The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King (Novel) - Chapter 154 - Let's Go to Europe!

Chapter 154 – Let’s Go to Europe!

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The European war was moving urgently.

Kwa-kwaang! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!

Concentrated bombardment from the Imperial Army.

Drek Karax had raised a force numbering about 1.5 million.

Shells, missiles, and rockets covered the undead army.

Papapapak! Peopeopeok! Peok-peok!

Bodies shattered after being caught in the violent explosions.

Most of them were demonic beasts.

Not weak human undead.

The undead demonic beasts were chimera-class.

Therefore, no matter how modern the weapons were, they would not go down this helplessly.

Unless divine power existed, perhaps?

The number of undead demonic beasts that had already been annihilated in the fighting so far was almost three hundred thousand.

The force that had been 1.5 million at first had been reduced to 1.2 million.

Drek Karax pulled one incoming shell toward himself with black magic.

Shuuuuuut!

The bomb came dragging itself over weakly without exploding.

‘Hmm, I thought so.’

A magic formation engraved on the shell’s surface.

‘As expected, they had a hidden move.’

It was a shell enhanced with enchant magic.

Judging from the engraved letters not being from Earth, the one who made this was also a soul linker.

But Drek Karax let out a snort.

‘Surely they are not relying on nothing more than this?’

The same soul from another world to which he had linked himself.

He had stood at the pinnacle of necromancers.

The strongest being of a dimension, who had subjugated a Demon King and, as a human, conquered the Demon Realm for the first time. The number of corpses he had piled up exceeded several billion.

‘I’ve seen enough, so…’

Drek Karax called over the undead necromancers and gave orders.

“We are changing strategies. From now on, we will move into active offense.”

– We receive your command.

“I shall divide my authority among you. You will lead one million troops and fall back. Then go to regions where the Imperial Army’s vigilance is lax and attack the demonic-beast concentration zones.”

He was dispersing the forces.

He himself would take a small number of elite undead demonic beasts and lead the vanguard, while the four 8th-class undead necromancers would swing around to the rear and swell their numbers.

The time had come.

In a world without even a handful of divine power, a necromancer was invincible.

Moreover, he had risen all the way to the realm of the Deus Lich through the success of the ritual.

And on this Earth, the number of demonic beasts that could be turned into undead was beyond counting.

Was that all?

They were enemy troops pointing their guns at him right now, but they would soon become corpses and turn into loyal allies.

The one-million-strong army of undead demonic beasts began to march south.

The authority Drek Karax had distributed to his subordinates.

The black magic that transformed the corpses of dead demonic beasts into undead.

With that power, they would attack the demonic-beast concentration zones and steadily enlarge their scale.

An army was not a living life-form.

Therefore it did not grow tired.

Supplies?

Was that sort of thing necessary?

When the large-scale force began to move south, Drek Karax gave orders to the remaining two hundred thousand elite undead demonic beasts.

He kept beside him only small- and medium-sized elite undead demonic beasts that excelled in speed.

“Rapid advance.”

Dudududududududu!

He would start by attacking the weak links.

The target was the self-propelled artillery division of the European Imperial Army nearest to this place.

The undead summoning art of a Deus Lich was special.

It could preserve some of the memories they had possessed when they were human.

For example, things like the skill to handle weapons.

He planned to absorb the Imperial Army into the undead.

That was why he had deliberately run tactics that made them look like moving targets.

He had even willingly taken all the incoming missiles and bombs.

To lure the Imperial Army’s mechanized units deep in from the rear.

Peopeopeong! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!

The firepower concentrated again.

From now on, he had no intention of taking it quietly.

His twenty thousand strongest undead, a special unit made by turning elite demonic beasts into undead and then strengthening them with his own black demonic qi, which he had hidden until now.

Kwa-kwaang! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!

Carpet bombing continued, but

the two hundred thousand undead elites with terrifying mobility swept away the European Imperial Army’s self-propelled artillery division in an instant.

Kkwadeuk! Kkwadeudeudeuk! Kkwadeudeudeudeuk!

“Aaaagh!”

“S-save me!”

“Kuuugh!”

“Keuk?”

.

.

.

The Imperial soldiers had now become undead.

A short while later,

the self-propelled guns turned toward the Imperial troops rather than the undead.

* * *

In the Samhan Empire,

a modest gathering was being held in the dining hall of the Paju lord’s manor.

The people invited were the eight TJ Guild members, Baek Seo-yeon, Baek Hong-pyo, Jeong Yeon-hui, Administrator Seo Pil-myeong, Baekdu Group Chairman Jeong Uk-cheol, and Igor Baranov of the Leaders Club.

“Yeon-hui, Jin-cheol is…?”

“Ah! They said the order banishing him from the Imperial Palace had been lifted, so he went back to the palace. He said he would stop by and greet you, but the chairman’s training ended up taking a long time.”

“I see?”

It seemed the Emperor had lifted the restrictions he had placed on his children.

He could not keep sending the princes and princesses outside forever.

Igor Baranov of the Leaders Club, perhaps having heard some information as well, quietly said to Tae-ju,

“It seems the empresses, as well as the prime minister and ministers, persuaded him. They said firmly deciding the Crown Prince would also help stabilize state affairs.”

Well, having no successor in this vast empire did not make sense.

Still, as for Fifth Prince Ryu Jin-cheol,

‘I guess he was not fated to get fed.’

It was all his luck.

“Let’s start among ourselves.”

One more person had said they were coming, but since they still had not shown up, they could be left out.

The table was empty.

Nothing at all had been laid out.

There were only fifteen transparent crystal cups.

“Hmm, was the preparation not finished?”

Baekdu Group Chairman Jeong Uk-cheol asked Tae-ju.

“It’s all ready, though?”

“…You called it a feast, so surely you are not going to end it with us sitting here talking without any food or drink?”

“Hahaha, I prepared only two things. That is enough.”

Tae-ju said, pointing to the large jar in one corner of the dining hall and the basket covered with a wrapping cloth.

“What…?”

Jeong Uk-cheol tilted his head.

He had heard the preparations would be simple, but for it to be this modest.

Yet he did not show it.

Was food what mattered?

People mattered.

Tae-ju slowly peeled off the paper covering the mouth of the liquor jar.

At once, a thick fragrance of alcohol rose from inside.

“Huh!”

“Oh!”

“This scent…”

“The entire jar is all that?”

Those who had already drunk it widened their eyes.

Baek Hong-pyo, Baek Seo-yeon, Chang-hun, and Sun-cheol.

He also brought out the immortal peaches.

He sliced them into easy-to-eat pieces and piled them high on plates.

Baek Hong-pyo asked in a trembling voice,

“Brother Tae-ju, surely this is that one from before…?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Heo…”

Baek Seo-yeon smacked her lips.

Baek Chang-hun and Jang Sun-cheol shifted in their seats.

The others had no way of knowing why they were acting like this.

“I’ll pour the first glass for you.”

Tae-ju raised his qi.

Uuuuuung!

Then fifteen drops of liquid came out from inside the jar and spun round and round in midair.

With one flick of his hand,

Hwirik! Hwi-hwi-hwi-hwi-hwik!

the drops split apart and each entered a separate liquor cup accurately and cleanly, without spilling even a single drop.

“…”

“Ohoooo!”

“That’s insane!”

“H-how?”

The sort of pouring that, they said, only a master of the Flower Realm could perform.

This level of performance was trivial.

“We’ll skip the toast, so please enjoy yourselves. And as for these peaches, two each…”

At that moment,

creak, the dining-hall door opened.

Who had come?

One person pushed his head in.

“Ahem.”

It was Geum Su-ho, the court secretary, who had originally been supposed to attend.

“You’re late.”

“Th-that is…”

Actually, there had been no plan to invite Geum Su-ho either.

Things were noisy both inside and outside these days, so how could he ask a public official busy with state affairs to come hang out?

But yesterday a call asking how he had been came.

When Tae-ju answered the question of what he had been doing lately with,

‘I was thinking of having a social gathering. Inviting the people who have helped me until now and holding a simple party…’

– What about me? Why did you not send me an invitation?

‘You’re busy with state affairs, so I could not trouble you.’

– Hmph! His Majesty will take care of state affairs. Just leave my seat open. I’ll take leave, so I am definitely coming.

That was why he had come, even if belatedly.

Though he did look a little flustered.

“Anyway, it’s good you came. Please sit quickly.”

But Geum Su-ho hesitated, as if he had something to say.

“Why…?”

“H-His, His, His…”

“Yes?”

“…His Majesty the Emperor arrives!”

“What?”

Everyone jerked in shock.

No way, how could the Emperor come here?

But it was real.

Emperor Ryu Tae-hyeon, dressed in plain clothes, appeared from behind Secretary Geum Su-ho and entered the dining hall.

“Hey, don’t prostrate yourselves, a bow of the head is enough. This isn’t an official occasion anyway.”

“…”

“Pil-myeong, you’ve been well? Ever since you left the palace, your complexion has improved.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“Chairman Jeong, it has been a long time. You look healthy, which pleases me.”

“Y-Your grace overwhelms me.”

“You are Igor, then? From the Leaders Club?”

“…I am overwhelmed by Your grace.”

Even the Emperor had come.

There had been no thought of inviting him.

No, it had been impossible.

Even for Tae-ju, how could he tell the ruler of Samhan, the absolute power, the Emperor who stood above all people, to come or go?

In this unforeseen situation, Tae-ju whispered reproachfully to Geum Su-ho.

‘Is this a hidden-camera prank? If His Majesty was coming, you should have told me beforehand.’

‘Keung, I think he overheard us on the phone. His ears are so keen. He was waiting in front of my house this morning.’

‘Whatever the reason, what are you going to do about this atmosphere? Are we supposed to relax and have fun with His Majesty here?’

‘My apologies.’

Then,

“I can hear all of that.”

The Emperor made a displeased face.

“Am I not allowed to have some fun? What did I even do? I came only to see your face, hah, hah, once you’re old you should just die, I suppose.”

“No, that isn’t…”

“But you call this a feast and there’s nothing laid out. Tsk tsk, why, this does not even reach the level of a palace breakfast…”

Then he suddenly stopped speaking and sniffed with his nose.

“Huh?”

Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff.

He approached the table like a dog scenting something, then

“Huhk!”

Then he asked Tae-ju,

“I-is it true?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a share for me too? Please tell me there is.”

“…There is.”

“Ooooooh! I shall never forget this grace.”

Geum Su-ho’s eyes also sparkled.

At some point he had even brought two cups and two chairs and was sitting side by side with the Emperor.

Jeong Uk-cheol and Igor wore expressions that said they could not make sense of this at all.

What on earth were this liquor and these peaches, for His Majesty to react like that?

“L-let’s drink quickly.”

“Yes, everyone, please eat and drink.”

When Tae-ju poured the liquor, the Emperor and Geum Su-ho immediately emptied their cups into their mouths as if they had been waiting.

Jjoooook!

As if not a single drop would be missed, they even licked the bottoms of their cups with their tongues.

Lick! Lick!

The others as well,

jjuuuuk!

And then silence flowed.

No one gave any sort of review of the liquor.

How could this sensation even be expressed in words?

“The peaches are the snacks.”

Jeong Uk-cheol wore the expression of a man bewitched.

Tae-ju’s words did not even enter his ears.

He had drunk countless liquors throughout his life.

He had even tasted single-malt whisky that cost more than one hundred million won a bottle.

But this liquor was on a different dimension.

Could it even be called liquor in the first place?

If the legendary nectar drunk by gods truly existed, it would be this liquor.

‘It wouldn’t even need snacks.’

Only then did he understand.

The reason the table had been set so simply.

There was absolutely no snack that suited this liquor.

Any half-baked snack would obviously ruin the taste.

‘But since he thoughtfully prepared fruit as well.’

Jeong Uk-cheol picked up a slice of peach from the plate and placed it in his mouth.

Wagjag!

At the same time, his eyes flew wide open.

“What in the world…”

It melted the moment it entered his mouth.

And a gentle warmth spread throughout his whole body.

“Heoheo.”

There was indeed a matching snack.

This peach, no, this heavenly fruit that could not be called a peach.

One more…

Jeong Uk-cheol stretched his hand toward the plate.

At that moment!

Deopseok!

The Emperor reached over and seized his hand.

“Ahem! A man who ought to know better! One snack for one cup, I would appreciate it if you kept the rules of the drinking table.”

“…”

Suddenly the Emperor was hateful.

What rules?

Why could he not eat two?

“There is more, so please eat as much as you want. When you go home, I’ll send you back with two peaches each.”

“Oh!!!”

Jeong Uk-cheol’s expression brightened too.

He meant he would separately give them two each to take back, right?

Then his granddaughter would receive two as well.

Crunching down on a peach, Jeong Uk-cheol quietly took the hand of Jeong Yeon-hui, seated beside him.

“Yeon-hui, one of your two, give it to your grandpa…”

“I’m sorry, Grandfather.”

She withdrew the hand he had caught and turned away.

No matter that he was her grandfather, she absolutely could not give up a peach.

Igor Baranov as well,

‘If I had not come here, I would have regretted it.’

He had had a schedule, but gave it up and came.

Forcing his way here had been the best decision of his life.

Administrator Seo Pil-myeong as well,

‘Leaving the Imperial Palace was the right thing.’

With this one cup of liquor, it felt as if he had received all compensation.

And the TJ Guild members, who were tasting the liquor for the first time, also.

‘My dantian is twitching.’

‘Mine too.’

‘Is this a spirit medicine?’

‘Can that even be compared to this?’

Meanwhile, Tae-ju was watching the news on the television mounted in the dining hall.

Emperor Caesar really seemed to have lost his mind.

At a time when even the entire world joining hands would not be enough.

That bastard was an even bigger problem than Drek Karax.

Tactical judgment my ass.

The Siberian Pioneer Corps was where his father was.

“…Haah.”

Even in a situation like this.

Tae-ju stopped his hair-growth research and abruptly rose to his feet.

‘Let’s go.’

He could not leave it like this.

Drek Karax was a problem, but that bastard Emperor Caesar was the same kind of man.

Whether they requested support or not, he would wipe them all out with Myriad Heavens Flower Rain.