Chapter 27 : Jeokhong
Even if things went wrong and he had to fight them, it would not be a danger to Jang Baekseo at all.
The highest level among them was only at the first-rate realm.
Jang Baekseo was someone who had toyed with and defeated a first-rate master even while using the Bone Shrinking Art at the second-rate realm.
Even if a peak master was mixed in, it would not be that difficult to get away.
Moreover, if the highest level among those who were hiding was not even at the peak but at the first-rate, there was nothing more to say.
Jang Baekseo, who was thinking about how to respond in case of an emergency, arrived at a small room in the basement, guided by Jeokhong.
A screen was drawn in the room, and a person was sitting behind it.
The person, whose faint figure was only visible due to the screen, spoke first.
"Nice to meet you for the first time, customer. I am the branch manager of the Black Dot, Sichuan Anyang branch. Please have a seat."
Jang Baekseo, who sat down without answering, immediately got to the main point.
"I need information. I will pay for the information with information."
At the words that he would pay for the information with information, a small agitation was felt from the person behind the screen.
"…You are very bold for a first transaction."
But the opponent was not an easy person either.
As a person who was involved in an information group in the martial world where blood, swords, secret plots, and deception were rampant, if he was a person who showed his emotions on the outside with just this much, he would not be able to do this kind of work.
"As you know, trust is very important in this kind of work. We need to first confirm if that information is useful to us."
In other words, it was a request to first reveal the information he would pay with.
But Jang Baekseo was not an easy person either.
"Haha, your joke is funny. If I tell you some useless information after getting the information I want, will those eleven scary friends who are filling this building leave me alone?"
At the words 'scary friends', the person behind the screen was felt to flinch and tremble.
'…To even get the number of the guards right… is he not an ordinary person?'
He had seen many people who had noticed the fact that there were guards until now.
But Jang Baekseo was the first case where he had not only noticed but also got the number right.
The guards who were surrounding this room now were all masters of concealment who had undergone special training. Although their martial prowess was not that outstanding, their skill in concealment alone was comparable to that of a peak master.
Whether he knew the thoughts of the figure behind the screen or not, Jang Baekseo sat down calmly and leisurely looked around the room.
"…Alright. We will give you the information first. But I hope you don't have any foolish thoughts."
"Of course. Although this is the first time, I would like to continue a constructive and long-term transaction in the future."
Whether it was because he trusted Jang Baekseo's words, or because he was confident in the skills of the guards who were on standby, the figure asked Jang Baekseo.
"So what is the information you want?"
At that question, Jang Baekseo seemed to contemplate for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"First, the content related to this Qingcheng branch meeting. Yes, to be precise, I would like you to give me information about each sect belonging to the Qingcheng branch."
There was more information he needed, but for now, he decided to take care of the most urgent information first.
"Hmm? It's simpler information than I thought?"
The figure who said that gave a few instructions to Jeokhong, and Jeokhong soon brought a few bundles of books.
"…It seems there were many requests for this information?"
"What a silly question. One-third of the recent information requests were about this. Isn't that natural? The Qingcheng branch meeting is just around the corner."
At the extremely reasonable answer, Jang Baekseo also nodded his head.
Jang Baekseo carefully examined the information of the sects belonging to the Qingcheng branch written in the books that Jeokhong had brought, but… there was no information that he could say was 'this is it'.
Of course, that did not mean that the information that the Black Dot had put out was poor.
The information they had put out was a very faithful product that included not only the superficial things like the location, number of people, main business, and important personnel of the sects, but also the shame or weaknesses they were trying to hide.
But there was nothing in it that could be used to deduce the information of the important third power.
'This is…? Information about the Qingcheon Sect… this will be useful.'
And among them, there was also information about the Qingcheon Sect.
Jang Baekseo carefully read and engraved in his mind the information of the Qingcheon Sect, which would not be helpful right now but could be very helpful later.
"May I take this book?"
At Jang Baekseo's question, the face of the figure behind the screen was felt to contort, even though it was not visible.
"…Do you think you can?"
It was a natural reaction. Leaving aside the trouble of making the book, if he took this whole thing out, there was no guarantee that he would not reproduce and spread it.
Since it was a reaction he had already expected, Jang Baekseo was not surprised or flustered.
At Jang Baekseo's calm appearance, the figure did not say anything more.
Jang Baekseo, who had looked through the book for about half a shichen, decided to consider it a harvest that he had learned about the participating sects of the branch, at least roughly.
While Jang Baekseo was finishing looking through the information and organizing his thoughts for a moment, the person behind the screen was watching Jang Baekseo with very anxious eyes.
He had misunderstood that he was thinking of a way to escape.
"…Is this information enough?"
"Yes, this is enough."
"Then it's your turn to present the corresponding information."
At those words, Jang Baekseo said to himself, 'Ah, come to think of it, that's right,' and scratched his head.
At that sight, the figure thought that his premonition was right, and was about to secretly give the signal for an 'all-out attack' to the guards in the branch!
"So what information do you want?"
"!?"
A completely unexpected question came back from Jang Baekseo.
"…What are you talking about?"
"It's the literal meaning. What kind of information do you want?"
For a moment, the figure wondered what on earth this situation was. It was always their job to present the information they wanted to those who wanted information.
But for someone who had come to buy information from them to have such an attitude… the figure's mind became confused.
Whether that was the case or not, Jang Baekseo's attitude was consistent.
"Hurry up and say it. If you don't tell me the information you want, I'll just give you some appropriate information."
"…I don't know why someone who is so confident in their amount of information would come to us to buy such trivial information."
At the figure's sharp question, Jang Baekseo answered calmly.
"Don't think too hard about it. The information 'we' gather is a bit limited in its scope. I just came because I urgently needed information outside of that."
Jang Baekseo had deliberately used the word 'we'. With this one word, he had given the impression that he was a member of some group, and at the same time, that the group he belonged to was an information group like the Black Dot.
Of course, Jang Baekseo was not saying this just to surprise the figure behind the screen.
Jang Baekseo thought that the information power of the Black Dot would be essential for the things he would do in the future. But to always use the information power of the Black Dot, he had to pay a corresponding price. And the best price for that was, of course, money.
But for now, Jang Baekseo had no cash, although it might be different in the future. Then, for the time being, he had to pay for the information with information.
But if it was once or twice, it would be fine, but if he frequently bought information with information, he could not avoid suspicion. That's why Jang Baekseo was laying the groundwork in advance, saying 'this side is also a member of an information group'…
The figure, who had no way of knowing Jang Baekseo's thoughts, contemplated for a moment and then finally opened his mouth.
"Since you speak so confidently, then I'll ask. Can you tell me the information about the master of the Black Dot, and his weakness?"
It was a question of the 'unanswerable' kind, thrown to break the spirit of the overly confident Jang Baekseo.
That's why the figure did not expect an answer to this.
But Jang Baekseo's answer completely exceeded his expectations.
"Huh? You want some strange information? Well, I can give it to you… but isn't it too much of a thief's mentality to demand that as a price for this much information?"
The one who was flustered by Jang Baekseo's reaction was rather the figure behind the screen.
"D-do you have it?"
"Wouldn't I have answered like this if I had it?"
"…"
"Well, you'll admit that it's quite a heavy piece of information as a price for this much information. So if you count it as a prepayment for about three pieces of information, including this one, I'll tell you."
"…Let's do that."
Afterwards, Jang Baekseo gave the information about the master of the Black Dot and his weakness.
The branch manager of the Black Dot wanted to know the information about the master of the Black Dot and his weakness… it was a very messy situation, but Jang Baekseo was not that surprised.
'Even before my regression, it was quite simple to wipe out the Black Path thanks to this kind of thing.'
Of course, the Black Dot was not originally such a messy group.
The reason why the Black Dot had become so messy was all because of the Hegemon King's march across the world 30 years ago.
The mysterious group, the Hegemon King, which had appeared at the end of Gansu in the past, had first shown its appearance at the end of the martial world and had soon started a fight against the world.
They had started a martial world tour that they had named the march across the world, and they had wiped out all the forces that stood in their way, regardless of whether they were Orthodox or Unorthodox.
He had once had a conversation with a retired martial artist who had experienced both the Righteous-Demonic War and the march across the world before his regression, and at that time, he had said this about the Hegemon King.
The Righteous-Demonic War was a war between people…
But the march across the world was a heinous massacre of demons…
Of course, this did not mean that the Hegemon King was stronger than the Demonic Cult.
It meant that they were much more cruel.
Unlike the Demonic Cult, which had actively tried to persuade or assimilate prisoners, the Hegemon King had no such thing.
Kill all who stand in the way!
That was the Hegemon King.
In addition, since they were not a long-standing enemy of the Central Plains martial world like the Demonic Cult, it had taken much longer for the Central Plains martial world to unite, and as a result, it had caused enormous damage.
And that damage, of course, had also reached the Black Dot.
The Hegemon King, apart from its ruthless and ignorant events, was very intelligent in its actions.
That's why they knew the importance of information better than anyone else, and for that reason, they had put a lot of effort into recruiting and exterminating the information groups of the Central Plains.
As a result, many information organizations of the martial world, including the Black Dot, had suffered enormous damage, and at that time, since many of the important personnel of the Black Dot had died, the current master of the Black Dot, who was not that skilled at the time but had the highest succession rank among the survivors, had temporarily become the master of the Black Dot.
Although the Black Dot had somehow managed to pull itself together after the march across the world ended, the damage was great, and it had taken a considerable amount of time to recover.
The problem was that in the process, the current master of the Black Dot, who was only temporary, had officially become the master of the Black Dot in a rushed manner.
And the current master of the Black Dot, who had risen to the position of the master of the Black Dot in that way, was a person who was the epitome of incompetence.
An incompetent and cowardly person who blamed others for his own mistakes and took credit for others' achievements. The worst kind of person, as if shamelessness itself had been made into a person!
That's why, from this point on, the antipathy and conflict within the Black Dot had reached a peak, and preparations for a rebellion were being made in secret.
But since the Black Dot was essentially a secret group, its master, the master of the Black Dot, had also hidden his identity from the other branch managers and key personnel, so they could not easily deal with him.
It was the typical behavior of a petty person who was excellent at self-preservation despite being incompetent.
Whatever the circumstances, Jang Baekseo had handed over the information he knew.
For Jang Baekseo, who was thinking of a long relationship in the future, it was rather a gain if the Black Dot grew one step further with this as an opportunity.
Jang Baekseo, who had handed over the information, stood up from his seat, and Jeokhong guided him.
Before leaving, Jang Baekseo turned his head and greeted Jeokhong.
"It was a beneficial time thanks to you. I hope I can meet the friend behind the screen next time. Then, farewell, Jeokhong… no, the branch manager of the Black Dot, Sichuan Anyang branch."
At that one word, Jeokhong's face hardened, but Jang Baekseo left the place without caring.
Jang Baekseo had actually noticed that Jeokhong was the branch manager of the Anyang branch long ago.
The first thing that had made him suspicious was Jeokhong's behavior of not leaving the place and staying there even after the guidance was over. Soon, he had noticed that she was continuously sending telepathic messages behind the screen, and he had become convinced that she was the real branch manager here.
Of course, Jeokhong had been careful not to be caught, but Jang Baekseo and Jeokhong were too different in their level as martial artists.
Jeokhong… no, the branch manager of the Black Dot, Sichuan Anyang branch, who was standing there as if she were frozen, was looking at the place where Jang Baekseo had disappeared without a word for a long time.
And she barely opened her trembling lips and squeezed out a word.
"…Who… on earth are you?"
But there was no one to answer.
Only silence lingered in the deserted alley where Jang Baekseo had disappeared.
(End of Chapter)