Chapter 69 : Divine Physician
Chapter 69: Divine Physician? Divine Loyalty! (3)
Just because his area of operations had changed to the Upper District didn't mean his home had changed.
Lee Taebaek intended to continue staying at the Eunko Bar.
Partly because he'd grown accustomed to the place...
But ultimately, it came down to a practical problem.
Lake City was already infamous for its outrageous cost of living.
Just taking care of oneself in the Lower District was enough to break one's back.
The Upper District's prices...
Would crush your spine outright.
They were downright murderous.
“If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've made it merely ‘high cost of living’ instead of ‘absurdly high cost of living.’”
Even the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions, whose primary area of operations was the Upper District, mostly lived in the Lower District.
The Battalion Commanders were no different.
The Resistance wasn't an organization that pursued profit.
To put it bluntly...
Even Battalion Commanders were barely scraping by.
In short...
There was practically nowhere suitable to live in the Upper District.
Besides...
Unlike the relatively relaxed Lower District, the Upper District was the City Government's and the MegaCorps' home turf.
The moment he set foot there...
Avoiding their eyes became impossible.
Stretch your legs out carelessly...
And it'd be your ankles that got cut off first.
“Hmm……”
He couldn't realistically commute back and forth from the Eunko Bar every time there was a mission.
There weren't any checkpoints separating the Upper and Lower Districts.
But...
Geographically...
They were far apart.
Far too far.
Even with Red Hare.
At maximum speed...
It still took two full hours to get from District 31 to District 19, right outside the Upper District.
Four hours of commuting every day.
Even in Seoul, that would've been crossing the line.
Because of this inconvenience...
They needed a base that could serve as a bridge between the Upper and Lower Districts.
As it turned out...
Lee Taebaek wasn't the only one who had thought of it.
The Supreme Commander contacted them first.
The day after Tang Ji-hye left...
Kang Hyun-seong came to visit.
“You've been doing well, Taebaek?”
“Someone hearing that would think we hadn't seen each other in ten years.”
He explained in advance that he'd been busy with the aftermath of the War on Crime for the past few days.
Apparently he felt a little embarrassed.
“You heard from Tang Ji-hye, right?”
“Not just you.”
“Our entire 9th Battalion's primary mission area has been moved to the Upper District.”
“Damn it.”
“We're finally going to step onto land soaked in oil.”
The moment he got to the main point...
Kang Hyun-seong swore out of sheer emotion.
Apparently he'd been bottling things up for a long time.
The 9th Battalion had always been treated like a gathering of dead weight.
But thanks to Lee Taebaek...
They had suddenly entered a period of prosperity.
His overwhelming emotion was understandable.
“But there's one problem.”
“I can pretty much guess.”
“The travel route between the Upper and Lower Districts is too inefficient, right?”
At the immediate answer...
Kang Hyun-seong looked slightly surprised.
Lee Taebaek had pinpointed his concern perfectly.
As expected.
Lee Taebaek's talent wasn't limited to combat ability.
His insight was equally extraordinary.
It simply wasn't as noticeable because his accomplishments in martial arts overshadowed everything else.
But his true excellence...
Was founded on his intellect.
Suddenly...
Kang Hyun-seong recalled the mission.
Even looking back now...
Lee Taebaek's ability to instantly devise a strategy and immediately act upon it was astonishing.
He never once felt that Lee Taebaek had overstepped his authority.
On the contrary...
The more Lee Taebaek proved his own worth...
The prouder Kang Hyun-seong became.
A death-row inmate who had once waited only for the day of his execution.
Now...
He had adapted to the City faster than anyone else.
And had become another dependable pillar supporting the 9th Battalion.
Just as a wave of emotion briefly washed over him...
Kang Hyun-seong nodded.
“We need a solution.”
“The Supreme Commander said he'd leave it entirely up to our 9th Battalion.”
“He also promised material support wherever possible.”
“He did say that, but……”
“The Resistance's finances have gotten pretty bad.”
“The stock market crash is probably responsible.”
“Exactly.”
“So the funding won't be very generous.”
“Building a base in the Upper District is unrealistic.”
“And even property near the border between the Upper and Lower Districts isn't cheap.”
“Housing prices have gone completely insane lately.”
“Though... when haven't they?”
A sudden session of complaints began.
After quietly listening...
Lee Taebaek smiled.
“A vacant building just opened up near the border.”
“A vacant building……?”
Kang Hyun-seong blinked several times.
Then his eyes suddenly widened.
He'd understood the implication.
“You don't mean—!”
Lee Taebaek's smile deepened.
Leisurely placing both feet onto the empty chair...
He interlocked his fingers behind his head.
“The Magno-Strom headquarters was in a prime location, wasn't it?”
“And now that the tenants are gone, it'll be vacant.”
“I can't think of a better location than that.”
“…That's true, but.”
It really was.
The perfect location.
To the point where he wondered why he hadn't thought of it himself.
In fact...
If they made it the Baekbaek Order's Second Branch after the First Branch...
Even the signboard would look respectable.
A few days earlier...
Kang Hyun-seong and Yu Da-hee had cleaned up the issue involving the ninjas who had come to the Baekbaek Order's First Branch.
That was why they had arrived at the Eunko Bar later than expected.
The two of them completely rewrote the ninjas' memories through brainwashing.
Security was the Resistance's lifeline.
As a result...
Such procedures had become extremely advanced.
Afterward...
They sent the ninjas back alive.
Killing them outright would've alerted the City Government.
It was far more beneficial to let them return and report false information instead.
In any case...
There shouldn't be any problems from that front for quite a while.
They had put enough effort into it to say so with confidence.
Anyway.
The point was...
Lee Taebaek's idea was brilliant.
Given the current circumstances...
There couldn't have been a better solution.
However...
“…That area barely overlaps with the City Government's jurisdiction, unlike the Lowest District.”
“That means random inspections will happen frequently.”
“The Baekbaek Order sign might look fine for now, but……”
“You know how those City Government and MegaCorp bastards are.”
“They're persistent as hell.”
“There's a good chance some of the kids will disappear before long.”
Kang Hyun-seong trailed off awkwardly.
After moistening his throat with bottled water...
He continued.
“And...”
“I didn't bring this up because it'd feel like lying down and spitting phlegm straight into my own face...”
“But whether we'd even get permission...”
“Or have enough capital to renovate such a huge building... that's uncertain.”
“No matter how much financial support the Supreme Commander promised……”
“The Resistance doesn't consist of only the 9th Battalion……”
“There are eight other Battalions besides us……”
“If we force the issue... we could probably scrape together the money, but—”
“Morally, that'd be a problem.”
Not to mention...
The 9th Battalion's reputation would hit rock bottom.
“Haah.”
“The more I talk, the more pathetic this gets.”
“Damn it.”
“The Resistance was created to stand against massive capital.”
“And yet... in the end, we still need money.”
“What an empty life.”
Kang Hyun-seong looked ready to collapse the floor with his sighs.
Lee Taebaek lightly swung the foot he had crossed over the chair.
As he searched for a solution...
An idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Naturally...
His hand slipped into his inner pocket.
His fingers grasped a hard, round object.
“Looks like it's time for an old reunion.”
Lee Taebaek muttered with an evil grin.
Kang Hyun-seong instinctively tried to stop him.
Then quietly shook his head.
There was no stopping him anyway.
Jin Sobang, Branch Master of District 31.
“Ugh……”
He was suffering from overwork.
Something unpleasant had happened within the Beggars' Sect—
More specifically...
The Blue Garment Faction.
Those sons of bitches.
Wasn't the Beggars' Sect supposed to pursue the Dao?
Yet some of its members—
Including several Branch Masters—
Had abandoned the Dao in favor of money.
Truthfully...
They had shown suspicious signs for quite some time.
Only recently had they revealed their true colors.
After the MegaCorps—
Once regarded as blue-chip stocks—
Suffered a massive collapse...
The entire market had begun shaking.
Simply put...
Money that had been tied up suddenly started moving.
Whenever people felt the market becoming unstable...
Their first instinct was to withdraw money from the banks.
The MegaCorps immediately ordered the City Government—
Raise interest rates at once.
Their goal was to prevent residents from withdrawing their money.
In the Upper District...
It worked.
The residents there weren't merely satisfied.
They celebrated.
The wealthy primarily used banks for investments and savings.
The Lower District...
Was a different story.
The cries of despair never stopped.
People there visited banks to take out loans.
With interest rates skyrocketing...
Their debts snowballed.
Most of those debtors used banks controlled by the Blue Garment Faction.
Realizing they were screwed...
Rather than report to the higher-ups of the Beggars' Sect...
They tried contacting the MegaCorps directly.
And they were caught immediately.
The Five Garment Faction had eyes even on the backs of their heads.
The moment they noticed...
They launched an investigation.
Every Branch Master who had attempted to collude with the MegaCorps was purged.
As a result...
The Branch Master positions in Districts 32 through 39 became vacant.
For the time being...
The higher-ups ordered Jin Sobang to oversee all of them simultaneously.
The Beggar King himself had issued the order personally.
There was no opportunity to refuse.
“I'd rather die than keep suffering.”
I'd rather die.
Ah, damn.
I'm seriously going to die.
At this rate, I'll wake up in the morgue while getting an IV drip.
Day after day...
Fatigue gnawed away at Jin Sobang's liver.
The man who'd once had chubby cheeks...
Had transformed into a genuine emaciated beggar in just a few days.
That was Lee Taebaek's impression when he paid him a visit.
“The Baekbaek Order's Second Branch is going to be established.”
“Wonderful.”
Without even looking up...
Jin Sobang continued wrestling with paperwork.
The short quill in his hand lightly swayed.
“I need you to help out.”
“……”
Thud!
Setting the quill down...
Jin Sobang pressed firmly against his eyelids.
There was so little flesh left that his eyes sank inward.
“Listen, my friend.”
“Do I look like I've got free time?”
“You look busy.”
A cracked smile briefly appeared on Jin Sobang's face.
It didn't last.
Furrowing his brow...
He shouted,
“BUT!”
“A guy who's busy!”
“Comes barging in out of nowhere saying he's building the Baekbaek Order's Second Branch and wants my help?!”
“Seriously!”
“Don't you think that's asking way too much?!”
“Are you even human?!!”
Lee Taebaek was Concept: Bandit (True).
“Come to think of it!”
“This whole stock market crash!”
“Imugi!”
“It was your fault, wasn't it?!”
“Lord Seopunggae told me everything!”
“Why're you so angry after getting promoted?”
“Thanks to me, you're now in charge of Districts 31 through 39.”
“At this rate, won't you be promoted to the Realm of Ascension before long?”
“I'd better get on your good side in advance.”
“…Haah……”
Jin Sobang...
Who had leapt to his feet in anger...
Powerlessly slumped back into his chair.
Almost sobbing...
He spoke.
“Don't even bring up the 협전.”
“Even if you do, nothing's going to change.”
“Money?”
“Sure, I can provide that much.”
“But manpower has limits, no matter how much money you've got.”
“And we've hit that limit.”
“What happened?”
With a gloomy face...
Jin Sobang explained.
The Beggars' Sect's manpower shortage stemmed from the same rebellion involving those corrupt beggars he had mentioned earlier.
The beggars who had followed those Branch Masters also abandoned the Beggars' Sect.
Their manpower had been cut down in huge chunks.
As a result...
The Beggars' Sect's higher-ups were preparing to deploy beggars throughout the city to hunt down the traitors.
Even if they wanted to hire outside help...
There simply wasn't another organization with mobility comparable to the Beggars' Sect.
“Wait.”
“Say that again.”
“…What?”
“You're saying the search is difficult because no organization is as mobile as the Beggars' Sect.”
“So if there were people just as quick as your beggars...”
“You'd be willing to use them?”
“Even outsiders?”
“Even if they aren't beggars?”
“At this point, we'd borrow even a child's tiny hands if we had to.”
“Normally the higher-ups wouldn't be happy about relying on outsiders.”
“But the situation's urgent.”
“This is a race against time.”
“Besides... unlike your Resistance...”
“Our Beggars' Sect is pretty open-minded about those things.”
“We're beggars to begin with.”
“We're less resistant to it.”
“I see.”
Lee Taebaek immediately pulled out his communicator.
Then called someone.
Jin Sobang was dumbfounded.
It was infuriating enough that he'd barged in out of nowhere.
Now he was openly ignoring him too.
Just because he'd become buddies with Dojon?
“……”
Well...
That was a pretty big deal.
Still...
Wrong was wrong.
As though reflecting its master's emotions...
The joints of his steel prosthetic arm emitted a low hum.
The vibration tipped over the inkwell holding the quill.
Ink spread across the desk.
“Hey—!”
Just as he was about to explode—
Lee Taebaek's gaze slid toward him.
Jin Sobang immediately shrank his shoulders as though he'd never been angry at all.
“They found them.”
Lee Taebaek said.
“…What?”
Then he switched the communicator to speaker mode.
An unfamiliar voice emerged.
「Hello, Branch Master Jin Sobang.」
“Who……?”
「Ah, introducing myself first would be proper manners. My apologies for being rude from the outset.」
The voice was almost uncomfortably polite.
「My name is Kim Changsik, and I'm one of the executives of the Chaos Order. As it happens, we've obtained the identities of the people your organization is currently searching for.」
“N-No……”
“The Five Garment Faction still hasn't found them...”
“And some organization I've never even heard of managed it in just a few minutes?”
“Seriously?”
Stare—
If it were a lie...
Lee Taebaek's eyes were far too unwavering.
As though declaring there wasn't a shred of falsehood in them.
[The target's Mental stat has been nerfed.]
[Greatly reducing suspicion toward the Operator.]
Jin Sobang stared at Lee Taebaek for a moment.
Then leaned so close to the communicator it looked as though he were about to kiss it.
“Would you be willing to hand over that information?”
“Of course, not without compensation.”
“If the information is genuine, we'll pay you accordingly.”
“If you don't trust us, you're welcome to hand this recording over to the higher-ups of the Beggars' Sect.”
「Very well. However—」
“H-However?”
Even though they'd never met face-to-face...
Jin Sobang could vividly picture Kim Changsik's expression.
「As for the payment...」
He was definitely grinning.
「I'd like it to be given to Mr. Lee Taebaek.」
Just like a venomous snake.