BRDM 150

chapter 150

“What did you buy? A Zweihänder?”

Zweihänder was German. In English, it meant “two-handed sword.”

A massive greatsword that required both hands to wield properly.

It looked far larger than the one Eom Giseon used to carry.

“The sword I had before was too light. If I want to maximize my strength, this feels like the right choice. The blacksmith also said it was a good match.”

Lee Hyun subtly checked the weapon’s description window.

[Claw of Dochul]

A greatsword imbued with the savagery of the evil beast Dochul.
It is fierce enough to crush or tear apart anything it touches.

• Type: Greatsword, two-handed weapon.

• Origin: Folklore of the “Evil Beast Dochul.”

Judging by its size and weight balance, it did indeed seem perfectly suited for Eom Giseon.

Kim Minjeong narrowed her eyes as she placed the Claw of Dochul into her inventory.

“This thing…”

“I won’t say a word about it anywhere, don’t worry.”

“……”

“I mean it. Don’t trust me?”

Kim Minjeong looked like she had plenty she wanted to say to Lee Hyun, but she chose to keep it in.

“By the way, what about you, Sunbae? Didn’t buy anything?”

“Yeah. Just placed an order. They told me to come back for it in five days.”

“Really?”

Kim Minjeong knew as well as Lee Hyun how extraordinary Dochul the blacksmith was—especially how fast he usually worked.

But if he said it would take five days to forge something?

It was almost impossible to imagine what kind of item he was preparing.

Could it be a new sacred relic related to Dueokshini?

Judging by the way Lee Hyun was humming happily, the negotiations must have gone very well.

Which only made her more curious about the result.

At that moment—

Bzzzzt.

Lee Hyun’s phone buzzed.

A message flashed on the screen.

—I’ve looked into Chairman Peng, like you asked. Come over to Uijeongbu when you’ve got time.

Lee Hyun replied with an acknowledgment, then slid the phone into his back pocket.

“Looks like you’ve got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah. Uijeongbu.”

“What business with the General’s place…?”

“I asked him to look into Peng Jinghao.”

“……!”

Kim Minjeong’s eyes widened.

Lee Hyun smirked faintly.

“Looks like he’s found something.”

After parting ways with Lee Hyun, Kim Minjeong headed toward Hongdae Station.

She had an appointment scheduled there that afternoon.

“Noona! Over here!”

Even in the bustling crowd, finding Eom Giseon wasn’t hard.

He was a head taller than most people.

But then—

“Wait… what are you wearing?”

“How do I look? I put on a whole new outfit since I finally get to go on a date with Noona today. Not bad, right?”

“……”

Today was the long-awaited date she had promised in front of the team.

But the instant she saw him, Kim Minjeong was left speechless.

His features were strong, and his expression was as bright and loyal as a golden retriever. But his fashion sense was… catastrophic.

The colors clashed, the patterns were loud, and with his tall frame, he looked like a walking traffic light.

She pressed her hand to her forehead.

“…This won’t do.”

“Huh?”

“First, we’re getting you new clothes.”

“……???”

Still clueless, Eom Giseon was dragged along by Kim Minjeong.

But her hand in his, after so long apart—

Something about the touch felt really good.

A goofy grin spread wide across his face.

“So what’s this about a date, suddenly insisting we take the bus?”

Eom Giseon only managed to step out of the mall once he looked more presentable.

A loose hoodie and straight-fit jeans.

Simple, basic clothes—but on his tall, broad frame, they looked great.

After their shopping date, he was overjoyed, proud, and satisfied.

He decided it was his turn to take the lead, so he put her on a bus without explanation, hoping for a surprise.

But Kim Minjeong didn’t quite get it.

If they had somewhere specific to go, wouldn’t it have been easier just to meet there in the first place?

Still, Eom Giseon refused to explain.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Kim Minjeong frowned, just a little.

She had taken the time to put on makeup for the first time in ages, even ordered clothes she’d carefully chosen online.

Yet he hadn’t said a single word like “You look pretty.”

At this rate, wouldn’t a comfy online date at home have been better than this?

But then—

Wait. This place…?

Her thoughts screeched to a halt as she recognized the scenery outside the bus.

A hospital.

The one where her younger brother, Kim Minyul, was staying.

“What are you waiting for? We’re getting off here.”

“You…?”

“I actually planned to have our date here today. But when you showed up looking so gorgeous, I panicked. Sorry about that.”

Eom Giseon scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Kim Minjeong couldn’t say anything.

No—she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

She could only stare at his face in silence.

In recent days, two massive incidents had captured the attention of intelligence agencies and global powers alike.

“What!? Cheongroe has revived?! They actually defeated Pingshin?!”

“How the hell did they pull that off? Find out immediately what kind of operation they ran!”

The first incident was the spectacular return of Cheongroe Unit.

Everyone had expected Pingshin’s overwhelming victory, so the outcome left the world stunned.

And when it came to light that the City Cartel and the Church of the Deep were involved, the shock only deepened.

For a single guild’s combat unit to rival major state-level forces meant they had become a top-priority threat.

“Get me everything on Jet! His identity, his background! Especially about the Ring of Frost and the <Ice Palace>!”

Agencies that had once classified Jet as just “elite” or “frontline tier” scrambled to raise their evaluations, desperate to understand how a single Ranker could so decisively crush multiple high-rankers.

But then—

A second incident erupted, throwing the world into even greater turmoil.

The collapse of the Central Hero Committee.

“What? What do you mean, the Committee is collapsing!?”

“Pingshin crumbling to Cheongroe, sure, I could see that. They were just imitators anyway! But this? This is different!”

“The Committee half-destroyed? That’s a Chinese Party-run organization! How could this possibly happen!?”

The CIA, MI6, DGSE, Mossad—every major agency turned their eyes toward China. Some even rushed to activate embedded human assets.

The situation on the Chinese mainland was simply too volatile.

Even as the MSS and the Party worked frantically to obscure the chaos from outside eyes, internally, they were stretched thin just trying to contain it.

Four out of ten Committee Rankers vanished.

Peng Jinghao defected to Russia.

Across the provinces, prisons broke open, demons escaped, uprisings flared.

The once-proud Committee, long boasted as the largest Awakened institution in the world, fell in just three days.

And all of it pointed back to one man.

Peng Jinghao.

The Committee’s former leader.

“Bring Peng Jinghao to me NOW! Drag him here, I don’t care how!”

“B-but ever since he crossed the Russian border, we’ve lost all trace of—”

“You expect me to believe that!? Hundreds of Rankers vanish overnight, and you can’t find a single clue!?”

The impossible kept happening.

“Then lodge a formal protest with Moscow! Roll tanks to the border, scramble jets, I don’t care! Bring him back!!”

“But Russia insists they have nothing to do with this, and they’ve already stationed troops at the border…”

“AAARGH!!”

Later, it was discovered that many of the defecting officers and demons bore strange seals embedded in their hearts.

Signs of Peng Jinghao’s unseen influence, already spreading through the Committee in secret.

No wonder the Committee crumbled, losing nearly half its strength in an instant.

Other factions now watched with wary eyes, terrified the flames would spread their way.

And in the midst of it all, a new figure rose to prominence.

The Dao Ancestor.

Lu Wuchen, named the Committee’s new leader.

“I didn’t realize things had escalated this badly in just a few days. If I’d known, I should’ve asked the company sooner.”

“They probably didn’t want to burden you while you were recovering. Not like White Burn can intervene directly anyway.”

When Lee Hyun met Yi Gunsan, he couldn’t help but laugh dryly after hearing all that had unfolded while he was hospitalized.

For someone like Peng Jinghao, it was impressive he’d endured under others this long at all.

This was a man who once bared his fangs at Sun Wukong himself.

It was only natural he’d finally reveal his true nature.

And now… there was little doubt where his hidden gaze would be fixed.

“For now, both I and the NIS are pushing our networks as far as possible. But the chaos in China makes it hard to get clear intel.”

“How long do you think the turmoil will last?”

“That depends entirely on how Lu Wuchen handles it.”

Yi Gunsan set down his coffee cup with a metallic clink.

“If he’s greedy, like Peng was, things will spiral endlessly. But if he keeps the greater good in mind… it’ll end quickly.”

“And which do you believe?”

“The latter,” Yi Gunsan answered without hesitation.

“That man hates disorder. He’ll probably reach out to White Burn soon. In fact, I hear rumors he’s already opened backchannel talks. Likely with mediation from Europe—France or Germany, most likely.”

Lee Hyun smirked faintly.

So, the NIS couldn’t pierce the fog in China—but Yi Gunsan could already drop rumors like this?

“If they make the first move, wouldn’t that be the same as waving the white flag? With their pride, would they go that far?”

“They would. If it means ending the chaos and protecting civilians, Lu Wuchen would swallow his pride a hundred times over.”

Lee Hyun’s eyes widened slightly. This was unlike any Party official he had ever encountered.

“Of course, that same temperament is why he lost the power struggle with Peng in the first place, despite being a top Ranker.”

“Ah…”

“But in a crisis like this? No one is better suited to clean up the mess.”

Lee Hyun nodded.

“For now, the Party won’t dare interfere with him. From this point on, you can think of China as Lu Wuchen’s domain.”

The picture of Lu Wuchen grew clearer in Lee Hyun’s mind.

In a different way than Peng, he may be an even more difficult opponent.

“Exactly. So be careful. He’s no pushover. I’ve even heard he wants to meet you at the upcoming summit… Don’t let him swallow you whole.”

Lee Hyun’s gaze deepened.

Aside from Sanshin, he’d never properly encountered another top Ranker.

The Dao Ancestor.

Said to be the last true immortal left in the world.

But for Yi Gunsan to call him dangerous…

What kind of man could inspire such conflicting views?

Lee Hyun couldn’t help but feel curious.

And—what kind of inspiration might this man offer him?

“But since China’s chaos won’t settle quickly, that means we’ve got time before the summit, right?”

“Most likely. That’s probably why your company told you to take as much leave as you want.”

Lee Hyun nodded.

That gave him plenty of time to search for Geundoun.

And maybe trace the Demon King of Schemes as well.

He looked at Yi Gunsan.

“Then with China tied up like this, their alliances with the City Cartel and the Deep Church must be falling apart. City Cartel especially must be a mess right now.”

“Probably so, but… wait. Where are you planning to go?”

“Yes. During this vacation, I’m thinking of visiting Guam.”

“Guam…?”

Yi Gunsan blinked in confusion.

Lee Hyun wasn’t the type to go to a tropical resort for leisure.

And Guam wasn’t much of a paradise anymore anyway.

Once famous as a holiday spot, now it was closer to hell—dominated by drugs, vice, smuggling, mercenaries, and underground crime.

“Yes. This time, I’ll go under the identity of Gwirwe again. So please, help me, General.”

“…!?”

Yi Gunsan’s eyes went wide.

Lee Hyun only smiled brightly.

Two messages hovered before his eyes.

[By activating the Sacred Relic: Golden-Eyed Golden Cauldron, you have discovered the dungeon gate connected to the Golden Key.]

[Proceed to Guam.]