Chapter 40: Let’s Hold an Emergency Assembly

So, after greeting Dongryong with a fist salute after a long time, I took him to the mountain hideout.

Then, I made Dongryong, Bang-sam, Bongchun, Crimson Beard, and Eung-chil all bow their heads and asked.

“Now, explain. Damn it, how did you become the Bandit King?”

“Uh, but before that, Boss…”

Bang-sam, lying down, spoke in an aggrieved voice.

“Well… I understand the Deputy Leader, but why are we getting scolded? We didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Shut up, you bastard. Don’t you know about collective responsibility? What were you doing while Dongryong was causing a ruckus? When the higher-ups go astray, the subordinates should have guided them properly.”

“Geez… The upper stream must be clear for the lower stream to be clear…”

“Haha, are you talking about me as the upper stream? Fine, I’ll show you the true taste of the upper stream today.”

“W-wait, Boss! Eek-!”

Bang-sam is the one among my subordinates who gets hit by me the most, yet he never backs down and keeps acting up.

I don’t understand why he does that, and it makes me even more annoyed, so this time I brought a club instead of my fist to show him the true taste of the upper stream.

Thwack-! Thwack-!

“Ugh…”

“……”

“……”

I could see my subordinates tensing up at the brutal sound. I dragged the club to Dongryong, the culprit of this situation, and asked again.

“Dongryong… I want to show you the taste of the upper stream too…”

“B-Boss… I was already hit earlier… Please forgive me…”

“Then I’ll ask again. How did you become that damn Bandit King?”

“I’ll tell you right now-!”

As expected of Dongryong, who has been with me the longest. Dongryong started speaking quickly, like a rapper.

“After you left, a few days later, we were training in martial arts…!”

**

A few days after the Boss left…

“Straighten your back more! Extend the momentum of your arms further!”

…As per the Boss’s orders, Dongryong was teaching martial arts to the Brotherhood of Mount Muak members.

Although it had only been a few days since the Boss left, there were some results.

The Brotherhood of Mount Muak members were former government soldiers, and even after quitting, they continued to train together, so their external martial arts were already complete.

‘Their understanding of martial arts is also excellent.’

Since I had already taught them the cultivation technique, their dantian was properly established, and their inner qi was starting to gather…

Seeing this, it seemed possible to make them master the basics before the Boss returned.

At that moment…

“Now, let’s move on to the next technique…”

“Crimson Beard Axe, you scoundrel-!!!”

“Huh?”

As they were about to continue their martial arts training, a rough voice calling for Crimson Beard was heard.

To be precise, it was heard from beyond the eastern wall.

“…What’s going on all of a sudden?”

To Dongryong’s puzzled question, Crimson Beard answered.

“It sounds like someone I know. I’ll go check it out.”

“…No, let’s all go.”

Sensing something unusual, the entire Brotherhood of Mount Muak rushed to the eastern wall and peeked over.

What they saw were about a dozen men each holding a weapon.

Before Dongryong could ask who they were, the one who seemed to be their leader shouted first.

“You scoundrel-! Crimson Beard Axe-! I’ve heard the news-! They say you Brotherhood of Mount Muak guys got completely ruined by some passing beggars?”

“Hahaha-!”

“Tsk tsk, as fellow Green Forest bandits, it’s embarrassing-! You must be in a terrible state both physically and mentally. If you come out right now, surrender everything, and submit, we’ll accept you as subordinates of the YeoHoo Mountain Green Forest Gang-!”

After hearing their purpose, Dongryong asked Crimson Beard with a bewildered face.

“…Are we the beggars they’re talking about?”

“…It seems so.”

“This is ridiculous… Who are those guys?”

“They’re bandits from YeoHoo Mountain next to Mount Muak, and they’ve always coveted our spot with good water and air. As soon as they heard I lost, they must have thought it was an opportunity and came running.”

“Hmm… I see. So… are they stronger than you?”

To Dongryong’s question, Crimson Beard immediately asserted.

“Those guys could never be a match for the Brotherhood of Mount Muak.”

“……”

Judging by Crimson Beard’s tone and expression, it didn’t seem like he was speaking out of mere confidence.

Rather, he seemed to resent Dongryong for putting them on the same level as those idiots.

If that’s the case… it means those guys are really weaker than the Brotherhood of Mount Muak…

“Wahaha-! It seems they’re too scared to come out-! What a pathetic sight?”

Dongryong didn’t like the sight of someone weaker than him showing off in front of his house.

So…

“Even if they’re all talk, they’ll eventually leave… Huh, where are you going…?”

“I’ll go check if they’re all talk myself.”

…He went out with his blade.

“Even the great Crimson Beard Axe is now…! Huh, what’s that?”

“Someone’s coming out?”

And from that day, Dongryong’s conquest legend began.

**

“…After defeating those YeoHoo Mountain Green Forest Gang guys, I gained confidence. So… from the next day, I started visiting nearby mountains and challenging their leaders. Within a few days, I earned the nickname Mount Muak’s Tiger.”

“…So.”

“I was quite proud to have the nickname Mount Muak Tiger, especially since I used to have nicknames like scrawny and weakling… Dealing with bandits was so easy… So from the next day, I started targeting bandits all over Hunan Province…”

Dongryong, who was proudly continuing his story, turned pale when he saw me lifting the club.

“…Boss. Can you please put that down while we talk?”

“Dongryong. Even if Buddha came back to life, he wouldn’t be able to tolerate this.”

“W-wait…! I did this for you, Boss…!”

“Don’t bullshit me, you bastard-! You just enjoyed beating up weaker guys and got self-satisfied, didn’t you-!”

“T-that’s…!”

Dongryong’s blatant guilty expression made me even angrier.

My club reacted before my brain, which was already furious.

Whack-!

“Aaaargh-!”

“Dongryong, I thought you were being quiet lately, but you ended up causing a huge mess. I can’t let this slide. Let’s settle this today.”

“Ugh… But didn’t it ultimately help you, Boss…? Now we have hundreds of bandits under the Green Forest Gang…!”

Haha.

I must have been an idiot to think of Dongryong as a brain. In the end, they’re all just uneducated bandit bastards.

I started to kindly explain to Dongryong, who still couldn’t grasp my feelings.

“Dongryong, you crushed bandits all over Hunan Province in just a month and took them under your command, so the title of Bandit King is well-deserved. Do you know? Your name is already famous among merchants.”

“…It’s quite an honor to be called the Bandit King when you’re around, Boss… but I’m proud of it.”

“This damn bastard…”

Does he think I’m complimenting him right now…?

I almost lifted the club again, but I barely held back and continued speaking.

“Yeah, the title of king isn’t given to just anyone. Dongryong, you’ve become a big shot in this Hunan backwater. And having a big shot like you as my subordinate makes me a big shot too.”

“Congratulations…?”

“……”

“…I’m sorry.”

Seeing my expression, Dongryong lowered his eyes, and I gently stroked his cheek with the end of the club as I got to the point.

“Dongryong, damn it, did we become big shots by doing good deeds? The title has bandit in it, bandit. A big shot among bad guys has appeared after a long time, do you think the Murim Alliance will just sit back and watch?”

“Oh.”

As soon as he heard the name Murim Alliance, Dongryong let out an innocent exclamation. Of course, that made me even angrier.

“Hoo… I can’t stand this.”

“Boss. I realize it now. I’m truly repenting, so… Aaaargh-!!”

Even while getting beaten with the club, Dongryong continued his last desperate plea.

“B-Boss-! But will the Murim Alliance even care about us, just bandits? Let’s try to look at the situation more positively…”

“Damn it, there are probably hundreds of martial artists waiting at the Murim Alliance headquarters. Do they just play around? Do they? Damn it, did they gather hundreds of people for a sports day? Just accept my club positively.”

“Aaaargh-!!”

How many times did I hit Dongryong today? I counted up to a few dozen, but I lost track after that.

Of course, no matter how much I hit Dongryong…

“Die! Just die from getting hit!”

“I’ll really die at this rate-!!”

…My already exploded anger showed no signs of subsiding.

**

After that, an emergency committee was immediately convened.

The gathered members were my direct subordinates, who could be called executives, and Crimson Beard, the former leader of the Brotherhood of Mount Muak, and Eung-chil, the former deputy leader.

The agenda was, of course, how to deal with the current situation.

With the atmosphere heavy due to Dongryong’s swollen face… the first to speak was surprisingly the youngest.

“Um… if the threat of the Murim Alliance is the problem, can’t we join the Murim Alliance too?”

“…What?”

Youngest, are you talking about Russia joining NATO?

Frustrated by the absurdity, I grabbed my forehead and spoke.

“Youngest, does that make sense? Why not have the Heavenly Demon Cult join the Murim Alliance and achieve Murim unification while we’re at it? Damn it.”

“Oh… was that a ridiculous suggestion?”

“Of course, it doesn’t make sense. Rejected. Do any of you have any other ideas?”

I looked around, but the others just lowered their heads without saying anything.

“Haa… calling these guys my subordinates…”

“…We have no excuse.”

Dongryong, the main culprit of this situation, finally realized his mistake and lowered his head deeply. I gave him a word of advice.

“Dongryong, don’t look so dejected. When you look like that, I feel…”

“Boss…”

Dongryong seemed touched, thinking I was encouraging him, but…

“…like shit. How can I feel good when the bastard who caused the mess isn’t thinking of cleaning it up and just looks miserable?”

“I’m sorry…”

I felt like shit.

As I expressed my feelings, Dongryong’s head, which was already lowered like ripe rice, drooped even further.

“Oh, you pathetic bastard. Just because I said one thing… sigh… damn it.”

I guess there’s no choice. They say the leader has to cover for the subordinates’ faults.

Just then, an idea came to mind that could somewhat calm the current situation.

I immediately ordered my subordinates to carry it out.

“How many Green Forest Hideouts do we have under our command now?”

“About a dozen or so.”

“…That’s a lot. Send people to all of them.”

“Yes…? For what purpose…”

“It’s an emergency, so we need to call all the leaders and have a discussion.”

“You mean…”

“Yes.”

We need to gather to survive together.

“Total assembly.”