Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Spendthrift Necromancer (171)

Exposé[Did the Griff Family Commit Horrific Atrocities?][Every Secret Facility Location Exposed! U.S. Embassy Officially Confirms the Information!][There Was a Reason Kim Minwoo Opposed the Griff Family? The Story Behind New Guild Member Han Sia!][German Government Launches Full Investigation! Chancellor Mekanen Declares They Will Never Tolerate Any Injustice…….]―Damn, he threw one hell of a first punch lol―Looks like America is backing him too? Hard to bury this now.―Nearly pissed myself when he told Germany to back off;;―Huh? Another article just dropped.[Saudi King Abdullah Furious Over Atrocities That Defy Heaven and Humanity! Restricts Oil Exports to Germany…….][Isabella Harshly Condemns the Griff Family's Atrocities!][France Joins the Public-Opinion Battle?][Chinese President Li Joins the Criticism? Restricts Key Resource Exports to Germany…….]―Wait, Saudi Arabia, America, France, and China are all moving together?―Kim Minwoo's international influence is insane, holy shit―Can the Griff family even survive this?―Until just now I thought they'd probably hold out…… not so sure anymore.―"There's a useful phrase called cutting your losses" damn―Even then, I doubt Germany can cut them loose that easily. The very top of politics and business must all be tangled up with them. You think none of those people knew? lol―This dumpster fire is fucking delicious lol―For real lol Been sick of those assholes since they caused a scene at the airport. Perfect setup for some righteous punishment.―Still don't know. Seriously, what can they do if Griff just digs in? It's not like they're actually going to march over there and capture them.―True…….

Kim Minwoo nodded as he read the articles on his smartphone.

He'd already spoken with the U.S. President. The battery business, training, guild equity.

America had become involved with him in quite a few ways.

China was the same.

Both countries were easy to move. What he'd offered in return was training. China already had precedent after receiving it once before. Perhaps because they'd seen the extraordinary results firsthand, they readily agreed to apply pressure.

America was no different.‘If a little tutoring is enough to move them, that's pretty cheap.’He could screw Griff over just by working a little.

And Isabella…….

“Is this enough? I've spoken to my country to some extent too, so I think they'll participate actively.”

“More than enough. Then I'll teach you.”

Mind Fist training.

As part of the payment, he'd asked her to support the public-opinion campaign.

Honestly, it was incredibly cheap compensation.‘I can always collect more later.’Isabella was also on the Guidance of Fate list. Because of that alone, he needed to teach her eventually.

So he didn't feel wasteful about it.

Besides, he hadn't invented the technique himself.

Gulp.

Isabella swallowed.

“Do you know there is a world beyond the material plane?”

“……

A world beyond the material plane?”

“Let's put it simply. To use Mind Fist, your perception itself must transcend the material plane.”

“How do I transcend perception?”

“It'll take a long time to do it alone. You'd need endless contemplation. There is one shortcut, though…….”

“Tell me.”

“Ask the Sword Immortal for help. With something like this, seeing it repeatedly is the best method.”

“I've asked him many times. He absolutely refused to teach me.”

“One moment.”

Kim Minwoo picked up his smartphone and made a call. Before it rang three times, a familiar voice answered.―Minwoo?

“Yes, Elder. About Miss Isabella. Could you help her with Mind Fist?”

―That's easy enough. Tell her to come.

“I'm always grateful, Elder.”―This is nothing. By the way, I heard the news. Something happened with the Griff family?

“Yes.”―Need help? Will you be all right alone?

“I'll be fine. It's also something I need to handle myself.”―Understood. Contact me anytime if you need anything.

“Yes. Take care, Elder.”―All right.

The Sword Immortal answered casually and hung up. Kim Minwoo looked at Isabella.

“You can go to Sword Sea Pavilion now.”

Isabella blinked.

For the past month, she'd practically worn down the threshold of Sword Sea Pavilion with how often she'd visited.

And yet forget passing down the technique—they'd only taught her some fundamentals.

One phone call had solved everything.

Of course she was dumbfounded.‘It was this easy?’Put differently, Kim Minwoo's influence was great enough to reach even Korea's greatest masters.

Either way.

Kim Minwoo had kept his promise to teach her. She had helped with the public-opinion campaign, but that payment was trivial compared to Mind Fist.

“……

Thank you. I'll repay this favor later.”

“Yes.”

As she started heading toward Sword Sea Pavilion, a message appeared before Kim Minwoo.[Target ‘Isabella's’ Affinity increases.][25 ―〉 57]

“Oh.”

Maybe because her Affinity had been low.

It jumped beautifully in one shot.

He checked the Affinity list.[Current Companions Available for Guidance of Fate][1. Park Siwoo, Affinity 83 ―〉 85][2. Seo Yerim, Affinity 75 ―〉 80][3. Isabella, Affinity 25 ―〉 57][4. Han Sia, Affinity 21 ―〉 69]

Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim.

Both had surpassed 80.‘Makes sense.’He'd spent thirty trillion strengthening the two of them.

Spending wasn't everything when it came to Affinity, but put differently, it could certainly be part of it.

Would you pour money into someone you didn't care about?

Isabella had shot past 50.

Han Sia had basically boarded a spaceship and blasted off.‘Good pace.’Raising everyone's Affinity evenly was extremely important. He'd mainly use Park Siwoo, the Swordsman with the highest Affinity, but that didn't mean the others were useless.

Archer.

Martial Artist.

Priest.

He could switch freely depending on the battlefield.

In that sense, the results were extremely satisfying.

“Oh, right. I should call King Abdullah too.”

China, America, and France had their own reasons for hammering Germany.

Saudi Arabia joining in was something even he hadn't expected. He'd thought their deal had ended cleanly there.

Naturally, he had the King's direct number.

“Ah, yes, Your Majesty. It's me, Kim Minwoo. I was genuinely surprised by how much support you gave us this time.”―Haha. Haven't we exchanged Allah's blessings with one another? We are practically brothers.

“I'm deeply moved that you think of me that way. I'm in an excellent mood. Ah, you've heard the news, right? Ilseong developed a rather decent battery.”―……

I heard. I was very shocked when I saw it. Perhaps the age of oil truly is ending. Which is why…… would investment be possible? Your guild would be fine, or Ilseong Group.

So that was why he'd joined the public-opinion campaign.

He'd have to share some profit, but considering how close a relationship he could build with Saudi Arabia in return, there was nothing bad about it.

“Sounds good. Why don't we discuss it slowly?”

You reap what you sow.

Seeds he'd scattered everywhere were sprouting all around him.

This was why social butterflies were busy.* * *The prestigious German Griff family was in chaos.

Kim Haeun and Han Sia had been taken away.

Close to ten percent of their forces had been captured in Korea.

The horrifying part was that the real disaster was only beginning.

Even members of the same group didn't share every secret.

There were secrets even Germany's highest-ranking elites didn't know.

For example, they might know children were being kidnapped without realizing those children were ‘German.’

The chief steward tore at his hair.

“Damn it! How the hell did he know this?”

“We don't know. Security was airtight…… could Lord Jonas have betrayed us?”

“No. Absolutely not. He didn't know information this detailed. Neither did that bitch Han Sia.”

There were too many things that made no sense if Jonas had betrayed them.

The secret facilities he knew about amounted to only a tiny fraction.

Meanwhile, the information Kim Minwoo had exposed had practically stripped the Griff family naked.

Honestly, even that much could've been smoothed over somehow.

Was it really a secret that the Griff family had skeletons in its closet?

Hardly.

It was closer to public knowledge.

The German people knew.

The political and business worlds knew.

They tolerated it because Griff gave them so much in return.

Because the family didn't monopolize everything.

Because it had supposedly set an example as the nation's master.

“Ungrateful bastards. How dare they…… after everything we did to raise them…….”

Would Germany have risen to become the fourth-greatest Awakened power without Griff?

Impossible.

And yet.―Chief Steward! What are we supposed to do now? We can't bury this. The information has already spread everywhere…….―Ahem…… if this is really true, then our Krupp family can no longer offer support…….

All kinds of worthless bastards were whining nonstop.‘Damn it, this is beyond my control.’When Kim Minwoo first exposed the information, he'd scoffed.

Punish one or two people responsible and move on.

If necessary, apologize.

That should've been enough.

But the fallout had grown far beyond that.

America, China, Saudi Arabia, and France had joined in.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the scale of the problem had exploded.

Would cutting off one or two scapegoats really settle things now?

Not a chance.

Sanctions had already begun, and the more Germany protected them, the more damage the country would suffer.

The more that happened, the greater the resentment toward Griff would become.

The political and business worlds would increasingly feel pressure from public anger.

The chief steward bit his lip.

He thought of the family head currently in closed-door training.

“……

No choice. I'll meet the family head.”

“Will that be all right? He ordered that no one disturb him…….”

“Do you have another solution? If we could solve this with our own strength, we'd have done it already.”

The executives fell silent.

It was true that no one in the family possessed influence comparable to the family head.

Especially after he'd absorbed Han Sia's talent.

The absolute ruler of Griff.

They desperately needed him now.

The chief steward rose.

At the center of the family's estate stood an enormous 222-story tower. The family head was conducting closed-door training at the very top.

After absorbing Han Sia's enormous talent, he'd spent a long time refining it.

Because of that, almost no one ever visited the 222nd floor.

The chief steward approached the door and cautiously infused Mana into it.

A dark, spiderweb-like pattern appeared.

It was a signal they'd established for emergencies.

Creeeak.

Thud.

The door opened.

An old man with a deathly pale face appeared.

His limbs were skeletal.

Yet the pressure radiating from that emaciated body surpassed imagination.

Gulp.

Sweating profusely, the chief steward hurriedly lowered his head.

“I greet the Family Head.”

“What happened?”

“Han Sia has been taken. Furthermore…….”

Lying was unthinkable.

The chief steward reported everything in detail.

After hearing it all, Lucas's brow furrowed slightly.

He extended a hand.

The smartphone inside the chief steward's clothes flew into his grasp. Lucas entered a number with an expressionless face.

A moment later.

A voice answered.

The Chancellor of Germany.

Mekanen.―Chief Steward. I told you not to call unless you had a way to solve this…….

“Mekanen. Who placed you in that position?”―……

Gasp! F-Family Head?

“You've become a badly trained dog while I wasn't looking. Daring to bite your master.”―Th-That's not it…… the situation became too unfavorable…….

“You've become talkative.”―I-I'm sorry!

“Close your eyes and shut your ears. Isn't that what you do best?”―……

I will remember.

Click.

Lucas ended the call and looked at the chief steward.

“I'll contact Shadow.”

The chief steward swallowed.

Shadow.

A deeply secretive organization.

So secretive that no one except the family head even knew how to contact them.

All the chief steward knew was that they worshiped an evil Apostle and possessed power beyond imagination.

Especially that evil Apostle.

Statues resembling spiders.

They stood throughout the family estate.

Even Lucas lowered his head respectfully and prayed before them.

“Will that be all right? They will surely demand a price…….”

“Once the fire spreads, acting is too late. Besides……. the Apostle's reaction has been unusual.”

Lucas's gaze shifted toward a statue of Hadronox.

During his closed-door training, he'd felt the Power of Shadow inside his body subtly begin to churn.

The power had surged as though overwhelmed with joy.

Never once in his life had that happened.

Something must have happened to the Apostle.

Lucas simply didn't know what.

He'd received power, but not the ability to communicate with Hadronox.

Even within Shadow, only the High Priest could communicate directly with the Apostle.

“In an ambiguous situation like this, communication must not fail. Understanding the Apostle's intentions is important.”

“Understood.”

“Leave.”

The chief steward bowed and withdrew. Lucas remained alone, sinking into thought. A faint gleam shone in his eyes.

Then he took out a crystal orb.

When he infused Mana into it, a figure wearing a pitch-black robe appeared.

Shadow's High Priest.