Chapter 156

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted.

Crash!

Everything that remained in Wang Hao-ping’s quarters was blown away and shattered.

Self-Immolation.

After Kim Do-jin set himself ablaze and charged at Wang Hao-ping, the surroundings were engulfed in fierce flames.

‘Kim Do-jin!’

A battle of fire against fire.

The fight between the Fire Dragon and the Devil was rapidly heading towards its conclusion.

Bang! Boom!

The advantage of a Magic User was their ability to attack from a distance.

For them, it wasn’t particularly difficult to toy with close-combat Chakra Users.

But Kim Do-jin had now abandoned that.

Covered in flames, he charged at Wang Hao-ping like a Chakra User, delivering a punch.

Impact!

Kang Yuseong watched, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

Kim Do-jin wasn’t acting on a simple impulse.

There was meticulous calculation hidden within his actions.

Wang Hao-ping’s power was just as formidable, comparable to Kim Do-jin’s.

If this continued, they would be the ones at a disadvantage.

Because Beijing’s defense forces would soon arrive.

It seemed he had decided to force a final confrontation.

The most vulnerable point for a Magic User, who relies on ranged attacks, was close-quarters combat.

Close combat.

Kim Do-jin completely reversed his strategy and charged at Wang Hao-ping, who, caught off guard, was pinned beneath him and instantly subjected to a furious assault.

Bang! Crash!

Kim Do-jin had used Self-Immolation on himself for precisely that reason.

To envelop his body in the power of fire and gain even greater destructive force!

However, after a certain amount of time, the flames would begin to consume Kim Do-jin’s entire body.

Before that happened, he had to shatter the Flame Shield that enveloped Wang Hao-ping.

Thump- thump-

Even as he took punches infused with Kim Do-jin’s full power, Wang Hao-ping struggled to endure.

Shatter-

But at a certain point, the Flame Shield visibly began to weaken.

At the same time, Kim Do-jin’s clothes also started to burn away.

This meant the moment he could no longer protect himself from the flames was fast approaching.

But Kang Yuseong couldn’t intervene in his fight.

If he had wanted help, he would have already said so.

But he stubbornly did not request Kang Yuseong’s intervention.

He wanted to settle this with his own hands.

That was why he was enduring the excruciating pain of the flames.

Knowing that, Kang Yuseong had no justification to interfere in his fight.

‘Kim Do-jin…!’

Crash!

Thwack!

At that moment, the stubbornly enduring Flame Shield shattered and vanished.

Kim Do-jin, with a cold expression, raised his fist high.

Wang Hao-ping’s face twisted in terror as he watched the burning fist descend upon him.

Impact!

In an instant, Kim Do-jin’s fist smashed down towards his head.

Thoom-

It was a blow powerful enough to shake the entire Presidential Palace.

Whoosh!

Simultaneously, heavy raindrops suddenly scattered from the air.

“Haah, haah…”

Kim Do-jin gasped for breath, looking at Wang Hao-ping’s completely shattered form beneath his fist.

He saw his own clothes burned and his skin blackened and charred.

And the raindrops gently enveloping him…

“Kim Do-jin, it’s done. You won.”

It was Kang Yuseong.

He had used the power of water to create rain.

The fierce flames that had engulfed the Presidential Palace had already vanished.

“Let’s go. The war is over now.”

The Northern Expedition.

That massive war was now drawing to a close.

“- First Unit, we have secured the secret nuclear base in Sichuan Province.”

“- Second Unit…”

Amidst this, countless radio transmissions poured in.

It was a report that Hunters spread across China had captured nuclear bases.

“- This is Beijing.”

And Kang Yuseong sent a low-voiced radio transmission.

“- The Yellow Dragon has been eliminated. Repeat. The Yellow Dragon has been eliminated.”

The transmission that Beijing had fallen into Stardust’s hands caused great commotion among those on the other end.

“It’s done! We succeeded!”

“Mr. President! The Commander did it! It’s done!”

The same was true for the Republic of Korea’s Northern Expedition Command.

They had occupied Beijing and eliminated Wang Hao-ping.

Although remnants remained, they were only capable of meaningless resistance.

The President spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Track the movements of the Black Dragon Unit within China. And contact the American and Russian ambassadors.”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had been smiling, nodded with a serious expression.

The President continued, looking at him.

“Tell them that Korea is taking over China. And that they don’t need to personally come to congratulate us.”

A look of determination appeared on the Chairman’s face.

“Understood, Mr. President.”

China had already fallen into the Republic of Korea’s grasp.

They had mobilized troops to prevent the situation, but it was now futile.

Because China’s leadership, which would have condemned Korea, had vanished.

Wang Hao-ping’s one-man dictatorship had brought about such a significant impact.

In China, with him eliminated, there was no one to replace him.

Partial resistance would continue, but that didn’t matter.

With the main piece captured, suppressing them was only a matter of time.

Furthermore, military factions and regional powers that harbored resentment towards Wang Hao-ping would also rise up. The Republic of Korea only needed to promise them one thing.

Autonomous authority under the control of the Republic of Korea government.

In any case, Korea couldn’t completely dominate such a vast landmass.

Since the issues of Japan and North Korea still remained, it was better to grant them autonomy and control them that way.

‘Commander. You’ve worked hard!’

A smile formed on the President’s lips.

Without him, today’s triumph would never have been possible.

* * * * *

Bang!

Russian President Fyodor slammed his fist hard on his sturdy desk.

“Damn it!”

He cursed and paced around the room.

China had fallen.

That mighty China had collapsed at the hands of a small country called the Republic of Korea.

Even Russia had been keeping China’s growing power in check, but now something unbelievable had happened.

Following North Korea, now China too!

All the countries bordering them had collapsed.

And they had made the worst mistake in this situation.

They had tried to deploy troops, claiming to save China.

The Korean government would probably not overlook that.

The message conveyed through the ambassador to Korea supported this.

The Republic of Korea was no longer a country they could manipulate with mere words, as in the past.

It had become a nation that could undoubtedly be counted among the world’s strongest superpowers. Having earned the ire of such a country, Russia would have to be very vigilant going forward.

Pacing nervously around the room, contemplating something, he called out to someone.

“Maxim!”

Maxim, the National Security Advisor.

He was a rising power after the Second Shock.

His skills as a Hunter were considerable, and as a former member of Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces, combined with his natural iron-hard physique, his strength was unimaginably potent.

What made him even more remarkable was his wealth.

Having amassed immense wealth by acquiring a pharmaceutical company, he had recently been appointed to an important position by Fyodor, but his true mission was not that of a National Security Advisor.

His pharmaceutical company was carrying out a mission under the direct orders of the Russian President.

Specifically, the mission to illegally replicate Korea’s Star Pharmaceuticals’ enhancers and other products.

With the Russian President’s backing and Maxim’s financial investment, the mission proceeded without a hitch, in utmost secrecy, and was now approaching the time of fruition.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Maxim bowed respectfully to Fyodor.

“Prepare to execute Operation Brown Bear.”

A strange smile appeared on Maxim’s lips at those words.

Operation Brown Bear.

It was a secret operation being carried out under the motto of Russia conquering the world.

An expansive and colossal plan, to the extent that even the illegal replication of enhancers was a mission under Operation Brown Bear.

However, Operation Brown Bear wasn’t solely about conquering the world with Russia’s own power.

They used their wits.

Using barbarians to control barbarians.

It was a strategy to pit two powerful enemies against each other, let them inflict fatal wounds on one another, and then swallow them whole.

One side they had in mind was the now excessively powerful Republic of Korea, and the other was a force with enough power and funds to keep them in check.

The European Union.

A place where pride was paramount, and where financial power and long-standing forces existed.

That place could inflict a certain degree of damage on the current Republic of Korea.

Fyodor wore a cold smile.

He couldn’t just let these upstarts, who had crept right under their noses, continue unchecked.

‘Bugs should live like bugs, crushed and insignificant.’

If bugs didn’t know their place and ran wild, they would inevitably be trampled to death.

* * * * *

“…I regret that it has come to this, Mr. President.”

The U.S. White House.

U.S. President Harold was on a phone call with someone, his expression somber.

The reason why the President of the United States, a universally acknowledged global superpower, was speaking with such a heavy heart was simple.

Hours earlier, he had received a severe protest through the U.S. ambassador to Korea and was now on a hotline call with the President of the Republic of Korea to resolve the situation.

The attempt to infiltrate Delta-Strike forces into the war between Korea and China left him utterly speechless, with no possible excuse.

If the Delta-Strike Force had intervened in time and stopped the Korean troops, the story might have been different, but with China’s Chairman Wang Hao-ping dead, their actions were undeniably deserving of condemnation.

So now, Harold was expressing his regret to the President of the Republic of Korea.

But inwardly, he was seething.

Only a short while ago, the Korean President would have found it very difficult to even speak with him like this.

When North Korea was still intact, and Japan and China constantly coveted Korean territory, how many times had he requested aid?

But now, the situation had changed.

They had sunk Japan, taken over North Korea, and now swallowed the Chinese mainland.

“Thank you for your words. Goodbye then.”

Slam-

Harold ended the call and irritably tossed the phone aside.

“Those damned Asian monkeys!”

He sprang to his feet and let out a deep sigh.

But no matter how much he sighed, nothing changed.

“Robert, give me a cigarette if you have one!”

He was so stressed that he was asking for cigarettes, which he had quit years ago.

“Phew…”

As he enjoyed a moment of smoking, feeling the smoke fill his lungs, Secretary of State Lane suddenly entered.

“Mr. President. Urgent intelligence has been reported by the CIA.”

“What is it?”

But Harold didn’t turn around.

“Russia and Europe are reportedly making contact.”

At those words, Harold frowned and turned around.

Russia and Europe.

There was no reason for the two to meet in this situation.

“Go on.”

As he listened to Lane’s report, Harold’s gaze gradually sharpened.