Chapter 211

Chapter 211

“……Ugh.”

“Why is the young lady doing that?”

Haun Merchant Company office.

At Lee Ryang’s sudden words while looking over and organizing the incoming information, Ga Yeom blinked. However, regardless of Ga Yeom’s attitude, Lee Ryang kept looking at the document in his hand.

“It’s information sent by the Hwayonghyeon branch manager. Information about those who participated in this opening ceremony.”

“Ah, that finally came over? I knew the list came over a while ago, but it was slower than expected.”

“There were many things to handle, so it’s not strange. It wasn’t an urgent matter either, so they probably sent it leisurely.”

“Yes…… But what about it?”

“It’s strange. This woman called Black Dragon Lord.”

“Black Dragon Lord?”

“Yes.”

[Black Dragon Lord]

A newly rising martial artist who suddenly started activities a few years ago.

Even though called a newly rising martial artist, nothing has been properly revealed. Not her age, her school, her affiliation, or even the martial arts she uses. The only information circulating is stories about how strong this woman called Black Dragon Lord is and who she’s dealt with.

There’s no trace of activity before she started acting as if she sprouted from the ground. Even the Beggar’s Gang and Haomun tried to dig into her past, but there wasn’t a single witness.

“Wouldn’t she be a hermit master’s disciple?”

“She claims to be, but I wonder. No matter how much a hermit master’s disciple, they usually share martial characteristics, don’t they?”

“Yes.”

“No matter how much I search through history, such martial arts have never appeared.”

Martial arts that seem to stretch out silk wrapped around the body to attack.

Though called weapon arts, it’s practically closer to strong energy arts. Unless it’s silk woven from Heavenly Silkworm Thread, what attack or defense power would silk itself have?

Even if you make it stiff by infusing internal energy, there are limits. Fundamentally, infusing internal energy into steel versus infusing internal energy into silk—it’s obvious which is more difficult without needing to say.

“Perhaps…….”

A rising new star.

Perhaps it might not be at that level. Though Black Dragon Lord is already evaluated as being in the ranks of strong ones among new martial artists, perhaps.

“What did you say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I hope nothing happens.

Lee Ryang, who let out a deep sigh, turned his gaze westward. Beyond the western sky in the distance.

Clouds were gathering.

Ominously dark clouds.

I immediately returned to the beach where the boat was.

“I’ve returned.”

“Ah, you finished search…… Eek?”

At my words, a martial artist who had been diligently organizing something looked toward me, widened his eyes greatly, and gaped. Unable to take his eyes off the scene unfolding behind me.

“What on earth is that…….”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know either.”

Thirty people.

Looking at the people floating in the air, unconscious and bound in silk, the shocked people were left behind as I looked at Black Dragon Lord smiling quietly. A sensation strange beyond measure.

‘She’s strong.’

The moment I saw Black Dragon Lord, I knew. She’s a strong person who couldn’t determine superiority even if we met outside, and if we clashed here, it would be certain defeat.

The total amount of internal energy is different to begin with. I don’t know how many internal energy pills she bought and consumed, but from what I can feel, she’s operating even more internal energy than the current Daesageom. To the degree that she can maintain thirty people lifted in the air, it’s fair to call it a supernatural ability.

If I had only seen up to this point, I would never have brought Black Dragon Lord in as an ally. It would be like bringing a tiger into the house, and there was also something strangely going against my senses. However.

‘I can see golden energy.’

If we clash, certain defeat.

Yet no hostile energy is visible, and rather golden energy flows around her. Plus, a strange goodwill shown toward me at first meeting.

My head hurts. At least until I figure out that reason, I can’t leave her behind.

That’s how I came to travel with Black Dragon Lord.

With this suspicious woman.

“Ooh. Bulgwaemok.”

“You know it?”

“Of course, it’s a tree I’ve seen countless times. Don’t trees like this grow terribly abundantly near Xinjiang?”

“Though it doesn’t burn easily, its vitality is extraordinary, so this Bulgwaemok often devours forests.”

“You know it well.”

“I once wandered near Xinjiang, so that’s why. It’s a story from long ago.”

Black Dragon Lord, who smiled gently while covering her mouth, reached out and confirmed she was lowering the martial artists she had transported down, then I asked questions to those who were inspecting the boat.

“Did you find any flaws?”

“Mm…… We found traces of the Waterway Strongholds bastards tampering with it.”

“You found them but?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any way to do something about this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly that. There’s no way to block this.”

The Hainan Sect martial artist who paused for a moment continued.

“Do you know about Bulgwaemok’s characteristics?”

“Roughly. That it can only be processed with fire, right?”

“Right. That it can only be processed with fire is also one of Bulgwaemok’s important characteristics. But there’s a more important characteristic.”

“Mm?”

“It’s that it remembers the shape when first processed. Because it’s yokai wood, it’s a bit different from ordinary trees.”

The Hainan Sect martial artist who spoke tapped the boat with the back of his hand and grimaced.

“The boat’s bottom is usually made with curved surface processing. You know this, don’t you?”

“Mm.”

“Processed Bulgwaemok immediately returns to its original form when it receives some kind of shock. The bent trees straighten out immediately. What do you think that means?”

“The boat gets smashed to pieces.”

“Correct. That’s why originally when making boats with Bulgwaemok, they do work to fix the boat using several layers of Bulgwaemok straight boards. But this boat has only one fixing board.”

“What does that mean?”

“If they remove just one fixing board on the boat’s bottom and apply some kind of shock, the boat will go poof. It means it will disappear without a trace. Only wooden planks will be floating on the sea.”

“……Mm.”

Indeed, the Waterway Strongholds bastards had good reason to confidently show the boat.

With such a safety device, they didn’t particularly bother to catch and hold me who stole the boat and ran away. Either way, we have to catch the Water Dragon, and if we catch the Water Dragon, they can just disassemble the boat right away.

“Is there no way to prevent disassembly?”

“There’s fundamentally no way to block it. However, we can delay the disassembly time a bit. If we overlay several steel boards on the fixing board to make disassembly difficult, we can buy a bit more time. As for the rest…….”

“The rest?”

“There’s no choice but to go below and block the Waterway Strongholds bastards from approaching. But the Waterway Strongholds bastards are so strong in water.”

Looking at the Hainan Sect martial artist shaking his head from side to side, I stroked my chin and fell into deep contemplation. Certainly, facing the Waterway Strongholds bastards in water isn’t a very good method. But we can’t let them disassemble the boat either.

What should we do?

“Shall I handle it somehow?”

“……What did you say?”

“You’re worried that the water bandits will disassemble the boat, aren’t you? I’m saying I’ll block the water bandits.”

“Is that possible?”

“I’ll do it better than anyone here.”

Movement in water receives resistance, but internal energy doesn’t receive resistance.

Looking at Black Dragon Lord stretching out her silk long to show that intent, I narrowed my eyes. No matter how I looked at it, it was movement beyond the norm of ordinary martial arts.

“I’ll entrust it to you. Do you want anything?”

“Not particularly. I just need to be able to advance to the central zone. You all can divide among yourselves what comes from catching the Water Dragon.”

“You don’t want anything…… The more I see you, the more suspicious you are.”

“If I’m suspicious, shouldn’t you not reveal that to me?”

“I’m saying to be cautious and not pull any tricks. Unless you’re confident you can kill me faster than I can tear off my bracelet.”

“Such harsh words. I have no intention of killing anyone here.”

“I hope that’s the case.”

Was it said to keep allies close and enemies even closer?

Shaking my head from side to side at Black Dragon Lord’s appearance, which somehow bothered me, I loaded the unconscious people onto the boat. And at that moment, thunderous sounds sweeping throughout the entire zone.

Kwaagwagwang!

“……Is it finally starting?”

The Water Dragon begins to rampage.

Lightning strikes crossed the sea, and rain and wind surged up. Several massive waterspouts gradually revealing themselves from the zone’s outskirts.

As heard. The Water Dragon hunts humans while gradually pushing inward if not caught. If caught up in those waterspouts, it’s immediately over.

“There isn’t much time. Where is Daesageom?”

“He came back earlier and went out saying he’d look around the island’s surroundings. He should be back soon…….”

“I’m back.”

Before the Hainan Sect martial artist’s words finished, a heavy voice was heard, and I raised my gaze upward. Daesageom already looking down at me from far above on the mast.

“You brought something strange.”

“Calling this old one a strange thing isn’t something I like very much. Do you want to depart this life?”

“Excessive recklessness too. What is that?”

“Black Dragon Lord.”

“A rising star? The gossipers of the martial world being foolish is something I know well, but their eyes are askew. To classify something like that as a rising star. She should be compared with at least sect leaders.”

Daesageom, who snorted, slid down from the mast and stood before me.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as she can be immediate battle strength, I don’t care who she is. Did you gather all the personnel on the island?”

“Three from the outskirts. Thirty from the center. Thirty-three people total. Enough personnel to move the boat.”

“We’ll need to hurry.”

“Why is that?”

“I confirmed zone transfer light from the shop direction. You know what it means that they’re doing zone transfer at this point, don’t you?”

“……Does it mean reinforcements came?”

“Right. It could not be, but that possibility is highest.”

Traveling around catching Zone Masters aiming for Zone Master rewards?

That probability is low. Fundamentally, Zone Masters are disasters that even the Ten Heavens can’t catch alone, so catching them is extraordinarily difficult.

Catching it once is enough to receive authority to enter the central zone. Catching it multiple times isn’t efficient. Those who already caught one would be advancing to the central zone and earning points.

But if what came over is the Waterway Strongholds, the story is different.

“They intend to completely occupy Zone Seventeen and earn points. The central zone won’t be sea terrain like this, and if it’s not sea terrain, what they can do is limited.”

“That light is probably evidence that the Waterway Strongholds bastards gathered all their comrades and came looking. What will you do?”

Should we strike the Waterway Strongholds first? Or catch the Water Dragon first?

At Daesageom’s eyes asking that, I looked around after contemplating for a moment. A choice not easily decided.

‘If we strike the Water Dragon first, the Waterway Strongholds will come to interfere.’

‘If we strike the Waterway Strongholds first…… the damage will be severe. We might lose the boat.’

Either one requires bearing a certain level of risk. Whether striking the Waterway Strongholds or striking the Water Dragon, the danger is the same.

Thinking for a moment, I suddenly looked at Black Dragon Lord’s fluttering silk. And a thought suddenly surfacing.

“……How about this?”

“Mm?”

“We strike the Water Dragon and Waterway Strongholds simultaneously.”

“Using barbarians to control barbarians.”

Come to think of it, isn’t it simple?

“We lure the Water Dragon to strike the Waterway Strongholds. Then we completely devour the Water Dragon after its strength is depleted.”

“If only we could do it. Do you have a way to lure it?”

“Alone it wouldn’t work, but well.”

There are three excellent martial artists. Then shouldn’t we be able to try it?

“Daesageom, me, and Black Dragon Lord. Let’s lure it with the three of us.”

“……How?”

“Holding planks.”

Ilwidogang?

With three people here, there’s no need for that.

“Among us, there shouldn’t be anyone who can’t run on the sea stepping on planks, right?”

I gathered an armful of spare planks into my arms.