Novel Lived
Chapter 260
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Chapter 260: The Greatest Worry (2)
Parting ways with the wandering swordsmen, Yeongwoo ran towards the northwest, aiming for a city with a familiar name—Anshan.
[PR/N: After checking, Anshan is a city in China, while the Korean counterpart is called Ansan prev chap I did both as Ansan, which was wrong, my bad guys.]
Boom! Boom!
Even though it wasn’t far in the grand scheme of things, he still had to run at least a hundred kilometers, with only low-rise buildings and fields to greet him along the way.
‘China’s population exceeds 1.4 billion, so even if the Reset happened, at least 400 million should remain, right? Where have all these people gone?’
Yeongwoo glanced at a farmhouse devoid of any sign of life.
Though China’s population was large, the land was even larger, causing such issues.
Even before the Reset, the population density outside the major cities wasn’t exceptionally high, and with the advent of monsters, encountering people became even rarer.
‘And this land is remarkably vast. Unless someone’s significantly boosted their abilities, they could die of dehydration on the road.’
As Yeongwoo looked back, an endless stretch of road lay before him.
‘This won’t do. I’ll waste an entire day just collecting money.’
Yeongwoo finally realized how challenging it would be to achieve ‘world domination.’ Historically, even large empires struggled to continue conquests due to physical distance issues.
The further they got from their homeland, the harder it was to supply resources and manage conquered cities.
If even empires faced such challenges, how could an individual like Yeongwoo succeed?
Currently, the best he could muster was a small team to collect funds.
Conquering the entire world, let alone China, might be a pipe dream.
‘How can I collect tributes on a national scale?’
It was a complex problem.
Even Im Dupyeong, who attempted to conquer China before him, hadn’t solved this issue yet.
“……”
While Yeongwoo contemplated different methods of collecting funds, the road to Anshan continued endlessly.
‘At best, I can visit three cities in a day.’
Boom! Boom!
‘Managing this vast land is realistically impossible unless I can use the Guppy Express regularly.’
Thinking of the Guppy Express, Yeongwoo’s gaze naturally drifted to the sky.
The King of Destruction, Dogo, who roamed the universe, may know the solution.
‘Something that allows high-speed movement on a regional scale. If not, at least card payment machines or ATMs should be installed in each city. After all, tributes can be transferred electronically.’
Receiving daily tributes via transfer and only visiting cities that miss their deadlines for problem-solving.
This was Yeongwoo’s ideal collection structure.
The technology for this already existed.
‘Aren’t our taxes essentially paid through transfers? Why can’t I use such technology?’
While Yeongwoo’s mind raced, he finally saw the rough skyline of a city in the distance.
“Oh.”
He had arrived in Anshan, Liaoning Province, China.
With a total population of 3.64 million and an active urban population close to 1.5 million, it was a significant steel industry city.
Though not a megacity by Chinese standards, it looked enormous to Yeongwoo from the Korean Peninsula.
In fact, while Seoul’s area was 605 square kilometers, Anshan’s was 9,252 square kilometers.
The central part alone was as large as the entire city of Seoul.
“How do I find anyone in this vast place…?”
No merchant markers were in sight, either because the transactions were already done or simply because the area was so large.
There was nothing to use as a guide.
‘Do I have to capture someone and ask?’
Surely there must be someone akin to the Strongest Sword of the Korean Peninsula in this region as well.
And if that person was in the city, they should know his presence.
‘Are they hoping I’ll just pass by…?’
That was a possibility.
Just as there were fearless people like Dalian Sword Guild’s Tian Zhulin, there were also those like Yongsan’s Strongest Sword Kim Doha, who prioritized self-preservation above all.
“Hmmm.”
Yeongwoo, riding on Negwig, stared at the city for a while before deciding to take the quickest route.
“General…!”
He unleashed the most impressive attack he could manage to call out the city’s person in charge.
“Earth, 084! 362! 1041! 443!”
The coordinates Yeongwoo called out marked the location of a construction site near the city entrance.
Likely an abandoned large building project due to the Reset, it soon found a new purpose.
Boom!
Using the construction site as a makeshift call button, Yeongwoo unleashed a laser beam.
Boom!
The anonymous construction site was instantly flattened, and soon enough…
“Ah, ahh!”
“Help us!”
“Invasion!”
Swarms of Anshan citizens began to pour out, sensing danger as the laser beam struck from the sky.
Those who directly witnessed the laser were outside, while most people, unaware of what had happened, rushed outside.
“What’s going on?”
“We don’t know either. We heard a huge noise.”
“Could it be war…?”
War.
Essentially, it wasn’t far off.
Hearing the noise, the Five Masters of Anshan immediately dashed toward the impact site, following the mark of the sovereign flag embedded with the laser.
Thump, thump, thump!
As the five masters of Anshan dashed through the city, the citizens followed them.
Meanwhile, the instigator, Yeongwoo, had jumped off Negwig and strolled towards Anshan.
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‘They should have understood by now.’
Yeongwoo’s message was clear.
If no one came to greet him, he would continue using laser strikes to destroy the city.
Though he valued settlements as rare resources and wasn’t serious about the destruction, the message was compelling.
‘Heh, it worked.’
He sensed several fast-approaching presences ahead.
Five individuals were rapidly closing in on him.
『Five masters of Anshan』
‘There are five of them here? Is it because the region is so large?’
As Yeongwoo stood watching the Five Masters of Anshan approach without drawing his sword, the long-haired man in the lead stopped about 15 meters away from Yeongwoo.
Tap!
The other four also stopped, aligning themselves based on the long-haired man’s position.
This was the minimum safety distance the Five Masters of Anshan considered necessary.
“……”
Yeongwoo couldn’t help but tilt his head slightly.
‘It seems the level of the Five Masters of Anshan isn’t very high.’
Generally, during such a standoff, the distance is determined by one’s psychological safety margin.
In other words, it’s the distance at which they feel they can react to an attack in time or believe they are outside the expected range of the opponent’s attack.
Given that, the current level of the Five Masters of Anshan was…
’15 meters? They’re all within my striking range…?’
Yeongwoo blinked.
It had to be one of two things.
Either the Five Swordsmen were underestimating him, or they were so inexperienced that they had never encountered a master who could kill them in the blink of an eye from more than 20 meters away.
Which was it?
He would soon find out.
Thump!
The long-haired man suddenly gave a fist salute to Yeongwoo and spoke.
“What brings you to Anshan? We hesitated to greet you directly, fearing we might hinder your journey.”
Considering they knew well about Yeongwoo’s background, this was quite a problematic display of courtesy.
They even knew that the man before them was the one who had seized the title of China.
‘Did they originally intend to be this peaceful, or did the laser strike change their minds?’
Yeongwoo pondered how to broach the subject of tributes while observing the other four, excluding the long-haired man.
As expected, the bald, muscular man standing to the immediate right of the long-haired man wore a very hostile expression.
The Five Masters of Anshan.
Having five people in one city with the same title implied that there were five different personalities and wills behind that title.
It was clear that while the long-haired leader preferred peaceful negotiations, the consensus among the Five Swordsmen was not unanimous.
‘This might not be resolved through dialogue alone.’
The current time was 5:14 PM.
Yeongwoo checked the time and then spoke to the long-haired man.
“I am Jeong Yeongwoo, the Strongest Sword of the Korean Peninsula, visiting China as a representative.”
The long-haired man’s eyes widened momentarily, and he glanced at the other four ‘swordsmen.’
“I’ve heard of your reputation… but I didn’t realize you were a representative of the Korean Peninsula. I am Jeong Taeryong of the Five Masters of Anshan.”
Jeong Taeryong.
He quickly introduced himself and made another fist salute, but unlike before, he couldn’t maintain a bright expression.
There was a world of difference between a mere troublemaker from the Korean Peninsula and that troublemaker representing the entire peninsula.
The former could be dismissed as an individual rogue, but the latter implied that the entire Korean Peninsula was declaring war.
And predictably…
“You’re the representative of the Korean Peninsula? Are you saying that the peninsula's residents have united intending to advance into the Central Plains?”
The bald, muscular man, shouted angrily at Yeongwoo.
Jeong Taeryong quickly reprimanded him in a low voice.
“Hwigwang, if you wish to keep your head on your shoulders today, hold your tongue.”
At least Jeong Taeryong seemed to grasp that the Strongest Sword’s skills were extraordinary.
“My brothers can be a bit rash. Please forgive their rudeness.”
Swoosh.
Jeong Taeryong bowed his head slightly in apology to Yeongwoo.
Yeongwoo, in turn, accepted the apology with a slight bow of his own.
He could tell that, despite Jeong Taeryong’s courteous demeanor, his pride as a Chinese remained intact.
This was evident from his refusal to refer to Yeongwoo with the title ‘Strongest sword.’
If this were Shandong Province, as soon as Hwigwang made his mistake, Zhang Jaham would have hailed Yeongwoo as the ‘Strongest sword’ while bowing his head to the ground.
‘Shandong’s Twin Evils are truly impressive. We can definitely move forward together.’
If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
The more Chinese people Yeongwoo met, the more he realized Shandong was his best partner.
“Since our time is valuable, let’s get straight to the point.”
Yeongwoo began to broach the uncomfortable subject.
“Have you met the standing committee members dispatched from the Politburo in Beijing? They’re typically older and wield unusual powers.”
Jeong Taeryong and the other swordsmen looked puzzled.
“Standing committee members?”
“Do you mean politicians?”
“What are you talking about?”
They seemed clueless.
‘Damn it. This complicates things.’
Apparently, the collection team from Beijing hadn’t reached this eastern region yet.
Even Dalian to the south wasn’t initially a target area for collections until the lands merged into Pangaea.
‘Should I explain about Im Dupyeong first… or just start fighting?’
It might be quicker to demand money under the threat of death rather than to explain that the President of China had become a legendary demon collecting money across the continent.
Just as Yeongwoo slowly began to reach for the sheath at his waist...
Boom!
A loud, unsettling crashing sound came from the west.
“……!”
“What was that?”
“That… that’s!”
Shock therapy indeed worked best for grabbing attention.
Following the Five master’s gaze to the west, Yeongwoo broke into a bright smile.
An old man wrapped in a purple aura of demonic energy was charging towards them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each step he took, the ground upheaved, indicating his formidable martial prowess.
In other words, that must be…
“Standing committee member!”
Yeongwoo shouted the person’s status with glee, causing Jeong Taeryong to stare at him with wide eyes.
“What… what did you say?”
“Standing committee member! That man will explain everything! Why you need to pay me 20 million!”
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