someone who intended to seize All Under Heaven would make.

 

Hae-yeon was instinctively drawn to that plan.

 

‘It would be… interesting, wouldn’t it?’

 

Perhaps, no matter how rational a person she was, her instincts as a Sapa member had been stimulated.

 

‘…Huh, but wait a moment?’

 

Hae-yeon was drawing the blueprint for this grand and magnificent plan that could even buy a nation when she suddenly made an “oh no” expression.

 

Because Jeok-un’s earlier words, which she had let pass, struck her mind like lightning.

 

“But what do you mean you know the ingredients…?”

 

Heheh.

 

Jeok-un looked at Hae-yeon and smiled mischievously.

 

Because Hae-yeon had pointed out the most important part.

 

To be honest, there was one small, minor problem in making this salt smuggling successful.

 

‘…No, surely not?’

 

Hae-yeon hoped it wasn’t the case, but.

 

Jeok-un betrayed her expectations once again.

 

“Now, your task is to find the mixing ratios for the solution that will dissolve these waste stones using the ingredients I’ll find for you.”

 

“…?”

 

Because he knew the solution’s ingredients, but the mixing ratios had been Hae-yeon’s responsibility.

 

Well, you did it in the past, so it’s possible this time too, right?

 

Jeok-un looked at her with an innocent expression.

 

“Now, that’s the first repayment I’m asking of you.”

 

“…!”

 

Hae-yeon looked as if she had been struck by a sledgehammer.

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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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