The Overlord of Blood and Iron

Chapter 9. Reunion with the enemy

Alex, Alex Rothschild. It was the Grand Sovereign who had pierced Kang Chul-In’s heart and cut off his head.

‘His face is still sickening, even for the second time.’

Kang Chul-In evaluated his enemy’s face like this, the moment he faced him.

Alex Rothschild.

Full name was Alexander Mayer von Rothschild.

He was the descendant of the Rothschild family, well known in the finance world as a powerhouse. Rothschild was the top 0.01% of society as a Hollywood celebrity and as part of an extremely wealthy family. And it was ironic that he had fought battles upon battles and was on the brink of death countless of times because of Kang Chul-In, a commoner from South Korea.

‘If it was up to me, I want to kill him right here… but Akan will not just watch.’

Kang Chul-In, with all he had, held in the burning desire to twist Alex Rothschild’s neck on the spot. Akan had disappeared from sight, but Kang Chul-In knew that he would be watching from somewhere. And there were also a lot of eyes on them. He could not murder in front of 298 people, excluding himself and Rothschild. Although Kang Chul-In was not one to worry about others’ opinions of him, there was a right time for everything.

‘Revenge is a dish best served cold. ‘

Kang Chul-In remembered the wise saying regarding revenge, and sharpened his knives quietly in his heart. It was not wise to act rashly before it was the right time anyways. Revenge was the best when one could plan every detail meticulously and was able to detach all humane emotion. It would be more fun to impose the maximum torture and humiliation as well.

“Excuse me… can you speak English?”

Rothschild who was unaware of Kang Chul-In’s thoughts smiled kindly at him and carefully asked.

‘I feel like throwing up.’

As Kang Chul-In looked at the face of Rothschild that was filled with pretense, he felt himself wanting to vomit. Although Rothschild acted like the definition of a gentleman and that he worked for the benefit of the majority, in the inside, he was ruthless, cruel, and vile. Although it seemed like he was conversing with Kang Chul-In with no motive, he would have previously calculated this very moment. Rothschild, in the mind of Kang Chul-In was like himself, if not crueler. Kang Chul-In had actually found out about a couple of evil deeds that Rothschild had committed in secret. It was a sort of hatred of one’s kind. Kang Chul-In had thought of Rothschild like himself and knew about his true self— therefore he despised him. If Rothschild had admitted his wrongdoings maybe the outcome would have been different, but it was not so, and therefore Kang Chul-In hated this descendant of the rich family.

“You can’t speak English? Chinese? Japanese?”

Rothschild asked again.

“Korea.”

Kang Chul-In answered.

“Ah…!”

Rothschild exclaimed, as if he realized something amazing.

He was able to understand.

In Pangaea, language barriers did not exist. In whatever language one spoke, it was understood 100%.

“I can hear it. Your words, and that person’s words over there.”

Rothschild pointed at the person talking loudly in Arabic. The Arabian was calling for Allah and was busy practicing his religion.

“This situation is amazing! Assuming that it isn’t a dream, of course!”

Rothschild was amazed.

“It would be difficult if it was a dream.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, nothing.”

Kang Chul-In changed the subject from his unconscious answer.

‘Yes, if it was a dream, that would be difficult. Yes, it would. I need to kill you.’

As Kang Chul-In thought, Rothschild spoke again.

“If it isn’t too much to ask, can you tell me how you got the information to pop up like that?”

“It is not hard. Just look at it for 2, 3 seconds and it will open on its own.”

“Ah, I see!”

“If you got it, get lost.”

“…?”

“It makes me nauseous looking at your face.”

In Kang Chul-In’s unexpected violent language, Rothschild’s face hardened and his eyes flared with rage. Kang Chul-In did not fail to take note of that brief moment. However, the face quickly disappeared and the polite person’s face returned.

“You are overstepping your boundaries.”

Rothschild’s face as he said these words were calm and collected. He was acting like a gentleman and not a rich heir of a powerful family.

“What is overstepping is your social managing. It would be right to frown a little as a human being if you had something bad said to you. Isn’t that so, Alex Rothschild?”

“…!”

Rothschild was taken aback hearing his name from an unfamiliar Asian man.

“Do you know me?”

“Any civilized person would have seen your face at least once. Entertainment reporters are busy writing every little thing you do.”

It was true.

Alex Rothschild appeared very often on the media outlets for someone with the Rothschild family name. Dating a rich heiress, friendship with an actor from a pro-wrestling background, charity benefits gathering hundreds of thousands of dollars… 24-year-old Rothschild was known not only in America but the whole world.

“Ah, that might be so. Unintentionally…”

“What do you mean unintentionally? It’s probably is a foundation for you to get your feet into the movie industry. Aren’t you going to buy out 20th Century Fox?”

“…!”

Rothschild was definitely taken aback this time.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, as mentioned by Kang Chul-In, was a major film production company and the buyout deal was kept strictly confidential to the public or media. And this young Asian man had known.

“There is no such thing as a perfect secret.”

Kang Chul-In did not give Rothschild a chance to protest.

“Whether it is business secrets, or personality, I believe that all will be exposed at some point. What do you think?”

Rothschild, still could not come to his senses, and kept quiet as if mute.

Who in the world was this man?

‘Knowing me, sure… but how did he know about the buyout deal with 20th Fox… that aside, his words bare teeth. As if he knows me well… who is he? Who are you?’

Rothschild ransacked his smart brain, the brain smart enough to major in business at Harvard, to find a point of contact with this unfamiliar Asian man.

‘Where…!’

There was no way he could get an answer.

Kang Chul-In had come from the past, and naturally, Rothschild could not find a connecting strand between the two of them.

‘Spinning your brain again.’

Kang Chul-In, looking at Rothschild, had the devil’s smile on his face.

“Well then, keep on thinking. I will be choosing my land like Akan told us to do.”

Kang Chul-In, grinning widely to mock Rothschild, moved towards the models.

“Wait! Who are you!”

Rothschild called for him, but Kang Chul-In did not even look back.

‘Your smart little brain, think all you want. You won’t even be able to step on my shadow.’

A smile formed on the face of Kang Chul-In as his back faced Rothschild.

This was enough for today.

If he was to attack Rothschild who knew nothing, it would bring him no satisfaction. The revenge would not materialize.

‘Just wait. I will crush you slowly.’

Kang Chul-In pledged his revenge.

Kang Chul-In with Rothschild behind him, went through the trouble of looking at all 900 models carefully. It was a wise and clever choice. The land that they were to choose in the hall was land that they would spend the rest of their life growing and living together. It was important to be cautious and sure since it could not be changed.

Many lands were up for candidacy.

-[Stingray]

Type: Airborne city

Tendency: Conquest

Location: Southeast, Hyperion Province

Description: land atop the back of the flying stingray

Ability: Tactical weapon, Venom Gale

Price: 8,700 gold

The Stingray land was able to release a blood poison called Venom Gale from its long tail and seemed very powerful. Biochemical attacks, both on Earth and Pangaea, had great destructive power. However, Kang Chul-In did not make the mistake of choosing his land rashly.

‘It is tempting… but Uranus and Stingray, I can’t.’

Whale’s back and Stingray’s back. It got to him that both were lands that were on a living organism. Land atop a living thing was difficult. Even if it is a magical creature, it is living. It could get sick, or die during battle. Also, he would need to feed it and worry about defecation as well.

It was a big responsibility and work to raise a cat or a dog, but to raise a giant animal carrying land would require immense food and work. Therefore, he eliminated lands dependent on living organisms from his list. For these reasons, Simurgh, Ziz, and other lands atop animals were dropped from Kang Chul-In’s selection. It was not an easy thing to do to look at 900 lands while weaving through 300 Sovereigns, but Kang Chul-In slowly looked at the lands with patience. Meanwhile, Sovereigns who had already chosen their lands were disappearing one by one. They had purchased their lands and were transported to Pangaea. Alex Rothschild also was nowhere to be seen, and Kang Chul-In guessed he had chosen his mobile fortress, Cyamodus.

‘It would be better to be left alone.’

Kang Chul-In decided to just take his time in purchasing his land. To decrease chances of unforeseen variables, it was better to not disturb other Sovereign’s lands anyways. The future changed the moment he had made up his mind to choose an Airborne city instead of Valhalla, so for Kang Chul-In, it was an inevitable thing. In order to make up for the lost space, he would need to run all over Pangaea. While Kang Chul-In was taking his time, a few familiar faces passed him. From Albrecht Wilhelm, the Grand Sovereign who was the leader of the Gullveig Union to the dirty traitor Aleister (Kang Chul-In who spotted him slyly pushed him to the ground after he bumped shoulders), and the Grand Sovereign Dorian Explorer who was more focused on exploring for ruins and monuments than war—there were many. It was a new experience.

While he was taking his time looking at the other Sovereigns’ land selections, most had already been transported to Pangaea and in the great hall, only two remained: himself and a reddish-brown haired woman.

‘Hecate.’

Kang Chul-In recognized the woman right away.

From Eastern Europe.

The woman who preferred the nickname Hecate over her given name. She was the Grand Sovereign who had not betrayed Kang Chul-In to the end. Hecate was contemplating between her future land Temeraire and Helios, a land that was more of a chariot pulled by four Pegasus.

‘Temeraire is perfect for Hecate.’

Kang Chul-In smiled, remembering Hecate who reigned over Temeraire.

-[Temeraire]

Type: Airborne City

Tendency: Conquest

Location: Western part of Pangea, Countach province

Description: Land made in the form of a boat using Magic Spell-tech

Skill: Tactical weapon, Fire

Price: 9,500 gold

Temeraire was expensive but it was in the formation of a ship with 74 cannons, and it had unimaginable fire-power.

‘I need to intervene.’

Kang Chul-In could not leave his future ally to choose a worthless land like Helios. If she was to choose Helios, it would come at a great loss for him.

“A ship seems to suit you.”

Kang Chul-In said.

“Right?”

Hecate was cool and finical, and she answered without hesitation even when a stranger talked to her.

“I like it.”

Hecate nodded and chose Temeraire without hesitation, disappearing out of Kang Chul-In’s sight.

‘Now I just need to choose.’

It was Kang Chul-In’s turn.

About 600 lands remained, excluding the 299 lands and Valhalla that he had chosen previously.

‘Let’s choose slowly.’

Kang Chul-In looked at the lands slowly. It was repetitive, but Kang Chul-In did not seem impatient or bothered. It was said that ‘Perseverance is sour, fruit is sweet.’ Who knows? He could buy a land that other Sovereigns could slap their knees about.