The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King (Novel) - Chapter 141 - The Outbreak of War (1)

Chapter 141 – The Outbreak of War (1)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Kingdom of Moscow.

A small country whose past Russian glory had vanished, having shrunk and shrunk until only the form of a city-state barely remained.

Though it still possessed the nuclear weapons it had held in its Russian days, apart from that its basic military strength was pitiful.

The confrontation between the royalist defenders and the republican revolutionaries was growing fiercer by the day.

One side insisted on preserving Moscow’s monarchy, while the other demanded the king’s abdication and called for a general election.

But the people’s demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the kingdom government army, and in response the republican leadership declared a do-or-die struggle and took the lead in public opinion.

Then, amid all that, a military street parade was held.

A large-scale event took place in Moscow’s Red Square, attended by King Nikola Romanov of Moscow.

Awakened soldiers standing ramrod straight, tanks and armored vehicles, missile launchers, and all manner of advanced weapons were mobilized in force to show off their power.

Standing upon the podium, King Nikola Romanov reviewed the troops.

When the king waved his hand, the citizens who supported the kingdom burst into cheers.

That was when it happened.

Ureureureureureu.

A group of citizens in everyday clothes crossed the forbidden line and charged forward at terrifying speed.

“W-what is that?”

“…Terrorists?”

“Protect His Majesty.”

“Awakened security team! Stop them from getting close!”

“What are you doing? Fire! Kill every last one of them!”

Tatang! Tatatatatang!

The mysterious people did not so much as flinch even after being shot.

Even when bullets punched holes through their bodies, their speed did not decrease in the slightest.

They were clearly not awakened, but ordinary citizens.

Except that their faces were pale.

And then,

a huge voice loud enough to make ears ring resounded through all of Red Square.

“For the revolution!!!”

“All power to the New Bolsheviks!!!”

“Long live the Republic of Moscow!!!”

At that instant!

Kwakwakwakwakwaang! Kwakwakwakwaang! Kwaang! Kwang!

Crimson flames swallowed the square whole.

‘That does it.’

Elder Matsumoto of the Black Mafia hid among the crowds and smiled bitterly.

A suicide bombing terror attack using higher undead ghouls.

Because the bombs had been hidden inside their stomachs, no one had noticed.

King Nikola Romanov, his officials, and a large number of government figures died on the spot, and Crown Prince Mikhail Romanov immediately inherited the throne and declared war on the republican faction.

It was the beginning of the Moscow civil war.

In the end, it had burst out.

In truth, it was a war long foreseen.

The conflict between the royalists and the republicans.

It had been an old feud that had continued for decades.

Was there really anything shocking about it?

It felt more like simply thinking that what was bound to happen had happened at last.

* * *

The European Empire.

A giant medieval-style castle built in the capital, Mega Roma.

That was the imperial palace.

The Emperor’s office.

There was a middle-aged man there.

Dark brown hair, an equally brown luxuriant beard, and an Awakening mark that was simple yet rose from the neck and reached halfway up the left cheek.

The ruler of the European Empire.

It was Emperor Alex Caesar.

A large television hung on the wall of the office.

At that moment, breaking news was flowing across the screen about Chairman Kim Tae-ju of Taehong Bio of the Samhan Empire succeeding in a round trip across the Pacific.

August, the Emperor’s confidant and director of the Empire’s intelligence bureau M-19, shrugged and said,

“No matter how I think about it, it’s unexpected. Just what is he, really?”

“Alchemy, I suppose. Probably of the Great Sage class.”

“Do you think so? He does seem to be of the sage type…, but they say his martial strength is considerable as well, don’t they?”

“That’s not anything strange. There is no reason a Great Sage must be weak.”

“He really is different from Sir Vincent.”

Emperor Alex pulled the ring off his finger, tossed it lightly to August, and instructed him.

“Since Vincent came up, this ring is too loose. It gets in the way when I use the sword.”

At once,

slidingly, his face changed, and the Awakening mark vanished as well.

This was the true appearance of Alex Caesar.

No one knew that the Emperor of the European Empire was not awakened.

He had been posing as an awakened ever since the earliest days of state-building.

It made it easier to govern the nation by asserting authority.

“Shall I ask Sir Vincent to tighten it?”

“Yes. Since we’re at it, have him remove useless decorations as well.”

It was a polymorph ring.

Vincent was an artifact maker.

And likewise, a soul linker connected to a great magic engineer of magic enchantment.

It had been almost 150 years since he met Vincent.

After obtaining power through soul linkage, he encountered him by chance while conquering the France region.

He had taken him in as a subordinate then and had been making good use of him ever since.

“In any case, if the soul behind Kim Tae-ju is a Great-Sage-type that has learned alchemy, he’ll be very useful. We ought to recruit him.”

“No. Don’t approach rashly. The Great Sage part is only a guess too. We’ll look into him more first.”

“Yes.”

No matter that he was a recently connected soul linker, it would not do to take him lightly.

The mechanism of soul linkage.

One absolutely never connected to an ordinary soul.

The soul Kim Tae-ju connected with too would surely be the strongest in some world.

“For now, it would be good if we too had at least one ship.”

“Yes. I’m particularly greedy for a container ship. Shall we place an order?”

“Make a direct request to the Samhan government through diplomatic channels.”

“As you command, Your Majesty.”

Emperor Alex Caesar rose from his seat and brought his face close to the TV screen.

The Oriental man shown on the screen.

‘Kim Tae-ju…’

He was rumored to be strong, but it was only laughable.

After all, his soul was linked with Sword Kaiser.

And that too, 150 years ago.

The one he was connected to was Sword Kaiser of another world.

The conqueror of the world and a madman for war, Emperor Trillian Lancer of the Avalan Empire.

The number of times their souls had linked so far was no fewer than twenty.

Like himself in that other soul, Alex too had a given mission.

What was it that an Emperor had to do?

To unify the continent and make a peaceful empire ruled by a wise sovereign.

So from the moment he realized it, he founded a state, drove back demonic beasts, expanded his territory, and conquered foreign countries, thereby creating the European Empire.

But it was still far from enough.

The Avalan Empire of the other world had unified a continent, but the European Empire occupied only part of Earth’s territory.

Though he had conquered southern and western Europe, eastern and northern Europe still remained.

There were many reasons for that.

The biggest among them was China’s destruction.

He had intended to unify Europe and then advance eastward, but those mad Chinese bastards dropped nuclear weapons onto their own land in the name of clearing demonic-beast concentration zones.

And then came the appearance of Beyond Elite demonic beasts.

The appearance of the strongest and worst demonic beasts, the common enemy of humankind.

After that, wars of conquest between nations came to a halt.

But Alex had not given up.

Someday, without fail, he would unify all of Earth.

First, complete conquest of Europe.

For that, war was necessary.

A war with proper justification.

At that moment!

Dding!

The notification sound rang from August’s smartphone, director of M-19.

“Oh! At last…”

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty, it seems a civil war has broken out in the Kingdom of Moscow.”

“Really? Drek Karax?”

“It seems so. That fellow has finally bared his claws.”

Emperor Alex smiled as if satisfied.

Another soul linker, the head of the Black Mafia, the worst necromancer, Drek Karax.

He had known of the man for a long time.

But he had merely watched him instead of capturing him.

Because he judged the man would be useful.

That was why, even when the Emperor of the Samhan Empire personally requested an investigation into the Black Mafia, he had feigned ignorance and denied knowing anything.

In any case, the fellow moved in the direction he wanted.

The civil war of the Kingdom of Moscow.

The justification to intervene in the war had been created.

In terms of location, it was the end of eastern Europe and a nation bordering northern Europe.

At long last, the chance to conquer all of Europe had come.

* * *

The Immortal Realm.

After five days of opening ceremonies, Immortal Realm World closed temporarily.

Repairs had to be made, and cleaning too.

But the biggest reason was the personnel problem.

There were not enough staff to manage it.

They would have to close for a while and come up with countermeasures.

In the meantime, other stores were opened too.

Namely, the Immortal Realm Cafe and an unmanned specialty ice cream shop.

Right now, they were doing the interior work.

The multiplex, however, continued operating.

But this place too needed expansion.

There were so many people that it felt cramped.

On the first floor, busily preparing for business, was the Wine Immortal, Immortal Tai-bai.

In truth, he drank more liquor personally than he sold.

So he was always drunk.

“Hey, drunkard!”

Drunkard?

Who was it who was speaking so carelessly?

Who but He Xiangu would say such a thing?

“I’ve told you again and again, haven’t I? Fix the way you speak…, ah?”

The Wine Immortal’s mouth fell open.

“Have you seen Poison Immortal or Sword Immortal?”

“Ah, a-a while ago, they we-went out together,”

“Got it. Drink in moderation, or your bones will rot.”

“…”

Was he not fully sober yet?

It definitely was He Xiangu,

“What is that?”

Learning Immortal Galhong was taking a walk.

As he walked through Immortal Realm World, which was closed for repairs and maintenance, he was checking whether there was anything to add or remove.

“Oh! So the bookworm even takes walks?”

Bookworm?

Who else could it be?

“It’s He Xiangu, is it? Now that you’ve enjoyed yourself to your heart’s content, go back to your quarters and sleep some more…, huhk!”

Galhong’s eyes widened round in shock.

“Y-you lunatic?”

“Why are you so startled? You saw me yesterday too. Where’s Sword Immortal?”

“…Uh, eugh, th-that, th-the, waah, hm.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll ask the others.”

Learning Immortal Galhong could do nothing but stare blankly at He Xiangu’s retreating back.

‘Is this some kind of reward?’

Meanwhile, Immortal Danzhu was on his way to the Spirit-Beast Realm.

Another order had come in.

If he was going to deliver talismans to Poison Immortal, he needed materials.

The ordered items were tracking talismans, transparency talismans, and speed talismans.

Lately he had heard that Great Hero Tae-ju liked using talismans, and that made him proud.

But then,

“Hey, talisman!”

“Who dares call me by such a name! He Xiangu, it’s you, isn’t it?”

Good.

He had made up his mind to teach her a lesson while he had the chance.

Then,

“…Oh, damn it, that startled me!”

“Oh, you’ve gotten pretty good at swearing. Have you seen Sword Immortal?”

“Ov-over there, at the Pe-Peach Orchard.”

“Hm? Why would he be there? Fine, thanks.”

Immortal Danzhu too stood there, dumbfounded, mouth hanging open.

‘Did she step straight out of a drama?’

Tang Gun-ak had a daily routine he never skipped.

Go to the Peach Orchard and check the Heavenly Peaches.

Just as the Immortal Realm itself had changed, the Heavenly Peaches too were ripening faster.

Sword Immortal, Ghost Valley, and Zhongli had all come together as well.

“Before long, they’ll fall on their own.”

“That’s right. They’re almost fully ripe.”

“Probably with the next delivery, or the one after that, we’ll be able to send Heavenly Peaches.”

It was deeply moving.

At last the time had come to hand Heavenly Peaches over to Tae-ju.

If the only thing threatening Earth were demonic beasts, there would be no need to eat them, but the problem was soul linkers.

Not long ago, he had even heard that Tae-ju had encountered some fellow called a black magician who used evil qi.

And that fellow too, like the Heavenly Demon or himself, was surely an absolute being who had once dominated a world.

Not the righteous path, but the demonic path.

Villains who spared no method or means in pursuit of their objective.

Would they leave Tae-ju alone?

Of course, Tae-ju’s current accomplishments had long since surpassed his own in the human realm.

It would not be wrong to call him almost at the level of an immortal.

If this were the martial world, it would not be strange if he ascended at any time.

Tae-ju was no different from an immortal.

How could a mere human dare covet an immortal?

But Tang Gun-ak could not be satisfied.

One had to guard against complacency.

That was why, no matter what, he had to make Tae-ju eat the Heavenly Peach.

“Let’s go now. We have to prepare for the reopening of Immortal Realm World too.”

“Ah, right! Poison Immortal, s?”

“No! …Wait seriously for a bit. It’ll come when the time comes.”

“Ahem!”

“If you’re bored, go make more roads or something.”

That was when it happened.

“So this is where everyone was gathered?”

At the voice from behind them, they turned their heads,

“…Huh.”

“Wh-what on earth?”

“How grotesque!”

“I-I don’t know where to look.”

It was He Xiangu, but with a changed appearance.

She wore a cap, and her hair was tied in a ponytail.

If that had been all, it would have been a relief.

Her top was a crop tee that exposed her navel completely.

White ankle socks, three-stripe slippers, and below, short, skin-tight…,

“…Dolphin pants?”

“Well? Does it suit me? I’m slender, right?”

“U-uh? I can see, I can see!”

“Don’t lift your leg!”

“W-white, no, I didn’t see anything!”

Dolphin, dolphin, sleek bare legs.

It was absurd beyond words.

How could an immortal dress in something so outrageous?

Ghost Valley’s eyes whirled around.

Zhongli did nothing but clear his throat.

The Sword Immortal had gone flat-eyed.

And that wasn’t all.

Piercings too.

Her lips, nose, and navel all glittered.

“…A hoodlum girl?”

“Some delinquent girl?”

“Why don’t you carry a cigarette in your mouth too?”

Frowning slightly as if she disliked the terms they were using to address her, He Xiangu said,

“What are you talking about? Delinquent girl, my ass. It’s a hip-girl concept.”

Hip-girl?

That was a delinquent girl through and through.

“And you walked around the Immortal Realm dressed like that?”

“You didn’t go around beating up the poor immortals, did you?”

“Did you extort money too?”

He Xiangu remained calm.

“You ignorant fashion eunuchs. It’s just comfortable clothes. Is there any law saying I can’t copy Earth’s fashion styles?”

Still, it was strange.

He Xiangu the delinquent girl.

It suited her oddly well.

“Ah! By the way, these Heavenly Peaches, you’re sending them to Earth? To the human called Kim Tae-ju?”

“You don’t need to know. And don’t covet them either.”

“I’m not coveting them. What would I do with them after eating them? And besides, I asked Poison Immortal.”

Pointed out by He Xiangu, Tang Gun-ak nodded and said,

“That’s right. They are Heavenly Peaches whose owner has already been decided, so not just anyone can eat them.”

“Hmm, is that really so?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Actually, there is one, isn’t there?”

“There is? Who?”

“The fellow who has already eaten Heavenly Peaches once before, so he knows their taste well, and who also possesses the power to ignore causality and the laws of heaven and earth in an instant.”

Surely not?

“…Great Sage Equal to Heaven?”

“That’s right. You’d better be careful of that monkey bastard.”

“…”

Great Sage Equal to Heaven might aim for the Heavenly Peaches?

It was absurd, but possible.

That bastard had entered the Realm of the Tathagata.

Though he had been forcibly enlightened, Great Sage Equal to Heaven still possessed the qualifications of a Buddha.

For him, fixed ties meant nothing.

“You should be careful. That bastard is only a Buddha in name. He still hasn’t abandoned his true nature. And he has a clear goal too.”

“A goal? What is it?”

“Obviously, escaping the Realm of the Tathagata. It’s a place even more boring than the Immortal Realm.”

In truth, Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s attempts to steal Heavenly Peaches had not happened only once.

There had been an immortal named Accumulated Virtue Immortal.

He was not currently in the Immortal Realm and instead wandered the human realm.

Were all immortals unruly free spirits?

Absolutely not.

Accumulated Virtue Immortal.

An immortal who had ascended by accumulating good deeds, an immortal among immortals recognized by the Jade Emperor and deeply respected by Yama, a model for all.

The one who tried to steal the Heavenly Peaches granted to such an immortal and was discovered beforehand by Guanyin and dragged away was none other than Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

The monkey’s attempt to plunder Heavenly Peaches.

There was a very high chance he would try again this time too.

Sword Immortal, Ghost Valley, and Zhongli burst out in anger.

“How dare a mere monkey covet the Heavenly Peaches meant for Great Hero Tae-ju!”

“I’ll shave every hair off his body with an electric razor.”

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I had monkey-brain cuisine.”

Tang Gun-ak’s eyes too gleamed sharply.

How dare he try to steal the Heavenly Peaches destined for Tae-ju?

Not in the slightest.