The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King (Novel) - Chapter 151 - I Received the Hair

Chapter 151 – I Received the Hair

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Deus Lich Drek Karax went about seeking out only the demonic-beast concentration zones around Moscow.

He had needed nuclear bombs when forming the initial undead army.

In order to secure forces quickly.

But now there was no need for that.

Because he had secured enough troops to keep rolling the snowball.

To the northeast of Moscow there were not many cities.

And even where there were some, they had already collapsed and become ruined cities.

It was almost entirely territory ruled by demonic beasts.

Drek Karax pushed his army into the demonic-beast concentration zones.

Ordinary demonic beasts were no match for the undead demonic beasts.

Elite demonic beasts were the same.

Kill the demonic beasts, turn the dead ones into undead, then attack a still larger demonic-beast concentration zone,

and the numbers grew and grew.

They had already exceeded one million.

Thus, at last, the million-strong undead demonic-beast army led by Drek Karax returned to Moscow city proper.

The first place he went was the War Memorial Museum, where the first nuclear explosion had occurred.

Why had he blown this place up?

This place, which had been the hideout of his faithful servants, the elders of the Black Mafia, and the organization’s lower-ranking black magicians.

He could have used them without killing them.

But this too had been part of the plan.

“Rise!”

Ppudeuk, ppudeudeudeuk!

Corpses rose in the War Memorial Museum, which had collapsed into ruins from the nuclear blast. They had all been his servants when alive.

Those whose corpses remained became ghouls or dullahans, or else skeletons. Those whose forms had completely vanished became ghost-type undead specters. And as for the elders…

– Master.

– We are humbled that you have called us.

– We pledge our loyalty.

Matsumoto, Jonson, and Abrahim, who had been 8th-class black magicians, were reborn as undead necromancers.

In any case, their souls had all belonged to him.

Even in death they could not escape.

And finally, he went to the Moscow Defense Command headquarters building.

“Carmen!”

Carmen, whose body had exploded under the forbidden restriction.

Her scattered flesh and bones gathered together once more.

She too became an undead necromancer.

– Master, I have been waiting.

“Good. You’ve worked hard.”

An undead army on the scale of one million.

It would be difficult to command it alone.

And in the future it would grow to two million, three million, with the numbers increasing more and more.

These would serve as mid-level commanders.

Drek Karax gave the order.

“Secure human guns and cannons from the armory. And ample ammunition as well.”

– Your command shall be obeyed.

The army did not consist only of demonic beasts.

There were also the many human undead raised from cemeteries.

He planned to arm all of them with modern scientific weapons.

There were still many such military bases in Moscow.

While the human-shaped undead armed themselves,

Deus Lich Drek Karax sank into thought.

What was the reason he had started this war?

To conquer Europe?

To cover Earth in a host of undead?

No.

To survive.

From Kim Tae-ju, that bastard.

He did not fear the European Imperial Army at all.

To Drek Karax, the greatest enemy was Kim Tae-ju himself.

That was why the most important thing was knowing exactly where that bastard was.

The place where he stood now was the site of the duel between Carmen and Kim Tae-ju.

Though she had been an 8-circle black magician, she had not even managed to exert her strength properly before being defeated absurdly.

The traces Kim Tae-ju had left behind.

The destroyed magic formations, the bastard’s footprints.

Drek Karax drew up a great mass of black demonic qi.

Uuuuuuuung.

Then he muttered in a low voice.

“Dark Trace.”

A kind of tracking spell.

A black art that indicated roughly where the target one wished to find was located.

But then!

‘…Hm?’

What was this?

Had the black magic gone wrong?

The spell did not work.

The black demonic qi should clearly have moved toward the direction where that bastard was.

“Dark Trace. Dark Trace. Dark Tra…”

No matter how many times he cast it, it was the same.

‘…Why on earth?’

He genuinely could not understand it.

Was the spell not working?

Impossible.

Or else…

‘He might be dead.’

Other than that, there was nothing else that came to mind.

There was one other possibility, though.

Something that did not exist on Earth.

‘Did he perhaps move dimensions?’

An absurd conjecture, but still.

That was when it happened.

Shuuuuuut!

Kwakwang! Kwakwakwakwakwakwaang!

Together with a tremendous roar, the entire building shook as if it would collapse.

Sseureureut!

Sliding out into the open while floating in the air, Drek Karax looked up at the sky.

‘The Imperial Army.’

Swaeaeaeaeak! Swaek!

The newest bombers were pouring bombs and missiles onto the undead demonic-beast army.

“Laughable.”

Drek Karax lifted his staff and aimed at the empty air.

Then the elite undead flying demonic beasts, acting on his command, beat their wings and flew toward the fighter craft like streaks of light.

These were not mere ordinary undead flying demonic beasts.

Drek Karax too knew the importance of modern air warfare.

They were demonic beasts specially crafted with great care using the powers of the Deus Lich, and they even possessed self-destruct capabilities, enough to deal with fighter craft.

Kwakwakwaang!

Fire and explosions erupted in the sky.

Shuuuuuuung!

A bomber fell from the sky.

Kwaaang!

Now even Kim Tae-ju was no longer frightening.

Just look at this gigantic host of undead.

On the ground as well as in the air.

There was no one who could stop his army.

Alex Caesar, Emperor of the European Empire?

He was nothing more than trivial trash.

“Advance!”

The army passed through Moscow city and moved west.

The snowball had begun to roll.

The more it rolled, the larger it would grow.

All of Europe would become a world of the undead.

* * *

The Immortal Realm.

Now that he knew ascension was only a temporary phenomenon, the remaining homework was how fruitfully to spend the time he had left.

Tae-ju wanted to spend more time with Tang Gun-ak, but…

“Uhahaha, Great Hero Tae-ju, I am Fire-Painting Immortal. It was I who painted your portrait. That’s why I was able to recognize you the moment I saw you.”

“Ahem, just because of a single painting… Are you using well the Divine Spirit Throwing Knives I made?”

“Tsk tsk, what Great Hero Tae-ju uses most are my talismans.”

“How did the immortal liquor taste? Let’s have a drink later.”

The immortals absolutely would not let him go.

Immortals in all sorts of clothes.

Tracksuits, jeans and shirts, stylish suits, hiking wear…

Well, Earth’s fashion had entered the Immortal Realm, so that could be taken in stride, but there were also immortals dressed in ways that would count as rather extreme even on Earth. …Or was she not an immortal?

“Hello? Nice to meet you, Mr. Tae-ju. I’m He Xiangu.”

“…Yes.”

She was an immortal after all.

In appearance she looked like a young girl.

Wearing a baseball cap, her hair braided into two plaits, a crop top, ultra-short dolphin pants exposing the underside of her buttocks, white socks, three-striped slippers, and a lollipop in her mouth.

“You don’t know this, do you? I played the decisive role in securing the Heavenly Peach.”

“…Then I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Oh, come now, not enough to call it a debt. Just remember it.”

Ahhh, to think this person was an immortal.

Even so, he could not properly look at her.

“L-look at that, how outrageous.”

“Great Hero Tae-ju has been shown something he ought not to see.”

“Put stockings on immediately!”

“Black stockings!”

“Fishnet would be better.”

Sword Immortal too was greatly delighted by Tae-ju’s temporary ascension and strutted about boasting.

“Look, didn’t I say so? Where have all the immortals gone who mocked it as some silly dream? Why is nobody saying anything? Are you all hiding underground?”

“T-to boast over dealing with just one monster in a dream…”

“Of course it’s something to boast about. Isn’t it proof that Great Hero Tae-ju trusts me that much?”

“Haah, Dongbin! Let’s do moderation.”

Ghost Valley could not lose either.

“All that aside, who made the crystal power-generation facilities Great Hero Tae-ju sent? Hm? I also installed the intranet all by myself.”

“Ghost Valley, that was only assembling parts made on Earth.”

“Then you should have assembled them.”

“Do you think I couldn’t?”

“Then go ahead and do it.”

At that moment Tae-ju’s ears perked up.

‘Hm?’

The intranet installation had been completed?

Then perhaps it could be used.

‘Let’s test it.’

He took out two dedicated Immortal Realm smartphones from infinite space and, handing one to Sword Immortal,

“Could you pass this to Poison Immortal?”

“As much as you like!”

Spat!

Sword Immortal ran over to Tang Gun-ak in an instant and handed over the smartphone.

Then Tae-ju waved his smartphone and shouted,

“K-Talk. K-Talk! Sign up first!”

Tang Gun-ak nodded as if he understood.

They each signed up for membership, created their profiles, opened the friends list, and entered the chat room,

and it worked.

The intranet was functioning.

K-Talk!

[Tae-ju]: I missed you.

[Poison Immortal]: The feeling is mutual. In any case, welcome to the Immortal Realm.

[Tae-ju]: Seeing it in person, it’s changed far too much.

[Poison Immortal]: For the better? Or for the worse?

K-Talk!

[Tae-ju]: Honestly, I worry that perhaps the noble and sacred Immortal Realm has been thrown into disorder by all these vulgar Earth things.

[Poison Immortal]: Noble, my ass. Just look at the immortals. You don’t think they’re sacred, do you?

[Tae-ju]: Come on, even so.

[Poison Immortal]: Just look at He Xiangu right now. Does that woman look like an immortal?

K-Talk!

[Poison Immortal]: It’s the same even now. Look at their faces, desperate just to get one of these smartphones. I’m an immortal too, but don’t be deceived by immortals.

What was with their expressions?

When he turned his head, the immortals were all staring fixedly only at the smartphones.

“A-are you conversing through that right now?”

“Yes.”

“And you can also take pictures and send them? Brag about food on something like Star-gram?”

“Probably.”

“Huh, something I only saw in dramas. Then shopping is possible too?”

“Probably.”

He could feel an intense longing from the immortals.

Their determination to have one of those smartphones.

He understood.

Up until then, all they had ever handled were spare phones used only for taking photos or storing videos.

* * *

Tae-ju listened to a detailed explanation from Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

This was no ordinary hair.

It was hair Great Sage Equal to Heaven had personally plucked from his own body and infused with monster qi.

‘So all I have to do is scatter it.’

When scattered, the hairs would become clone Sun Wukongs and then go on dividing and dividing.

With a mere handful of hairs, within only a few seconds, a swarm of hundreds of thousands of clones absolutely obedient to Tae-ju’s commands would be created.

However, they would not be able to fully exert their own abilities.

Because of the limit of time.

The duration was about one hour.

Once they vanished, they would be gone completely.

Originally, Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s clone art was not single-use.

After plucking hair from his own body and making clones, he could keep supplying monster qi so that the clones would not disappear, allowing him, in theory, to use them infinitely.

Moreover, he shared consciousness with his clones and could also give them complicated instructions.

But the hair Tae-ju received unfolded using the monster qi Great Sage Equal to Heaven had put into it in advance.

In other words, it was no different from placing a battery inside.

Once the monster qi ran out, they would disappear.

Only simple commands could be given to them; there was no sharing of consciousness.

Even so, that did not diminish its value.

Because it was no different from possessing a huge army of Sun Wukong clones lasting for one full hour.

‘This gift is too big.’

Though Great Sage Equal to Heaven had indeed tried to steal the Heavenly Peach that was to pass to him, he had accepted the sincere apology.

So in return, Tae-ju took out one dedicated Immortal Realm smartphone and handed it to Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

“Would you like to have this, at least?”

“Huk! Th-th-this pre-precious thing.”

“Your hair is more precious than this.”

“Ahhh, shameless though I am, th-thankfully…”

“Membership sign-up goes like this, well, I might as well do it for you.”

Great Sage Equal to Heaven was moved.

As if it weren’t enough that his apology had been accepted, now such a treasure too?

How could he remain still?

“I shall pluck more hair from my body and give it to you.”

“N-no, there’s no need to go that far,”

There was no time to stop him.

Chunk, chunk, chunk, he plucked it out, and then fuuuuu, carefully blew on it and imbued it with monster qi.

“Here…”

“…”

“Please accept it.”

It was burdensome, but since the hair had already been plucked out, he could not very well refuse it.

“You truly don’t need to pluck any more now.”

“Hahaha, is there likely to be another occasion to pluck it? And I still have plenty of hair left.”

Smiling broadly, Great Sage Equal to Heaven ran off somewhere.

Then Tang Gun-ak raised a hand and called out to him.

“Great Sage, I’d like to see you for a moment.”

“…For what matter?”

“Something good, so don’t worry.”

“Ah! Really?”

An Immortal Realm deliveryman and hair-producing machine.

Tang Gun-ak’s heart grew warm.

This too was all thanks to Bright Maiden.

He had merely forgiven the monkey because she asked him to, yet to think he would obtain such good fortune.

“To think I’ve really seen it again.”

“Hm? Me?”

“So Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s name truly was not empty. Let’s clear up our misunderstandings of the past and begin trading in earnest…”

At that same time,

news that Tae-ju had come to the Immortal Realm spread through the Upper Realms.

In the Yellow Springs Realm, Yama said,

“I-is it true that Great Hero Tae-ju has ascended?”

“Not permanently. They say he’ll be going back soon.”

“Huh. What is he doing now?”

“Apparently he’s handing out gifts to the immortals…”

“What?”

Yama leapt to his feet.

“Let’s go meet him at once.”

In Peach Blossom Palace too, the Queen Mother of the West said,

“Miho.”

“Yes, my Queen Mother.”

“Prepare at once to go to the Immortal Realm. Also prepare a basket filled with the finest, best-ripened heavenly peaches.”

“As you command.”

In the Heavenly Realm, the Supreme Emperor of Purple Tenuity Palace said,

“Can such a thing truly… happen? How can a human?”

He genuinely could not understand it.

A human who had not even ascended into the Immortal Realm, yet climbed there?

He had imagined, if only as a possibility, that when exchange between worlds succeeded by means of a shared space, perhaps even something like this might occur.

‘Could this be a heaven-defying phenomenon…?’

The Supreme Emperor lifted his head and checked whether heavenly qi had fallen into disorder.

It had not.

The operation of heaven and earth, gods and spirits, and the laws remained smooth as ever.

‘I cannot go there personally.’

There had been quarrels over how to deal with Poison Immortal at the representative council of the Upper Realms.

So relations with the Immortal Realm had soured.

Even so, he did not stop the heavenly people from going to play in the Immortal Realm.

Because the Heavenly Realm was a world for the heavenly people.

If they desired something, the role of the Heavenly Realm was to grant it as they wished.

‘Kim Tae-ju…’

Just what sort of person was he?

He was too curious to bear it.

‘I’ll have to send someone.’

The Upper Realms were buzzing because of Tae-ju.