Chapter 157: Auction House Onboard (4)
Jay, the bald man who was caught by the neck, couldn’t hide his shock. Of course, Chae Mun-tak had given him orders to kill Chun Yeowun, so he tried to instigate the fight through the auction host, but he didn’t try to do anything else.
“Cough! L-let go of…”
“If you are left in charge of this auction, what position do you have in MS Group?”
Position?
He was one of the ten high-ranking officials, or executives. At Chun Yeowun’s words, Jay saw that this man was targeting the high-ranking people in MS Group.
‘Isn’t it dangerous for me to reveal my ident.i.ty, then?’
This was a bad situation, in the group the person he was supposed to work along with had abandoned him and was ready to kill him, and now if he let this monster know of his position, he would die.
‘I need to run away.’
Jay, who was determined to run, revealed his ability, which corroded anything it came in contact with. Since Chun Yeowun was holding his neck, he could use his ability perfectly.
Woong!
‘Wh…at?’
Chun Yeowun’s hand, which should have been corroded, was intact. Of course, they weren’t entirely fine, but Chun Yeowun already normally protected his body with energy and sensed that Jay was trying to do something to him.
“You. You’re up to something useless.”
“Kuak, w-wait…”
Chun Yeowun slammed the man to the floor.
Bang!
The floor cracked.
“Ackkk!”
Jay’s face had turned red and swollen, as if his veins were about to burst. Although he was talented, he never trained his body for such powerful attacks. In a way, it felt like he was going to die.
“So weak.”
Chun Yeowun was beyond puzzled at the sight of this high ranking executive who was way too weak. Once he thought about it, he realized that the people in charge of the secret MS hideouts weren’t very strong either.
“Well then, shouldn’t you start opening your mouth?”
Chun Yeowun was planning on using the Ghost ability to read Jay’s mind, but he surrendered.
“Kuaaak! I-I surrender! I’ll tell you everything you want so let me live!”
“… What?”
A quick surrender. Jay had a great sense of survival.
Meanwhile, Chae Mun-tak, who had fallen to the floor due to Jay’s corrosion ability, came to his senses. As he also had a fighting ability that he could use, but he didn’t train his body, causing him to get a concussion when he fell.
“Kuak, that Jo Hogi!”
Jay’s real name was Jo Hogi, and Chae Mun-tak hadn’t expected the baldy to use his ability in such a way.
‘How long was I out for?’
Although it was only for a brief moment, the pain in his head made him check the time to figure out how much time he had lost. He took out his phone and turned on the CCTV video watching the room to which Jay had fled.
‘This!’
He could see Jay being nailed down and Chun Yeowun in front of him. Chae Mun-tak realized it wouldn’t be possible to return to that room now.
‘Chun Mu-seong moved first?’
This was unexpected. He double-tapped on the earphone on his left ear.
“Cheol-ryeong! Can you hear me?”
He spoke it almost like a whisper. After a short moment, someone answered.
-Yes, Senior Researcher.
“Code Red.”
-Code Red!
Code Red signaled that the worst outcome was happening.
-Are you stopping the auction now?
At Cheol-ryeong’s question, Chae Mun-tak faced trouble. The best, safest answer was to stop the auction and escape with all the items, but if they did that, they would lose the interest and support from the VIP customers.
‘If that happens, the head or even the entire table will hold me accountable.’
He would be killed even if he tried to run away. Once the MS Group put its mind to it, it could find anyone.
‘What do I do?’
Something flashed through his mind. There was a chance he could take advantage of the situation naturally.
“I have to move.”
It would, at least, help avoid losing the VIPs.
“Cheol-ryeong. Bring the escorts out right now and put the 4th Gen and 5th Gen prototypes on the podium.”
-Huh? They’re supposed to be shown at the end of the auction…
“Now isn’t the time for questions.”
Chae Mun-tak decided to adopt an all-or-nothing approach for the current predicament. Since Chun Mu-seong was running rampant, the only solution was to stop the auction.
-Alright.
Chae Mun-tak gave the orders and took a silver mask out of his sleeve. Wearing that mask, he hurried down to the first floor of the dome.
In the dome’s observation room, Jo Hogi, with a shaking body that was trembling due to his broken spine, explained the situation to Chun Yeowun.
“I-I was abandoned by the group. Please believe me.”
Jo Hogi figured that, even if he were to escape with his life, he would die in the hands of the MS Group, so clinging to Chun Yeowun was his only hope.
“Hmm.”
Chun Yeowun looked at him. His eyes shone with a will to live, as he didn’t seem to be lying.
“Please! Please save me!”
From what Chun Yeowun was told, Jo Hogi moved against MS Group"s order and was cut off. However, Jo Hogi said that the person in charge of the auction house was another one of his colleagues who was trying to pin all of the trouble on him.
‘He’s worth using.’
If he could use this man, he would be able to enter the MS Group from the inside.
“There are two more executives besides you?”
“Y-yes.”
“Where are these two?”
“E is bound to arrive soon, and the man in charge is I, or Chae Mun-tak, who fell down.”
Jo Hogi pointed to the hole in the floor. Chun Yeowun approached the floor and looked down.
“There’s no one there.”
“Ugh, he’ll probably come up to kill me.”
Chae Mun-tak had manipulated the auction and tried to use Jo Hogi as a scapegoat, so Jo Hogi thought Chae Mun-tak would for sure try to come up to kill him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Chun Yeowun couldn’t feel any energy moving towards this room. That was when Jo Hogi looked out of the window.
“No! Chae Mun-tak, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“What?”
“Chae Mun-tak is over there…”
The place where Jo Hogi pointed out the window was the dome. There was a man standing on the podium wearing a silver mask: Chae Mun-tak. All of the guests were all looking at him.
-Nice to meet you. My name is I, and I am in charge of this auction house. It seems like it’s the first time our guests have faced such a situation.
The appearance of a high-ranking MS Group executive who oversaw the auction house in secrecy behind the scenes was enough to attract their attention.
“What is he doing?”
Jo Hogi couldn’t answer Chun Yeowun’s question. A high-ranking executive wouldn’t appear in public unless it was really special, so Chae Mun-tak had to be up to something.
“I-I don’t know.”
“… You really don’t.”
Chun Yeowun looked at him with annoyed eyes. Even if he was an executive in charge of an auction house, this man knew nothing.
‘But what is that b.a.s.t.a.r.d doing out there?’
There was no way that Chae Mun-tak was unaware that someone broke into the room, as it alone had 6 CCTV cameras inside..
‘Did that Chae Mun-tak b.a.s.t.a.r.d see…’
Jo Hogi frowned as he figured out Chae Mun-tak’s intentions. There were influential people from all over the world at the auction, and it seemed that Chae Mun-tak appeared suddenly to prevent Chun Yeowun from harming him by taking the cover of the VIPs.
‘That b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He’s outsmarted me!’
Jo Hogi grinded his teeth. In order to survive he ended up begging this man, but that one was playing tricks!
Whing!
At that moment, the center of the platform opened and something rose up surrounded by gla.s.s protectors.
The spectacle was labeled ‘Fourth Generation’, and a total of 24 men and women of various nationalities and ages were on the platform in restraints.
“Ohh!”
“4th Gen!”
The VIPs all seemed excited at the sight, as they were attending this place mainly for the auction of these humans. The humans in the gla.s.s protectors were the 4th Gen combat weapons created through various genetic modifications.
“Did they make those?”
Chun Yeowun clicked his tongue when looking at those humans. He had seen the genetically engineered “humans” in the VIP room of Black Athena, and never thought he’d see them again after that.
Chae Mun-tak opened his mouth again.
-This isn’t the end! What you have been waiting for…. We are here to show that to you today!
Snap!
When Chae Mun-tak snapped his fingers, the floor cracked and something came up with smoke. As if revealing a new product, the new arrival was unveiled with gla.s.s protectors that had rose gold designs, giving it an ornate appearance.
Unlike the previous ones, this human had its face covered, and in the center, ‘Fifth Generation’ was written in red letters.
“Woahhhhh!”
Clap! Clap!
People stood up and began to clap at the 5th Gen modified human. The officials of each nation"s National Defense wanted these, and in fact only partic.i.p.ated in MS Group’s auctions because of their reputation to produce the most effective combat weapons.
Chae Mun-tak pressed a b.u.t.ton on a wireless terminal.
Click!
The gla.s.s protector around the 4th Gen humans was released and the humans who previously had their eyes closed, opened their eyes and walked forward.
-I think the 4th Gen is familiar to those who attended the last auction.
The 4th Gen all wore unique silver mechanical suits, with energy sources shining like LED lights in the center of their suits.
‘No!’
Chun Yeowun’s eyes lit up. The radiating light in the suits’ centers wasn’t just any energy.
It was the energy of cores.
Based on the levels of energy of each human, the 4th Gen were equipped with B-cla.s.s cores. The exact use of the cores was unknown, but it seemed like the energy source for the suit. Chae Mun-tak exclaimed in a loud voice,
-Behold, the latest work of our group today!
Clank!
When Chae Mun-tak pressed the b.u.t.ton again, the entrance of the 5th Gen’s gorgeous gla.s.s protector opened. A light was pointing at the podium, and as the entrance opened, a man with a golden suit, gray hair, no expression, and a long scar in the corner of his right eye, walked out.
Step!
Intense energy was emanating from his suit. Chun Yeowun couldn’t feel the energy when the 5th Gen was caged, but once he was out, the energy was impossible to miss.
“No way…”
“Is that an S-cla.s.s core?”
The light from the core was unmistakably an S-cla.s.s core. Most of the VIP guests who attended guessed that the 5th Gen weapon used an A-cla.s.s core, but this exceeded their expectations.
Kohaku of Speed was surprised as well.
‘A 4th Gen itself is tough to fight without Sukeru; this must be a monster.’
The pure energy alone surpa.s.sed the warriors who were the strongest in their nations, making them wonder if A-cla.s.s and S-cla.s.s cores could be used as the strongest weapons without refining them.
‘Have they established a technology to withstand an S-cla.s.s core?’
If this knowledge was released to the world, chaos would definitely ensue. The next-gen human weapons of MS Group were still prototypes, but if they could be commercialized, all the countries would make huge investments.
‘I want to see it!’
‘How much will it be?’
Everyone in the dome wanted to know how powerful the 5th Gen was, as the reason that it was revealed here was to demonstrate its power. A middle-aged blonde, presumably American, woman spoke,
“Please show us the demo!”
“C"est vrai! Nous voulons aussi voir!”
[Right! We want to see it too!]
People of national defense kept speaking. They wanted to see the 5th Gen weapon in action.
-No need to rush! Even if you didn’t ask, we were going to demonstrate it any ー
It was then.
Clank!
It was the sound of gla.s.s breaking, and someone entered and stood in the middle of the podium.
“Vi-vice chairman of Yongchun?”
“Chun Mu-seong?”
It was Chun Yeowun who had suddenly gone onto the podium. At his appearance, all the VIP guests expressed their shared displeasure.
“What the h.e.l.l are you doing?”
A woman from the US National Guard shouted at Chun Yeowun. Even though this man was strong, she couldn’t hold back her anger, but Chun Yeowun ignored her and moved to the 5th Gen human, saying,
“Baekgi!”
The human weapon which the MS Group revealed as the 5th Gen was none other than Baekgi, Chun Yeowun’s subordinate whom Chun Yeowun had attended the auction to find!
“Baekgi. It’s me. Get yourself together!”
Despite Chun Yeowun’s words, Baekgi stared back with an expressionless face. Chae Mun-tak was smiling behind the mask.
‘As expected!’
Chae Mun-tak was skeptical at first. The place Baekgi came from had a bottle containing the blood of the Flame Qilin, and Chae Mun-tak received a report that Chun Yeowun had brought a man with red hair with a similar background. MS Group had a.s.sumed that the human they found frozen had something to do with the Demonic Cult, and they were right!
‘Originally I was intending to use it as a negotiation card.’
However, he now had to change his plans. Chae Mun-tak spoke.
-This is good. Guest Chun Mu-seong has volunteered to help us with the demo.
Chun Yeowun looked at the man.
“What are you planning?”
Ignoring Chun Yeowun’s question, he spoke to the audience.
-It is an honor to present to you: the 5th Gen!
Chae Mun-tak ordered while looking at Baekgi.
-Neutralize the opponent in front of you.
As soon as the words came out, the energy source in the middle of the golden suit emitted an ever stronger light and Baekgi rushed towards Chun Yeowun.
-This is a combat weapon we’ve concentrated all of our resources on. Can he deal with it?’
It was a perfect weapon for winning a battle, and there was no way this man would recognize Chun Yeowun.
At that, Chun Yeowun simply gave an order to Baekgi who was coming at him.
“The Chun Ma of the Great Sky Demon Order orders you, Baekgi, on your knees.”
Chae Mun-tak smiled bitterly.
‘There is no way that such an order will work…’
At that moment, something unbelievable happened.
Thud!
Baekgi, who was running towards Chun Yeowun, suddenly fell to his knees. Even Chae Mun-tak couldn’t hide his shock.
‘W-what the h.e.l.l just happened?’