Chapter 43

Chapter 43
## Chapter 43: Compelling Cooperation

—

Roughly half an hour passed before a crack finally appeared in the resolve of the group surrounding me.

“That’s it! I’m calling it quits! What kind of monster are we even fighting?!”

One man screamed his frustration, shoving his blade back into its scabbard and thrusting both palms into the air.

“Smart move,” I remarked.

I reached out to give his shoulder a supportive pat. Predictably, a desperate hunter nearby tried to seize that moment of perceived distraction, but his reward was a shattered jaw for his efforts.

Seeing that, the remaining combatants followed suit, sheathing their steel and raising their hands in a universal sign of defeat.

“What are you idiots doing? We have a contract to fulfill!” Daniel Royce roared.

Despite his blustering, the hunters who had thrown in the towel refused to even look in my direction, let alone lift a weapon.

“Fine then! Fire at will!”

Losing his patience, Daniel drew his sidearm and aimed it straight at my chest.

As he pulled the trigger, a deluge of lead and explosives descended upon the patch of dirt where I had been standing just a second prior.

“Is a civil conversation really asking too much? Do we have to do this the hard way?”

There was no chance they would hit me. Even the hunters capable of manipulating mana were missing by miles, though they seemed to have deluded themselves into thinking they were scoring hits. To ordinary men, hitting me with gunfire was a mathematical impossibility.

The crater where the grenades had detonated was empty. I was already standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Daniel the moment his hammer dropped.

Draping an arm over his shoulders like an old friend, I pressed the cold tip of my spear against his windpipe and flashed a grin.

“You really should learn when it’s safe to poke the bear.”

The sharp edge danced across his skin, opening a thin red line that began to weep blood.

“Is today really the day you want to punch your ticket?”

I felt his entire frame turn to stone. The men who had been happily emptying their magazines a moment ago were now paralyzed, unable to risk a shot while I held their leader.

“I could just end this farce right now, take your head like a piece of ripe fruit, and sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“And the consequences? You think you’d just walk away from the fallout?”

“You honestly think I’d fly into this mess without a plan for the aftermath?”

In this environment, truth be told, managing the cleanup wouldn’t be much of a chore.

“…Fine. Let’s talk. We’ll talk.”

“Glad to hear it. I’ve been trying to be polite this whole time.”

It was honestly pathetic—having to hold a man at spear-point just to get him to listen to reason. It was enough to make me want to sigh in exasperation.

I withdrew the weapon and tossed him a handkerchief.

“So, why exactly are you obstructing the transport train?”

I wanted the truth. I was all ears.

Daniel grabbed the cloth, dabbing at the blood on his neck as he spoke.

“We have a more urgent need for that shield generator than the British do.”

“Because of Ristorante?”

He gave a sharp nod at my question.

“Plain and simple. Britain isn’t facing any active high-threat erosion zones. Meanwhile, we’ve got Ristorante creeping up on us from the Italian border!”

I adopted an expression of feigned sympathy.

“The generator is still a prototype. It needs a controlled environment to gather telemetry.”

Moving an experimental piece of hardware directly into one of the Great Eight’s erosion zones—especially one as volatile as Ristorante—was madness. Even if they managed to get data, getting the equipment back out would be a suicide mission.

Furthermore…

“Like I told you over the comms, Seoul doesn’t exactly view you guys as the legitimate heirs to German authority.”

They were more like scavengers living in a graveyard. It was a hard point to argue. How could this ragtag group claim to be a government?

There was a reason the European branch of the Hunter Association set up shop in Britain and not here.

In short, lending them the generator was like handing the keys of a carrier to a pirate crew because they promised to keep the deck polished. Totally absurd.

“And let’s be real—would you even return it if we asked?”

Daniel hesitated for a beat before answering.

“If the compensation was adequate, perhaps.”

“So you really are just glorified bandits?”

They hadn’t built the device; they’d hijacked it, and now they wanted a ransom for its return. It reminded me of the British Museum acting holier-than-thou while holding onto stolen artifacts.

“Whatever. Get me something to drink.”

Daniel signaled with his chin, and shortly after, a glass of dark liquid was placed in my hand. I took a mouthful, winced at the flavor, and wiped my lips while glaring at him.

“Is this your version of a petty revenge?”

I’d been hoping for something resembling a cola, but this was a disaster.

“Don’t look at me. Real soda hasn’t crossed the border in months. That’s the closest we can get to the real thing.”

I glanced at a nearby bottle labeled “Cocoa Soda Extract.” North Korean imports? How did that even end up in this corner of the world?

There was no way people back home would drink this swill. It must have been shipped off as bottom-tier export.

“We agreed to talk, but this isn’t exactly a formal summit.”

I put the glass down after that single sip and spoke with total finality.

“Cooperate.”

“You’re acting like I have any other cards to play.”

I didn’t bother with words; I just gave my spear a playful flick.

“There are always other paths. I wouldn’t suggest taking them, though.”

If they valued their lives so little, they could die. It made no difference to me.

“I’m not the type to ignore a man’s dying wish if he’s begging for the end.”

“You arrogant prick. And you’re calling *us* the thugs?”

He had me there. I was a mercenary taking a paycheck, and these guys had simply calculated that guarding the generator wasn’t worth the cost.

Basically, I was just the bigger bully in the schoolyard. It wasn’t my preferred method of diplomacy, but it worked.

“What does ‘cooperation’ entail, exactly?”

“That’s not a conversation for me.”

I tapped the communication device clipped to his belt.

“Think of me as the middleman.”

I was just the one setting the stage. The actual terms would be hammered out between him and Lee Se-eun, who was currently occupied with aid distribution in Warsaw.

“Did the Candy Lady send you to do her dirty work?”

“No. I just got tired of the red tape and decided to skip the line.”

Daniel let out a dry, cynical laugh.

“That tracks. The Candy Lady wouldn’t lead with her fists like this.”

Lee Se-eun’s reputation preceded her, and these men knew her temperament well—and they had planned to take advantage of her kindness.

“You think she’s going to be happy about your little rogue operation?”

“I’m not an employee of Zanabi LLC. My contract is through Embargo Tower. Her opinion of my methods is her own problem.”

Daniel’s eyes shifted as he weighed that information.

“The prestige and power associated with the Candy Lady name carries a lot of weight among our kind.”

“If I gave a damn about titles and prestige, do you think I would have dropped in from a chopper while shouting insults?”

I spun my spear in a quick, flashy circle before planting it firmly into the ground.

“Point taken.”

I smiled and added,

“If I leave now without a firm commitment, she might try to play nice again. So, I’m sticking around.”

Daniel looked at me as if I had sprouted a second head.

“Back in Korea, do they say people like you have more guts than sense?”

“I can hold my own. Just find me a bed and some decent food.”

The decision to cooperate had already been made in his head; there was no turning back. After a long silence, Daniel let out a defeated sigh.

“Yoo Chan-seok, I see now that you’re just a loose cannon.”

He barked out several commands to his subordinates, and within minutes, I was being escorted to a set of quarters.

“What’s that over there?”

As we walked through the settlement, I noticed vendors selling jars on the street corner. Inside the glass, some unidentifiable grey lumps floated in murky liquid.

“Canned mixed meat.”

Out of morbid curiosity, I bought one for 350 won. The moment the seal broke, a rancid, fishy odor assaulted my nose. I shot Daniel a look of pure disgust.

“This smell is hazardous.”

It seemed Daniel hadn’t been close to the stuff either. He pressed a handkerchief to his face and muttered sharply,

“Throw that trash away. We’re serving dinner—don’t even think about bringing that inside.”

“Seriously, kid, don’t touch that.” One of the soldiers chimed in with a warning. “The sterilization is hit or miss. It’s a botulism gamble. The death rate is over fifty percent, and we don’t have the meds to save you.”

“The people out there seemed to be buying it like it was gold, though.”

I pictured the hollow-cheeked civilians crowding the vendor. They didn’t look like people worried about lethal bacteria; they looked like people who were starving.

The vendor even had a shotgun leaning against his stall, a clear sign that hunger had made the local population desperate.

“Not our concern,” Daniel said flatly.

“Is that so?”

Daniel caught my gaze.

“We pay these hunters out of our own pockets. we provide the weapons and the walls that keep this place standing. They should be grateful for what they have.”

We reached my assigned quarters—a large, reinforced tent. A heater was already humming inside, and a spread of food had been prepared.

There was sautéed cod, crispy bacon, potatoes, hearty rye bread, cold beer, a thick turnip and beef stew, and fruit pudding for a finish.

“This is a massive upgrade from the canned rot.”

“You’ve been picking fights since you landed. You’re lucky you’re getting fed at all.”

Daniel watched me with blatant irritation.

“Don’t be like that. I appreciate the meal. I’m digging in.”

I wasn’t going to starve myself on principle while I was their guest. I was focused on the big picture, not small-scale charity.

I took my seat at the table.

“So, how many of your hunters are you pulling back from the Ristorante front to deal with this?”

Daniel stopped his fork halfway to his mouth and stared me down.

“Drop the act. We both know what’s happening.”

They had laid out a feast for me, but only after I had neutralized eighty of their men. There was no love lost here.

They had undoubtedly recalled some of their elite units from the southern border to deal with the “guest” in their midst.

I took a bite of the cod.

“You know I’m onto you, yet you still let me stay? You’re the one who’s truly insane.”

“I can’t force you out. And why would I try?”

I leaned over and dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder. A tiny flicker of Paradox Flame attached itself to his coat, thin and bright.

“…?!”

Daniel jumped, frantically trying to swat the flame away, but it clung to the fabric like a living thing.

“Relax. It’s harmless for now.”

The flame was merely neutralizing the scent of his sweat.

While the fire could burn away sensory details, they would grow back. It wasn’t the same as destroying his nerves.

“But if things take a turn for the worse, it’ll turn you into a human torch.”

I crossed my legs and continued my meal.

“By the way, this stew is excellent.”

Daniel went silent. He clearly wasn’t interested in small talk anymore.

“You can’t maintain that kind of control indefinitely.”

I let out a soft chuckle.

“Ask your men. They’ve felt my output. They’ll tell you exactly how long I can keep this up.”

They had learned the hard way. I drained my beer, slammed the mug onto the wood, and narrowed my eyes.

“If I feel like it, I could keep that spark on you for the rest of your life.”

With the threat firmly established, I finished the rest of the food, gave a satisfied belch, and stood up.

“Good luck with the talks. If you try to pull a fast one, that little necklace of mine goes off.”

“You arrogant bastard…”

I gave him a lazy wave as I walked toward the exit.

“I’ll be watching the negotiations, so let me know when you’re ready to start. I’m going to get some sleep. Let’s aim for tomorrow afternoon—don’t keep me waiting.”