“Still no word?”

“Th-there isn’t.”

Fire Ape openly scowled.

Did something happen?

The Fire Ape Unit’s reporting interval was never less than half an hour, never more than an hour.

And it wasn’t just the Fire Ape Unit. Every unit under the Twelve Zodiac Gods operated the same way.

The number of reports was excessive, but it couldn’t be helped. Ink Dragon Manor still hadn’t shown its face to the world. No amount of caution was too much.

That was why they kept the reporting cycle short, even if it meant wasting money and manpower.

But an hour had passed—nearly half a day now—without a single message.

Don’t tell me they got hit by the target?

Fire Ape couldn’t believe it.

Sure, maybe the Black Sheep Unit was stronger than expected. Maybe Fire Ape Squad Two had gotten wiped without even putting up a fight.

Even so, a report should have come in. Unless Squad Two had been annihilated to the last person on the spot, this didn’t make sense.

“No. This won’t do. You go in person and track Squad Two’s traces—”

That was when—

“Hngh! F-Fire Ape! Over there!”

Fire Ape turned.

That bastard?

A young man was walking up the narrow path that led to the estate.

Over six feet tall. Not powerfully built, but his posture was straight as bamboo, and the rigid, uncompromising air of a stubborn scholar bled out of him.

It was Yeon Hojeong. He’d changed into new clothes, and he even had a fairly bulky bundle slung over his shoulder. He was finally back.

Fire Ape moved.

RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!

Stepping on the roofs of several buildings, Fire Ape dropped to the ground in an instant. The movement arts looked like a stunt.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“You move like a monkey.”

Killing Intent surged from Fire Ape’s eyes.

“Where did you go?”

“None of your business. Move. I’m tired.”

“Report. Now.”

“I’ve never had a superior like you. Quit getting in my way and get the hell out of it.”

It was a brutally rough tone.

Fire Ape laughed coldly.

“Seems you haven’t heard it from the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor. I am your—”

“A guard. If you’re a guard, act like one and keep the estate secure. Don’t provoke the people you’re supposed to guard.”

“......”

“We had no ties to begin with, so I’ll let it go this once. But if you crawl up again without knowing your place, I’ll rip your eyes out.”

Behind Fire Ape, the fiercest of Fire Ape’s personal loyalists—Ape Leg—let out a vicious Killing Intent.

The Twelve Zodiac Gods under Yangcheon were among Ink Dragon Manor’s highest-tier masters, with positions worthy of that strength. This wasn’t a place to be spoken to like this by some brat who’d crawled out of nowhere.

Yeon Hojeong’s smile deepened.

“A subordinate overflowing with loyalty.”

Fire Ape stared at him for a moment, then raised a hand.

Ape Leg forcibly crushed the Killing Intent down. Rage boiled up, but Ape Leg couldn’t disobey the lord’s order.

Fire Ape asked, “What’s in the bundle?”

“A question way above your station. Open the way.”

“Let me make something clear. I’m not some ordinary guard. I’m the guard captain. And along with the order to protect you, I also received the order to watch you.”

“So?”

“......Do you not understand what ‘watch’ means? If you do something stupid, then at worst, I may even kill you.”

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.

“You were ordered to kill us. That doesn’t mean you have the ability to.”

“What?!”

“We’re in the middle of a deal with Yangcheon. Whether we serve him or kick him aside will be decided in a few days. Which means we have no reason to follow Yangcheon’s orders yet.”

A peculiar smile surfaced on Yeon Hojeong’s face.

“Didn’t that man tell you even that? I thought you were one of the favored, but I guess not.”

In that instant, Fire Ape felt heat slam up into the throat.

“You little—!”

“But fine.”

“......?!”

“I’ll be going out from time to time from here on. I don’t feel like wrestling with you every time, and I can’t beat you down, if only for the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor’s dignity.”

Yeon Hojeong loosened the bundle.

Fire Ape’s eyes sharpened.

Clothes?

That’s right. Inside were several sets of luxurious clothing. Men’s and women’s garments mixed together.

“Change of clothes for the group. Satisfied?”

“......”

“Move.”

“One last thing.”

Fire Ape’s gaze blazed.

“If you go out again without a report, then next time I’ll deal with you at the guard captain’s discretion.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“Please do. If you strike first, then even if I smash you to pieces, Yangcheon won’t be able to say a word.”

Fire Ape smiled coldly.

“You don’t know the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor at all.”

“Yeah. And if you really had Yangcheon’s favor, you wouldn’t dare spit that insane trash in front of me.”

“......?!”

“Let’s go.”

Fire Ape stared at Yeon Hojeong for a moment, then opened the path.

Yeon Hojeong walked along the narrow road without a word. Fire Ape and Ape Leg followed behind.

That was when—

......

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.

Voice transmission.

The air quivered faintly.

Someone was sending voice transmission to Fire Ape. The surroundings were dead quiet, and Yeon Hojeong’s senses were sharper than ever, so it was possible to catch.

Fire Ape’s steps faltered slightly.

Then Fire Ape vanished.

Yeon Hojeong didn’t even look back as he spoke.

“Looks like you’ve got something urgent. Why don’t you follow your lord, too?”

Ape Leg stared at Yeon Hojeong in silence. The eyes were fixed on Yeon Hojeong, but in truth, Ape Leg was wildly shaken.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.

The ones waving that thing around... were they that monkey’s subordinates?

Well, now. This is getting very interesting.

“Oh, look who finally shows up. Where’d you wander off to?”

Ga Deoksang greeted Yeon Hojeong in a mocking tone.

Yeon Hojeong handed over the bundle.

“Wearing the same clothes all the time feels filthy. I picked up a few decent sets.”

“Huh? Clothes should be one outfit for ten years—”

Ga Deoksang blurted out the beggar habit without thinking, then hurriedly lowered the voice.

“Ahem. Anyway, you worked hard. Let’s see what kind of damn fine clothes you dragged back.”

Ga Deoksang put on an exaggeratedly casual act, took the bundle, and went inside the quarters. Pae Yul spoke.

“You’re back?”

“Yes.”

Pae Yul flicked a glance at the estate gate. Ape Leg was inside.

“What’s that small fry?”

“Fire Ape’s direct subordinate.”

Pae Yul openly furrowed the brow.

“Get out.”

Blunt to the point of violence.

Ape Leg stood there with hands clasped behind the back, silent. It looked like even a blade at the throat wouldn’t make Ape Leg move.

Pae Yul’s body bled a sinister Killing Intent.

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“Just leave it.”

“No. I won’t tolerate some unknown bastard prancing around in my territory.”

“Endure it a little. If the bastard gets cocky first, you can draw then. It won’t be late.”

Pae Yul listened in silence, then snarled at Ape Leg.

“Any time is fine—please, come at me. I’ll take your head in one stroke.”

With that, Pae Yul went into the quarters. Ape Leg seemed too ugly to look at.

Yeon Hojeong let out a small chuckle.

“What a man. Living like that can’t be easy.”

Still—following orders obediently when Yeon Hojeong spoke, that counted for something. Even if there was an agreement, in the Central Plain’s temper, it couldn’t have been easy to keep bowing that consistently.

Then Ape Leg asked, “What are you relying on, exactly?”

“Hm?”

“You, and that swordsman—what are you relying on, to rampage like that?”

Yeon Hojeong grinned.

“Skill.”

“Ugh! Why are you only coming back now?!”

Je Gal Ahyeon’s expression was downright vicious. In the short time Yeon Hojeong had been gone, it looked like the mind had been running hard.

“Hurry up and help with the reorganization plan! Damn it, my brain’s about to cramp.”

“You did well. Go rest inside. I’ll handle the rest.”

“......You sure?”

“Yeah. Using your head isn’t easy. I’ll review what you did, too—today I’ll finish it alone.”

Je Gal Ahyeon smacked the lips.

“Now you say that, and it makes it hard to rest.”

“Quit saying things you don’t mean and go sleep.”

“What do you mean I don’t mean it?! How rude! Huh? But what about what you went to do?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled and nodded.

“It went pretty well. I think things will get easier from here on out.”

“That’s good news!”

Je Gal Ahyeon flopped onto the bed.

“I’ll sleep a bit, so wake me in an hour. When it comes to wrapping our heads around things, it’s better to do it together when we can.”

There wasn’t even time to stop. With eyes shut, Je Gal Ahyeon was out before even counting to three.

Yeon Hojeong watched and chuckled, then sat down.

While looking over the reorganization plan, Yeon Hojeong fell into thought.

That was dangerous.

After smashing every last one of the bastards wearing Black Sheep masks, another twenty masters had poured in again.

They weren’t wearing masks like the ones Yeon Hojeong had just exterminated. But {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the sinister Inner Qi and the thick stench of blood in the presence made it clear—they were from Ink Dragon Manor.

I can’t believe they were carrying something like that.

They were savage enough, but burying that level of master wasn’t difficult.

The problem was the thing they held.

It was like Rainstorm Pear-Blossom Needles.

Rainstorm Pear-Blossom Needles.

One of the Tang Clan’s proudest extreme hidden weapons. A vicious tool so dangerous that even within the Tang Clan, it was only handed to selected masters.

If it wasn’t managed properly, misfires happened constantly. Deep knowledge of hidden weapons and mechanisms—and seasoned experience—were mandatory.

Yeon Hojeong knew the power of Rainstorm Pear-Blossom Needles well.

It was insane.

Even a Transcendent Peak master, and even someone who had broken through the wall of martial arts, would struggle to escape Rainstorm Pear-Blossom Needles the moment vigilance slipped.

Yeon Hojeong couldn’t understand how such a deadly object had ended up in the hands of Dark Path scum.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Rainstorm Pear-Blossom Needles—it was something similar.

Could Ink Dragon Manor be mass-producing something like that?

No. If they could, they wouldn’t be so desperate to recruit hidden-weapon masters in the first place.

Yeon Hojeong rubbed the lips.

Just in case, Yeon Hojeong had brought one back—but it was hard to say whether it was safe to show it to Tang Sang-a.

......

After thinking it over, Yeon Hojeong sighed.

“There’s still time. Let’s think it through slowly.”

At this point, three things mattered.

First: use the reorganization plan to seize Yangcheon’s heart in one shot.

In truth, organizational structure was something Yeon Hojeong had obsessed over countless times while building the Black Emperor’s Citadel. It mattered, but it wasn’t a problem worth worrying about.

Second: Kang Ryang.

After killing even the twenty masters who arrived afterward, Yeon Hojeong had left the valley area in a chaotic state, littered with messy traces. Even an expert would judge that the two groups fought and annihilated each other.

And right after that, Yeon Hojeong had Kang Ryang stay near a low mountain not far from here. Yeon Hojeong had drilled the things Kang Ryang must never do until the mind would cramp, so for now, Kang Ryang would stay quiet.

When this was over, Yeon Hojeong might have to take Kang Ryang along.

No—Yeon Hojeong would have to, no matter what.

And third—last.

“I believe it.”

Yeon Hojeong looked out the window.

Mo Yonggun’s ghostly, vicious eyes surfaced in the mind.

“Make me one piece of real information—and you’ll punch straight into Ink Dragon Manor’s deepest layer in a single rush.”