Chapter 38
It was a request that Cho Ganghyeon, with his authority, could not easily grant. However, Go Taehyeon, the Vice President and real power in the Association, was different.
"You're saying Mr. Lee Seongjun will conduct the interrogation himself?"
A question, not a rejection.
This alone could be seen as half the battle won.
"Is that not allowed?"
"No, it's not that it's not allowed, but..."
Go Taehyeon, trailing off, carefully continued.
"It won't be easy. As you know, he's a man with nothing to lose except his life, so he's unlikely to talk under normal circumstances."
Already well-versed in the nature of the underworld and villains, Lee Seongjun nodded nonchalantly.
"That's fine. Just arrange the meeting for me."
Go Taehyeon pondered for a moment before nodding.
"Hmm... Even I can't give you too much time."
"That's okay, it won't take long."
"In that case, I'll tell the Security Team to arrange it."
"Thank you."
Lee Seongjun sincerely thanked Go Taehyeon for his ready agreement.
In essence, this request was no different from abusing one's authority. For Go Taehyeon, walking the path of a public servant, it could be considered a somewhat awkward favor.
Despite the likely stress it would cause, he had readily agreed to the request.
Naturally, Lee Seongjun intended to repay Go Taehyeon's efforts properly.
* * *
As it was a direct order from Go Taehyeon, the current power in the Association as Vice President, everything proceeded smoothly.
However, not everyone can share the same opinion or thoughts.
Not all members of the Security Team were readily accepting the order.
"Just in case, I should mention... If you inflict any direct harm, Kim Giyeol could report us to the Human Rights Commission."
Perhaps because he had seen Kim Gijun's miserable corpse?
Lee Seongjun responded with a smile to Kim Youngjun, the leader of Security Team 3, who couldn't hide his worry.
"There's no need to worry. I just want to ask what his exact purpose was and who ordered him."
Kim Youngjun nodded at Lee Seongjun's calm words.
Thinking about it, if he had intended to harm him, he wouldn't have brought him back alive in the first place.
'He would have eliminated him on the spot, like Kim Gijun.'
He felt sorry for unnecessarily overreacting and speaking out of turn.
"I apologize for my thoughtless words. I'm sorry."
Lee Seongjun just smiled silently and walked on.
As a brief silence fell, Kim Youngjun, who had been walking ahead, came to a stop.
They had arrived at the interrogation room where Kim Giyeol was being held.
"30 minutes... As the Vice President probably told you, we can't give you much time."
"Yes, I understand."
Lee Seongjun responded with a gentle smile, then entered the interrogation room and closed the door.
In the dark room.
Kim Giyeol, sitting in the center, looked at Lee Seongjun.
His eyes wavered slightly due to the fear etched in his mind, but a relaxed smile played on his lips.
"I don't know what vain hope those Security Team bastards had in bringing you here."
He had completely misunderstood the situation.
He seemed to think the Security Team had asked Lee Seongjun for help.
But what Kim Giyeol thought wasn't important.
"Don't waste your time and get lost."
Lee Seongjun's brow furrowed at the disrespectful attitude, unaware of his own wrongdoing - truly villainous behavior.
"Anyway, the most you guys can do is throw me in a prison full of villains, right?"
Despite the provocative words, Lee Seongjun stood silently. Perhaps thinking he was guaranteed safety within the bounds of the law, Kim Giyeol's voice began to fill with confidence.
"It won't be a bad life. Although it's a somewhat barbaric era, human rights still exist. Even a damn criminal like me gets a decent bed and meals. Plus, being an A-rank villain, I won't have an uncomfortable life there, heh."
By now, a sinister smile was playing on Kim Giyeol's lips.
"I don't know what you came here thinking, but there's nothing you can hear from me anyway."
As he finally finished speaking, Lee Seongjun's cold gaze fixed on Kim Giyeol.
Kim Giyeol's eyes began to waver as he met that gaze.
He couldn't bear to look back. It felt as if invisible forces, a heavy pressure, were weighing down on his entire body.
"Yes, by all means, keep saying nothing till the end."
The Blood Cult, with its dangerous ideology of dyeing the continent with blood, was truly a public enemy of the martial world.
But despite this, the Blood Cult had survived to the end, and ultimately, led by Lee Seongjun, known as the greatest of all time and the strongest Blood Demon, they had conquered the Cheon continent.
Of course, this glory wasn't achieved by mere luck or coincidence.
There were valid reasons.
The members of the Blood Cult who didn't fear even death, and the Eight Great Demon Clans who led them as pillars.
All could be said to have made great contributions.
But if one had to choose who made the greatest contribution to conquering the Central Plains.
'Mind Annihilation Demon Clan, Bihyeong.'
No one could dispute this.
Bihyeong was the best interrogator and information gatherer, capable of making even the key officials of the Murim Alliance, with their firm minds and exceptional mental strength, open their mouths.
In fact, when the war between the Blood Cult and the Murim Alliance was reaching its peak.
Bihyeong made a great contribution by uncovering the final trap that the Murim Alliance had set to annihilate the Blood Cult, through Kang Seohwi, who was the Vice Alliance Leader at the time.
Impressed by this, Lee Seongjun, as the Blood Demon, sought out Bihyeong and inherited his martial art that had made even Vice Alliance Leader Kang Seohwi speak.
'Heart Exploration Selfless Technique.'
This was the secret martial art that Lee Seongjun had inherited from Bihyeong at that time.
A terrifying ability that injects blood energy into the mind, turning the person into a vegetable, and then into a puppet that involuntarily spouts information stored in their mind regardless of their will.
In other words, Kim Giyeol would eventually speak all the information with his own mouth.
Of course, although he had mastered the Heart Exploration Selfless Technique, controlling the brain was by no means an easy task.
Even the slightest mistake could instantly cause the head to explode, requiring a high level of blood energy control that even the other Eight Great Demon Clans, except for Bihyeong, didn't dare attempt.
But for Lee Seongjun, who had reached a level worthy of being called the Blood Demon and God of Demons, this wasn't a problem.
'There's no chance of failure.'
Despite this confidence, there were reasons why he didn't immediately use the Heart Exploration Selfless Technique on Kim Giyeol.
'A witness is needed, but... in a puppet state, he'd immediately become a target.'
Kim Giyeol, caught in the act, had become a key figure who could definitively implicate the enemy who had ordered the hit.
But what if, as suspected, the one who ordered the Shadow Brothers was a member of Hwanseong, one of the top 5 guilds?
'From the moment the Shadow Brothers, Kim Giyeol, was caught in the act, they would have been closely watching the Association's movements.'
It might seem like an excessive thought, but considering that Im Jaehun was waiting in front of his house the very next day after moving, it couldn't be denied that Hwanseong had quite an excellent informant within the Association.
'One should always prepare for the worst-case scenario.'
Therefore, if they had seen Kim Giyeol become a docile puppet from the start due to the Heart Exploration Selfless Technique, Hwanseong would have tried to take action, even if it meant taking some risks.
'No, not just Hwanseong.'
The Shadow Brothers were A-rank, they would have had relationships and shared information with numerous villains.
The villain groups would also try to eliminate Kim Giyeol to keep their secrets.
Given that this could lead to various troublesome situations, it was necessary to show the typical villain image of Kim Giyeol, a ruffian who acted out believing in South Korea's laws, to the informants of Hwanseong and villain groups hiding in the Association.
'And by now, they should be relieved after hearing about Kim Giyeol's attitude.'
It meant that the perfect timing they had been waiting for had arrived.
Thud.
Lee Seongjun stepped forward and immediately extended his arm, placing his index finger on Kim Giyeol's head.
Instantly, the blood energy from his body invaded Kim Giyeol's mind.
"...Ugh...argh..."
A pained groan involuntarily escaped Kim Giyeol's mouth due to the force of the blood energy striking his mind.
But even this didn't last long.
Lee Seongjun had already covered Kim Giyeol's mouth with his other hand.
"Shh, we agreed you wouldn't say anything, remember?"
He wanted to shake off the hand and scream for help right away.
But due to the blood energy spreading through his mind, his body wouldn't move as he wished.
Now he couldn't even utter proper words.
Tears began to well up in Kim Giyeol's eyes as fear rose deep in his chest from this unfamiliar sensation.
'Stop! Stop! I was wrong! I'll tell you everything!'
He desperately wanted to beg for forgiveness and escape this situation, but no voice came out.
"That's right, stay quiet like this."
As a sinister smile spread across Lee Seongjun's lips reflected in his eyes, the blood energy invading his mind began to rampage violently.
The sensation of his brain being continuously torn apart, an indescribable, dizzying pain washed over him.
It felt as if his entire brain had been plunged into boiling water, and the pain striking his entire body reached its peak.
From the smallest brain cells to his entire physical body, control passed into Lee Seongjun's hands.
His body, which had been struggling weakly, now completely ceased movement.
Helplessness.
Tears that had welled up from the fear of being unable to do anything by his own power now rolled down his cheeks.
'Please, please spare me...'
But even this couldn't be uttered aloud.
In the end, all Kim Giyeol could do was feel his consciousness gradually fading away.
* * *
Upon hearing the report from Kim Youngjun, the leader of Security Team 3, Go Taehyeon momentarily doubted his own ears.
This was because Kim Giyeol, who had been maintaining a haughty attitude and acting relaxed no matter what was said to him, had reportedly become as docile as a lamb and was answering questions obediently.
It was unbelievable, but he couldn't miss such a precious opportunity.
He immediately instructed the Security Team leader to thoroughly investigate everything from the actions related to Lee Seongjun to the movements of some villains that had been veiled in secrecy and the internal power structure.
The results were substantial.
Not only did they uncover that Hwanseong was behind the client who had hired the Shadow Brothers, but they also obtained a massive amount of information that would allow them to carry out tracking and eradication operations on villains they had been struggling with.
Naturally, Go Taehyeon didn't consider this to be a simple change of heart from Kim Giyeol or a sudden stroke of luck.
'Surely... Mr. Lee Seongjun must have done something.'
If they couldn't show any significant results after being given such a stage, the Association would truly feel a great disappointment.
'I will show you definite results worthy of this.'
With determination burning in his eyes, Go Taehyeon immediately picked up the phone and called Kim Dongjun to the Vice President's office.