<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 115>
At one side of the Incheon Port pier, a mana barrier was installed along the designated guidelines.
This barrier was put in place to block the view of civilians.
Within this barrier, a massive ship could be seen, but it was almost half-sunken and was barely afloat thanks to supplementary equipment and various magics.
And the Head of the Executive Department Ji Seong-cheol was on the ship’s deck, observing the corpses.
“…….”
This was the scene from a few days ago when the Triad incident occurred.
The Triad had supported and cultivated illegal underground organizations domestically and, through them, distributed large quantities of psychic drugs.
During this process, illegal contracts with underage meta-humans were made, and there were even indications that they were trying to smuggle them overseas.
This was an abhorrent crime.
Even in a simplified explanation, the charges against those involved were practically countless.
If these crimes had been publicly revealed, the nation would have been thrown into chaos once again.
Fortunately, with the arrest of the Triad before they could retreat to their base, the situation was brought under control…
But still, the reason for Ji Seong-cheol’s icy expression remained.
The process seemed suspect.
“Miss Yeon Su-ji, you mean to say you took care of all this alone?”
“No, Sir. It wasn’t just me—it was a joint effort with our ‘Miracle Agent.’”
“…….”
Ji Seong-cheol fixed a sharp gaze on Yeon Su-ji and thought.
‘Triad Action Squad. Minimum one team. There are signs of combat, but it was decidedly one-sided…’
Yet Miracle Agent suffered no losses. There were no fatalities. Some minor wounds, but that’s all.
Does this make sense, realistically?
We’re talking about the Triad.
Not part of the Big Three villains, but still globally notorious criminals.
And these guys were apparently beaten by a rookie agent?
As if sensing Ji Seong-cheol’s doubts, Yeon Su-ji grinned playfully.
“Would you like me to explain again?”
“Alright, go ahead.”
“The start of the case was thanks to student Park Ki-hyuk’s tip-off.”
While attending a field practice session, Park Ki-hyuk accidentally discovered ‘drugs’ and showed them to his field instructor, Yeon Su-ji.
“Honestly, I didn’t think much of it at first. You know, Mr. Ji, how many drug traffickers there are. So, I handed it over to the police. You can verify this in the official report.”
Incidents started happening again soon after—this time, it was Park Ki-hyuk again.
Ki-hyuk went to his younger sibling at an orphanage and stumbled upon the same drugs he had seen earlier.
“In the process, he was accidentally captured by the distribution network. It’s a common mistake for inexperienced field rookies. So, the trafficking organization quickly tried to cover up their tracks.”
“Park Ki-hyuk then chased them down to make sure the lead wasn’t lost, right? With your help?”
“Yes.”
“In spite of us having the Optimum capability?”
“That…”
“Excuse me, Manager Yeon Su-ji. May I provide some input about this part?”
“Of course, Director Kim Yeon-hee.”
Kim Yeon-hee, who had been silently listening, stepped forward.
“Let me clarify exactly. At the time, Ki-hyuk told me about this ‘drug’ and informed me of its severity. Naturally, we never imagined that it was connected to the Triad, right, Su-ji?”
“That’s correct. We only realized it was the Triad after arriving here.”
From that point onward, it was simple.
Tracing the lead brought them to the Incheon Port smuggling ship. Yeon Su-ji, with the support of Miracle Agent, wiped out the Triad.
It was the same story he’d heard before.
Regardless of whether it was on paper or verbally recounted, everything was consistent—impeccable post-incident reporting.
“…….”
Ji Seong-cheol gestured for everyone to leave.
Even Yeon Su-ji stepped back.
Now, the only person left near him was Kim Yeon-hee.
“You’ve really coordinated your story well. Excluding your son.”
“Coordination? What coordination? You’re the one who’s talking.”
“…Let’s cut to the chase. How involved is ‘Park Ki-hyuk’ in all this?”
“Huh? Involved how? This is the truth. You see everything. All of it.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Not believe? What are you going to do?”
“Yeon-hee.”
Kim Yeon-hee wore a cool smile that she reserved only for family members.
“Let’s cut the cr*p. What you ought to focus on isn’t how much our daughter is involved here. The issue is that the Triad caused all this chaos. Isn’t that right?”
“…….”
“Don’t lose sight of the essence. You’re just not comfortable with the way things went, slipping out of your control. But that’s too bad.”
“…….”
“Honestly, I’m disappointed this time, Ji. How could you not know about the drugs that were going to children? I don’t understand it.”
Tsk, tsk.
Kim Yeon-hee brushed the dust off Ji Seong-cheol’s shoulder as she continued.
“Do good, Seong-cheol. There are still many people claiming the ineffectiveness of public authority—the police and even your department need to step up. Right? Isn’t it?”
“Alright, we’ll let this mistake slide this time. But where did the ‘Jiangshi’ go? If it was the Triad, they must have definitely used ‘Jiangshi.’ And yet, there are none to be found here.”
“Huh? Why would you ask me about that? Didn’t we learn from a young age?”
Do your own job.
With those final words, Kim Yeon-hee left the scene.
A moment later, numerous reports started pouring in.
Triad attempted domestic ‘drug distribution.’
The nation was saved from the Triad’s hidden claws by ‘Miracle’ Agent.
Miracle Agent’s Senior Team Leader Yeon Su-ji, “This wasn’t a personal achievement.”
Learn about the newly established ‘Miracle’ Agent.
“This side is proceeding as planned.”
Kim Yeon-hee observed the background photo on her tablet with a satisfied look.
Suhyeok, Minji, Ki-hyuk… and Spring, all captured in one picture.
How wonderful are these characters? Watching them, it’s clear they take after me exactly.
But when it comes to causing trouble, they take after their father.
It’s the same this time; they act first and then make a call afterward.
“I’ve spoiled them too much recently.”
As a mother, I need to keep discipline.
Kim Yeon-hee’s eyes lingered on the glowing face of Park Ki-hyuk in the photo.
Shiver.
“Hmm?”
Why is my body trembling? Something seems off…
At that moment, a loud shout erupted from Spring, who was sitting across me, jumping up and down excitedly.
“We did it! Berrie, the sister broke through! Look, Strawberry Sister. Spring broke through!”
“Nyaaah!”
“Wow, amazing! Spring, you’re amazing!”
“Uh!”
Looking down, I saw the ‘block soldiers’ on my side crumbling.
I quickly tried to move the ‘block soldiers’ to block them. Spring frowned and shouted, “No! Break through!!” while flooding mana into the action.
What we were playing currently was ‘block play.’
The regular blocks, commonly used by kids to make cars and houses, were purchased with the claim that it promotes creativity and cognitive ability.
However, after building something from the manual, I couldn’t see exactly how this fostered creativity and cognitive skills.
So, I remodeled it myself.
It started as a joke.
At first, I made human blocks about 5 centimeters tall that could be moved with ‘mana.’ I gave them to Spring, and her reaction was explosive.
That day, I likely heard “Dad is the best!” over a hundred times.
Praise makes even whales dance, so captivated by my daughter’s compliments, I became quite serious.
And because of ‘gigantification,’ my body was abnormal anyway, so during my recovery, I worked enthusiastically on it.
That’s how the ‘War Game’ series was born, made by Dad.
War Game.
That’s exactly what it is.
In a battlefield measuring 2 meters wide and 2 meters long, ‘block soldiers’ fight.
There are three divisions in total:
Sword soldiers, shield soldiers, and archer soldiers. You must combine these three divisions to capture the enemy captain.
Through strategy, creativity is developed; through tactics, cognitive ability is enhanced.
Moreover, as these block soldiers are mana-powered ones, it strengthens mana control!
A game that catches three rabbits at once.
What a wonderful educational toy. Even though I made it myself, I can’t help but marvel at it every time I look at it.
Ultimately, after losing control of the battle once, my formation’s flag was taken away by Spring’s spear unit.
Blue team wins!
Bang, bang!
Fireworks beside the battlefield exploded. Victory fireworks were fired, and Spring jumped around joyfully cheering.
“Yeeh!! We won! We won!!”
So, what about me?
“I lost. Ahhhh. To lose like this…”
I clutched my chest and fell, which was part of the rules of this game—losers must give such dramatic displays for fun.
Glancing over, Jin Yu-ri looked interested too. She was examining the block humans closely, moving them here and there.
“…You miniaturized the mana stones. The joints are roughly functional, and you’ve matched the mana frequencies for group control.”
“Is it okay?”
“Is it okay? It’s incredible! It’s better than our family’s training set.”
Huh, I rose, surveying the block battlefield.
“It’s a prototype. There should be environmental characteristics in each battlefield like mountains or lakes.”
“Mountain warfare, aquatic combat, that kind of thing?”
“Exactly, and we could introduce variables with magic cards.”
“Ah, that’s not bad. Large-scale magic or rituals like that.”
“Right. If we expand the divisions a little more, we’ll have a pretty solid war game.”
At that moment, Spring jumped up.
“Me! Me!”
“Yes. What is it, Miss Spring?”
“Swords! We need a soldier with a greatsword, like Angel Dragon!”
“Understood. I’ll make a block for our Spring’s favorite Angel Dragon.”
“Yay!”
“Anyway, why don’t we also add a ‘hero’ block for each side? They can use cool abilities. It’s a bit monotonous if everything is the same, right?”
“True, that might work.”
“Can I help?”
“Sure, follow your heart. It’s just a game.”
“All right, that concludes that discussion. Move aside.”
Jin Yu-ri stealthily took my place.
“Spring, let’s have a match.”
“Okay!! Berrie, come here!”
“Meow!”
Jin Yu-ri smirked as she faced the battlefield while Spring, holding Berrie, sat solemnly on her special chair.
They exchanged childish lines.
“Hmph. I am the Evil Dragon. This smell of weakness I haven’t felt in ages. Now this world belongs to me!”
“No!”
“Who, you? Captain Tiger!”
“Evil Dragon, justice will prevail again!”
Suddenly shouting “Battle!!”, the match began. For sure, I never programmed those childish incantations into the game.
“Truly…”
They exchange glances, and it’s crystal clear—same mental age.
“Jin Yu-ri, play well with Spring.”
“Unh!”
“Dad, where are you going?”
“Dad’s going upstairs to do an experiment. What does Dad always say? About upstairs.”
“Don’t go up without permission!”
“Alright, I’ll come down before dinner.”
The two of them said “Yes!!” in unison. It’s a strange feeling. Is this how it feels to raise two kids?
It’s absurd when I think about it.
Sniggering, I went upstairs.
The magical device door opened, and beyond it, a completely different world unfolded compared to downstairs.
Whereas the downstairs space was bright and sunny, upstairs was dark and damp.
A pungent smell.
It was the smell of bodies treated with chemicals. The source of that smell?
Jiangshi.
That’s right. The Jiangshi used by the Triad—these were all collected by me during the cleanup.
Perhaps the biggest gain this time around would be these guys.
Humming a little tune, I focused on the jiangshi on the experiment table.
“Talk about a full meal right now~.”
I compared what I had learned from dissecting jiangshi.
Jiangshi.
China’s iconic combat construct.
Despite being labeled as killing machines and various other terrifying nicknames, the origin of this jiangshi is surprisingly emotional.
They were initially created to return soldiers killed in battle to their families.
Ironically, we had something similar in the empire too.
Namely, ‘zombies’.
According to old imperial texts, a branch of black sorcery known as necromancers combined the roles of funeral directors and doctors. Due to their frequent handling of corpses, they had unparalleled expertise in human anatomy. This was a fairly plausible story.
Necromancers often played the role of clearing corpses during war, and the magic they created—‘zombies’—was intended to allow these corpses to return home to their families for rest.
“Fascinating.”
They say that living as humans is somewhat similar across cultures, and indeed, there are many similar myths and old tales.
In any case, from my perspective, zombies and jiangshis are not similar at all.
They’re completely different.
Jiangshi is more complex and advanced. In fact, this one shouldn’t even be compared to a zombie—it’s more aptly compared to a combat construct made by stitching together corpses, a ‘chimera.’
“Look, this one… has troll tendons mixed in… and the heart is from a centaur.”
What’s more, this guy. Unlike the others, this martial artist jiangshi is actually a higher-tier summoning creature, surpassing even a chimera.
I’d mentioned before that there are three ways to enhance summons: ‘training, acquisition, and command.’ Among these, acquisition refers to transferring my knowledge and skills to the summon.
However, this martial jiangshi had forcibly imprinted the skill into the mana core located below the navel. The Chinese call it the ‘dantian.’
From this one fact, I started to grasp the mechanics of Chinese martial arts.
“Rather than adapting martial arts to humans, they’ve completely reversed it.”
Instead of creating martial arts tailored to humans, they’ve created powerful martial arts and then forced humans to adapt to them.
From beginning to end.
Completely forcibly.
That’s how the imprinted ‘dantian’ was born.
This jiangshi had its lifetime martial imprint preserved and carried forward.
“d*mn, this is how they evolved.”
Indeed, this world is truly fascinating.
The advancement of technology through science. The freedom of diverse ideas.
Ideas keep bubbling up.
This might be useful when fine-tuning the ‘Dragon Armor,’ and it could come in handy when creating a ‘new doll’ for Spring.
“Also, I’ll make one for Mom.”
Mom worked hard dealing with this matter, so it’d be nice to give her a gift.
But I didn’t know…
That Mom was much angrier than I had imagined, and that I was about to be punished.
The next day.
“Park Ki-hyuk. You’re going to America.”
