Chapter 108
However, he hadn't lost his senses.
Rather, his mind was working faster than ever before.
Tendo's eyes lit up as he immediately spoke.
"I'll go meet with the ministers right away."
He would improve relations with Korea and Hunter Lee Sung-joon while simultaneously preparing for any potential financial issues.
And ultimately, he would establish a friendly relationship with Hunter Lee Sung-joon.
Mizunohara, who had grasped the hidden meaning in Tendo's words, immediately bowed his head.
"We will thoroughly investigate information about Hunter Lee Sung-joon."
"Please do it as quickly as possible before others latch onto him first."
Now that he had clearly proven his abilities to the world, many would reveal their ambitions.
It meant they could lose the talent to competing countries' associations or guilds like China or the United States.
As if they had been thinking the same thing, Mizunohara bowed his head without a moment's hesitation.
"Yes, we will treat this as our highest priority task."
Having clearly organized what they needed to do, Tendo and Mizunohara immediately rose from their seats and began their respective tasks.
* * *
United States, California, Neuro Guild Headquarters.
As the video of Lee Sung-joon and Razaka's fierce battle playing on the wall ended, the pupils of Milo, Neuro Guild's Chief Human Resources Officer, were as wide as full moons.
"...Is this kind of fighting even possible?"
Although Milo was one of the top executives representing the Neuro Guild in California, his direct combat abilities were somewhat lacking as he worked in the HR department.
However, thanks to Victor Wiseman, the guild master of Neuro, he had met many hunters called rankers and honed his eye by directly observing their battles.
Because of this, he could confidently say:
'The technique itself is overwhelming...'
To an untrained eye, it might have seemed like an evenly matched fight that suddenly turned around with one blow.
However, Milo, with his trained eye, could tell.
'The fight wasn't even close from the beginning.'
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Hunter Lee Sung-joon had been toying with Razaka from start to finish, as if he had him in the palm of his hand.
When attacking with strong force, he thoroughly penetrated and created openings in his opponent's defenses, and when receiving Razaka's power, he deflected it smoothly.
'There's not a single flaw to be found.'
It wasn't just the fighting style.
From his instant decision-making ability to his ki manipulation, Lee Sung-joon's combat was theoretically perfect.
Naturally, exclamations of admiration kept bursting from Milo's mouth.
"Insane, truly insane."
As with most information, it's fair to say that very few people can perfectly execute what they know in their heads.
Some small mistakes are bound to happen due to changes in the surrounding environment, the opponent's actions, or one's own condition.
However, there wasn't a single mistake in Hunter Lee Sung-joon's movements.
In other words, he had realized a type of combat that hunters would have to idolize.
Even after watching it several times because he couldn't believe his own eyes, his astonishment only grew with each repetition.
"Jesus Christ..."
Hunter Lee Sung-joon hadn't simply toyed with Razaka; he had deliberately held back to allow the people around to evacuate.
He had been holding back.
This meant that if it had been an environment with no bystanders to worry about, he could have ended it in one blow.
'To show such composure against a Yellow-grade Razaka...'
In Milo's opinion, only about five hunters among the top-ranking rankers could engage in this kind of combat.
Even they wouldn't be able to cut down Razaka in one blow like Lee Sung-joon had.
Naturally, a wry smile began to form on Milo's lips.
"I thought it was just one possibility, but I misjudged."
Hunter Lee Sung-joon's skills are real.
It's an undeniable reality.
This meant he could be the master key to fulfilling Neuro Guild's dreams.
Thump! Thump!
As the thought struck him, his heart began to pound violently.
"Hunter Lee Sung-joon... you're really driving me crazy."
It had been so long since he felt such anticipation and trembling.
With his eyes shining, Milo pressed the button on the phone on his desk and contacted the secretariat.
"Prepare a plane heading to the gate the Master entered right now."
As the dedicated secretary for the Chief Human Resources Officer, under normal circumstances, they would have accepted Milo's order without question.
However, the secretary's voice coming through the receiver was filled with concern.
-...Will that be alright?
It was a natural reaction.
The Master, Victor Wiseman, had left for the gate after warning that no one should disturb him.
It meant that if they approached carelessly, they might not hear anything good.
However, it was an unnecessary worry.
As a close aide, how could Milo not know this?
"I'm not going to enter the gate. I just want to prepare to meet the Master as soon as he returns to Earth, so there's nothing to worry about."
In a way, it could be seen as a futile action.
But it was unavoidable in order to suppress his emotions.
'If I don't do something like this, I feel like I won't be able to calm down at all.'
His heart, which had started racing after a long time, was pounding violently without a moment's rest.
Thump! Thump!
He felt like he needed to do something, anything, to calm his mind even a little.
"So please prepare the plane right now."
Click.
Having finished what he had to say, Milo unilaterally ended the call and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.
Of course, it wasn't that he had stopped thinking.
He was barely controlling his rising excitement by filling his mind with thoughts about Lee Sung-joon.
* * *
China, Tianjin, Restaurant in a Luxury Hotel.
Clatter- Clatter-
As the dishes were being emptied by the busy chopsticks, Wei Zhigang, the Lord of the Eight Dragons, opened his mouth.
"How do you find the food?"
"As they say, when it comes to meals, it's not just about what you eat, but where and with whom you eat that's important."
The middle-aged man sitting across from him continued with a warm smile.
"How could the food not be delicious when I'm dining with the renowned Lord of the Eight Dragons and the Wind Dragon Sovereign who is called a divine saint?"
Although the middle-aged man's actions and tone exuded an amiable atmosphere, he was not someone to be taken lightly.
After all, the middle-aged man before them was Li Huning, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the third-ranking official in the Communist Party.
In other words, his visible behavior and speech were a kind of mask.
As he was absolutely not someone to let their guard down around, Wei Zhigang responded to the flattery with a calm expression.
"The Wind Dragon Sovereign, a divine saint? That's too much praise. He's still far from adequate."
"As I've heard, the Lord of the Eight Dragons is quite strict in training his disciple. Haha!"
As Li Huning burst into laughter, Jin Zayun, the Wind Dragon Sovereign, also spoke in a humble voice.
"No, my master's words are absolutely correct. I am not worthy of being called a divine saint."
"Hahaha, it seems like master and disciple are joining forces to tease me, but I, Li Huning, am not such an easy person. If the Wind Dragon Sovereign, who is evaluated as having the best talent in our China, the world's number one country, is not worthy of being called a divine saint, then who on earth could be?"
Li Huning, wearing a relaxed smile, took a sip of the tea placed on the table.
It was meant to lighten the somewhat heavy atmosphere with a moment of leisure, but it was a meaningless action.
Jin Zayun's expression remained as rigid as a stone statue.
"...I think only someone like the Korean Hunter Lee Sung-joon deserves to be called a divine saint."
Although it was a somewhat sudden mention of an individual, Li Huning's expression showed no significant change.
Currently, Lee Sung-joon was not only a globally hot topic but also the reason why Li Huning had personally come to Tianjin to meet the Lord of the Eight Dragons.
Rather, it could be said that the main topic of conversation had come up.
Naturally, Li Huning's amiable atmosphere changed in an instant, and a sense of pressure began to flow.
"Lee Sung-joon... just how dangerous an individual is he?"
To Li Huning's question, Wei Zhigang answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Whatever you're expecting, Standing Committee Member, he's likely to be an even greater figure than that."
"I don't want such a vague answer, I want to know exactly to what extent."
At Li Huning's insistence for an answer, Wei Zhigang's face hardened.
He was warning in advance that it wasn't going to be a very hopeful story.
He, Wei Zhigang, had once shown interest in Lee Sung-joon.
In fact, he had taken the bold action of sending his most cherished disciple, the Wind Dragon Sovereign Jin Zayun, as a scout.
However, it had failed.
Thinking about it now, it was bound to fail.
The Lee Sung-joon he had observed all this time was a king who had reigned as a leader, a ruler.
In other words, he was not someone who would ever work under anyone else.
Of course, he wasn't being arrogant like the foolish ones often seen.
Lee Sung-joon was truly a being favored by the martial arts, a talent that could be called heaven-sent without exaggeration.
In fact, Lee Sung-joon's growth rate was overwhelming compared to any other being in the world.
"As for his growth potential, it's at a level that even I can't estimate, so it's difficult to say. But if we look at his current combat ability alone, he's on par with, no, perhaps even surpassing our Chinese rankers."
"Ahem..."
Li Huning couldn't hide his displeasure at Wei Zhigang's answer.
Saying that Chinese rankers would be defeated meant that China's national power was falling behind that of Korea, a small country in the East.
It was an extremely pride-wounding matter, but given the words of Wei Zhigang, who could be considered an expert, they couldn't deny reality.
'...It's truly a case of a dragon rising from a small stream.'
From a country like Korea, which had no proper nurturing institutions or facilities, he had acquired skills surpassing Chinese rankers.
Moreover, it hadn't even taken half a year to attain such skills.
He was showing unprecedented growth in the history of hunters since the Great Cataclysm.
'When Shaowen and Jiang Yiling were defeated, instead of being unnecessarily cautious, we should have immediately stepped forward to persuade or break him.'
It was truly a painful mistake, but now was not the time to dwell on the past and regret.
They needed to coldly assess the current situation and establish countermeasures for the future.