Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1386. Arrested (1)

“W-what do you mean?! You’re arresting my son?!”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong freaked out and hurriedly rushed up to Kang Jin-Ho. Unfortunately, her attempt was blocked by the police officers.

“There is no need to worry, ma’am! We will release your son if our investigation says he’s not guilty.”

“What... What crime are you even accusing my son of?!”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we cannot tell you the specifics. Please come down to the station in the morning. You’ll be provided with a more detailed explanation.”

The detective’s attitude was not threatening or overbearing. But that only made it harder to argue back.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the cuffs around his wrists. He could easily snap these off if he wanted. In his eyes, these metallic restraints were as fragile as rubber bands. Even so, he couldn’t break free.

Looks like they got me good this time.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly to himself.

If Kim Myeong-Chan had deployed the military and tried to assault Kang Jin-Ho in a deserted area, it wouldn’t have been too difficult to deal with them. But this was a different story altogether.

So, here it was, that one thing Kang Jin-Ho and others had overlooked.

The politicians and the military weren’t the only ones restricted by the eyes of the public. The societal fetters also tied Kang Jin-Ho and other martial artists down.

What if Kang Jin-Ho tried to break the handcuffs here? He might gain his freedom, but the price of doing so would be a life that was not free at all. He’d no longer be able to live a double life that straddled the boundary dividing the martial world and the surface world.

...And the ripples from this action wouldn’t just affect him, but his family, too.

“Oppa?! What’s going on?” Kang Eun-Yeong asked urgently.

Rather than replying, though, Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes became more withdrawn.

He could see how his little sister was shaking from near-uncontrollable panic. Meanwhile, his father’s face was stiff from anger and confusion. And his mother was about to pass out from the shock.

This sight, it... Something deep inside his gut began boiling hotly at this sight.

“Fuu-woo...!”

Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a deep breath.

He knew he must hold himself back, but it was not easy at all. His body twitched on its own. The fact that his family saw him in handcuffs made it incredibly difficult to calm down. However...!

Kang Jin-Ho studied the cops. Although they were being courteous toward his family, they remained hostile, nay, threatening, toward Kang Jin-Ho. They wouldn’t do that if they knew who he was.

That could only mean these cops had no idea why they were here and why they had to arrest him. These cops were ordinary people who were simply doing their job after someone higher up the food chain told them to arrest somebody.

Looks like they want me to cause a scene and run away.

The individual or the group that sent these cops here must be hoping for Kang Jin-Ho to create some kind of havoc. Whether that was Kim Myeong-Chan or someone else, it didn’t matter at the moment.

The corners of Kang Jin-Ho’s lips curled up.

“Let’s go, Mister Kang!”

The detective grabbed Kang Jin-Ho’s arm and tried to pull him away.

“Hold on,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Do not resist, or we...”

“I’ll walk out of here on my own accord, officer. I will cooperate with you, so give me a minute with my family.”

The detective nodded after noticing how composed Kang Jin-Ho sounded just then.

Kang Jin-Ho turned his attention toward his mother next.

“Jin-Ho...?! What’s going on?”

He shook his head. “This is all a misunderstanding, so please do not worry.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes, a misunderstanding. We’ll get it sorted out right away, so please wait for me.”

“...?”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong still couldn’t wrap her head around this situation, but there wasn’t a lot Kang Jin-Ho could tell her. Even he had no idea, after all. In that case, what more could he say?

“I’ll be back soon, father,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“M-mm!”

Kang Yu-Hwan gravely nodded. He was obviously trying his hardest to remain calm, but the corners of his lips still trembled weakly from agitation and confusion.

Finally...

Kang Jin-Ho looked at his sister. “Don’t cry, okay?”

“Ng...”

Tears trickled down Kang Eun-Yeong’s reddened cheeks, but she didn’t sniffle or waver. She was clearly trying her best to hold it in.

“Contact Mister Lee Hyeon-Su and tell him what happened.”

Kang Eun-Yeong nodded. “Ng, got it.”

“I might be gone for a while, so don’t stress out mother and father any more than this, okay?”

“Oppa... Oppa, it’s really gonna be alright, right? You haven’t done anything wrong, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho gently chuckled back at her.

Had he done anything wrong? Of course. Plenty of times, in fact. However, the crime these cops talked about had nothing to do with him.

“Okay, I’m ready to go.”

Kang Jin-Ho took a step forward first, prompting the police officers to surround him.

Baek Hyeon-Jeong urgently cried out, “Jin-Ho! Jin-Ho! Are you really going to be alright?! Jin-Ho! Get out of the way! I’m trying to talk to my child! How dare you!”

Kang Yu-Hwan grabbed his wife and pulled her back when she tried to confront a police officer blocking her way. “Honey, stop! Calm down for a minute!”

“How can I calm down in this situation!? Jin-Ho!”

Kang Jin-Ho bit his lip while listening to the voices coming from behind him.

After climbing into the back of the waiting police car parked in the front yard, Kang Jin-Ho reclined against the seat cushion. An officer sat next to him, then the car set off.

The scenery visible from the back seat of a cop car felt different. Unfamiliar. While stewing in this bizarre, never-before-felt sensation, Kang Jin-Ho quietly closed his eyes.

Yes, I know the line has been crossed already. But this...

This was one thing the other side should not have done.

Kim Myeong-Chan...!

You won’t have an easy death, that I promise you!

***

BANG!

The conference room’s door was roughly shoved open.

Wiggins’ head snapped toward the doorway. He was about to reprimand the person responsible for this insolent act, only for his mouth to clamp shut after noticing the expression of the intruder.

It was Lee Hyeon-Su, and his face was pale. “Master... No, Director Wiggins!”

Wiggins sat up straight and asked, “What happened?”

“It’s the Assembly Master! He got arrested just now!”

Wiggins froze still on the spot, unable to respond. It wasn’t because he was shocked, however. No, it was more like his brain failed to process the information he just heard. It was as if someone told him that a whale was seen flying across the desert or something!

Wiggins tilted his head in confusion before asking again. “What did you say?”

Lee Hyeon-Su replied, his expression remaining stiff. “The Assembly Master was arrested by the police a few minutes ago in his residence!”

“Did you just say... the police? As in, cops?”

“Yes!”

Rather than Wiggins, it was Bang Jin-Hun who processed the information first. He shot up to his feet and began roaring at the top of his lungs.

“What kinda dog-eating-sh*t nonsense is this?! How can the cops arrest him! Isn’t that the same as rats dragging a lion away?!”

“It sounds like they arrested him in front of his family!”

“Wha... Seriously?” Bang Jin-Hun angrily chewed on his lips. “Those sons of b*tches and their stinking schemes!”

Bang Jin-Hun could more or less figure out what happened now. Since Kang Jin-Ho cared so much about his family, he’d never choose to beat the cops up and run away from the scene with his family members around!

“Damn...! We let our guard down.”

Wiggins frowned deeply after realizing the trouble they were in.

Despite going to great lengths to succeed, the enemy still left Kang Jin-Ho’s family alone. Wiggins thought that was because they wouldn’t be able to deal with Kang Jin-Ho’s wrath. However, when he thought about it some more, it became easy to see how foolish that entire notion was.

It didn’t matter whether the enemy went after Kang Jin-Ho’s family or not, since they would die either way, anyway. Wiggins knew this, yet he still didn’t see anything was amiss when the enemy didn’t resort to any means at their disposal to gain an upper hand.

It’s... I’ve made a terrible blunder here!

Wiggins bit down on his lip, hard.

He got too used to the ways of the martial world.

While working for the Round Table, he ensured the balance between his organization and the UK government would remain stable most of the time. However, he only focused on the Assembly’s internal matters after joining Kang Jin-Ho’s side. He didn’t spare much thought to potential threats coming from the surface world.

That was because he believed Korea’s political sphere was pretty much clueless about the ins and outs of the martial world, which should have limited their options. And that was where his mistake had come from.

He should’ve remembered that people sometimes created a massive headache for everybody else precisely because they knew diddly-squat about the subject they were dealing with!

“Then, where is the Assembly Master right now?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced. “It sounded like he was taken away to a police station.”

“Does that mean he’ll be locked up in a holding cell?”

“Most likely, but... He might get transferred to a jail soon.”

Wiggins’ expression hardened into a scowl. “And what is he being charged with?”

“From what I heard... It’s something to do with the National Security Act.”

“National... Security Act?” Wiggins tilted his head. He was confident of being more knowledgeable than most people in many subjects, but Korean law was not one of those subjects.

Bang Jin-Hun helped him out with that one. “Simply put, it means the Assembly Master is accused of being a North Korea collaborator.”

“Say what?! Those insidious bastards...!”

Wiggins’ complexion grew deeply flushed in anger.

Kang Jin-Ho had to pass through North Korea in order to survive. However, if the enemy had some kind of proof of him entering North Korea...! That could become a checkmate. Why? Because he wouldn’t be able to explain why he had entered that country.

The only way to prove his innocence would be for the Korean government to publicly state that there was no treasonous act going on here, but that was never going to happen. Their enemy was the Korean government, after all. Obviously, they would never defend Kang Jin-Ho in this case.

No, never mind defend, the odds were that they would try everything in their power to lock Kang Jin-Ho up behind bars, instead!

Lee Hyeon-Su anxiously asked, “What should we do?”

Wiggins broke out of his chain of thoughts and glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su. He could see unbridled panic on his disciple’s face.

Lee Hyeon-Su maintained his composure in most situations, but not this time. It seemed he didn’t have much immunity to a crisis of this severity.

However, that story also applied to Wiggins, didn’t it?

Was the enemy’s goal to drag out those living in the shadows into the open and pass judgment on them? Wiggins chuckled hollowly.

“Looks like we don’t have to bother looking for Kim Myeong-Chan, then.”

Wiggins stood up, his expression getting stiffer once more.

“Director Bang!”

“Yes, Mister Wiggins!”

“Find a suitable law firm. Hire one right away! Since they want to fight us using this country’s laws, we shall also fight back the same way.”

“But...? We’re going against the country here, Mister Wiggins. We’re not looking at some dumb little defamation lawsuit here, you know? Will we even find any lawyer willing to take on this case?”

“Money can work miracles, Director Bang. Tell them money is no object.”

“Okay, got it!”

“And Mister Lee!”

“Yes?”

Wiggins locked his eyes on Lee Hyeon-Su next. “We definitely need more information on them. We need to know what is going on in their camp! Don’t hold back and do everything in our power to find out what we need!”

“Understood!”

“Also, contact the Minister of Economy and Finance right away. We need his help to...”

Before Wiggins could finish...!

Knock, knock, knock!

Wiggins turned his head at the urgent knocking coming from the door. “Come in!”

A Martial Assembly member rushed inside, his expression stiff. “I’m sorry, sirs. I know you’re in the middle of a meeting, but I thought you’d want to know this as soon as possible.”

Wiggins narrowed his eyes. “I see. What is it?”

“It’s breaking news, sir. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Seok Dong-Su, got booted out of his office just now.”

“Say what?”

Wiggins reflexively asked back. Not because he didn’t understand the words this Martial Assembly member spoke, though. It was just that his shock this time had been too great!

“And what was the reason for his dismissal?”

The Assembly member shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. The media has not been informed of the reason, but they speculate that the worsening economy and the continued failure of his policies might be to blame...”

“Hah! What a bunch of nonsense!”

Wiggins loudly gnashed his teeth.

Firing Seok Dong-Su, who could be called the most pro-Kang Jin-Ho in the government, right after Kang Jin-Ho was arrested? This was clearly a declaration of war.

“It looks like they’ve been getting ready for this for a bloody long time...!”

Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced deeply. “Sir, I’m getting a really bad feeling about this.”

Wiggins sighed, then nodded. “We need to act. And act quickly. To resolve this situation somehow. Now isn’t the time to sit down and think, but to make quick decisions and act on them. If we fail to put an end to this situation, something completely unthinkable will happen.”

“Like the Assembly Master getting imprisoned for life?”

“No, something worse than that!”

“...Sorry?”

Wiggins chewed on his lips rather than answering Lee Hyeon-Su right away.

The only reason why the current situation could even happen was simply because Kang Jin-Ho didn’t want to break the boundary between the martial world and the surface world.

However, what if Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t endure the indignity and caused a scene?

It’d lead to an absolute pandemonium!

The invisible boundary separating the two worlds would collapse, and humanity would be thrown into unbridled chaos! That was something Wiggins must absolutely prevent, no matter what!

“Find out the Assembly Master’s current situation, right now! And apply for a visitation permit! Hurry!”

“Understood!”

After watching Lee Hyeon-Su rush outside, Wiggins furiously rubbed his eyes.

Just how far was the enemy thinking of taking this?

At least one thing had become certain now. Negotiating with the enemy was out of the question now.