Chapter 425 – Part 2 – Escape Plan

“To think that Black Mask was an acquaintance of Hunter Choi Seong-min…”

“Then these people are Hunter Choi Seong-min’s family…”

Ryu Jong-ik and Gang Min-chan, who learned the facts belatedly, made surprised expressions.

“Black Mask, you know that Hunter Choi Seong-min is on our team, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then despite being acquainted with Hunter Choi Seong-min, you’ve been pretending not to know all this time?”

“I wasn’t pretending not to know, I just didn’t feel the need to mention it.”

Choi Seong-min, who was calmly lying, looked at his family.

“Hunter Choi Seong-min’s family members.”

“Yes?”

“Could you excuse us for a moment? I have something to discuss privately with these people.”

“Ah, we’ll do that. Take your time talking.”

As the mother and daughter stepped away briefly, Choi Seong-min looked at the remaining people and bowed his head.

“Thank you all. Thanks to you, my friend’s family could be safe.”

Choi Seong-min felt grateful to the Revolution members and Han Sae-bom who had faithfully carried out his request.

‘I did well to trust them with this.’

His family had almost been kidnapped by some bastard.

‘Though I would have flown there with Shadow Movement and rescued them quickly anyway.’

Still, preventing it like this was better than letting them experience being kidnapped.

At Choi Seong-min’s thanks, Ryu Jong-ik waved his hand dismissively.

“Not at all, Black Mask. We’re the ones who should be grateful. You’re someone working hard on the front lines.”

While speaking, Ryu Jong-ik’s gaze turned to Han Sae-bom.

Since she wasn’t a Revolution member, he was probably being considerate.

“Han Sae-bom.”

“Yes!”

She brightened when Choi Seong-min called her, but only briefly.

“You can go now. Thanks for helping.”

Han Sae-bom made a dejected expression, seemingly disappointed that he was sending her away early.

“Black Mask, as I said before, if you’d use me as an assistant…”

“I told you before too. Get strong enough that you won’t be a burden.”

“I’ve gotten stronger! Just a little more and I’ll be C-rank…”

“That’s not enough. So grow more and come back. We’ll talk again then. Right now I have things to discuss with these people.”

“Ah… I understand. Please contact me again if anything comes up. Please.”

“I will. If something comes up.”

Han Sae-bom left reluctantly, suppressing her disappointment.

“Leader.”

“Yes, Black Mask.”

“It seems we’ve reached the final stage. Are you prepared to reform the world?”

At that serious question, Ryu Jong-ik answered with unwavering eyes.

“Yes. I’ve been waiting only for this moment.”

“Good. Then I’ll take care of the rest except for Woo Seong-jae and Kwak Min-cheol.”

“The rest being…?”

“Melissa and Frank. I’ll handle those two within a short time.”

Though he had already dealt with them, Ryu Jong-ik and the members didn’t know.

That’s why their faces brightened.

“Woo Seong-jae seems beyond my capabilities, and I’ll leave Kwak Min-cheol to you, Leader, as promised.”

“Thank you, Black Mask!”

“So while I finish my work, you should also gather the members and prepare to attack the association. So you can start a coup as soon as I give the signal.”

“Ah, understood.”

“And until the situation improves, I’d like you to evacuate Choi Seong-min’s family to a safe place. The mansion is dangerous since its location has been exposed.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take responsibility for protecting the family.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll contact you again soon.”

Leaving only those words, Choi Seong-min disappeared with stealth.

The time had really come to end everything.

* * *

“Just wait a little. We’ll meet soon.”

After finishing his call with Choi Seong-min, Woo Seong-jae inevitably bit his nails.

Tap- Tap-

With a face full of anxiety.

‘He’s coming to meet me…?’

Though Insight couldn’t tell him the reason, his intuition was telling him.

‘It’s a kind of declaration of war. That he’s going to kill me…’

I’m going to kill you, so just wait.

That’s how Woo Seong-jae interpreted it.

It had to sound that way.

It was a definite fact that Choi Seong-min was constantly targeting him.

‘He killed not only the criminals but also my subordinate. It’s definitely not coming with good intentions.’

The problem was that no matter how great Woo Seong-jae was, he couldn’t stop Choi Seong-min when they met.

‘I absolutely can’t stop him, can’t. How could I handle 50 million combat power…’

This time, having consumed the traits of nearly 500 people, he would truly be a super-grade monster.

‘I must avoid direct confrontation. There might be a possibility of winning, but it’s about as small as eye crust…’

Since he couldn’t rely on such a tiny possibility, Woo Seong-jae had to think of other alternatives.

‘I can only hope that Jo Wang-chun, that wretched bastard, succeeds.’

He had that guy find out where Choi Seong-min’s family was and ordered the kidnapping.

‘I gave the order while Hunter Choi Seong-min was busy massacring criminals, so he must have succeeded.’

If things flowed smoothly without variables, that is.

Tap- Tap-

Woo Seong-jae bit his nails to calm his anxious heart.

But as time passed, his expression grew darker and he was seized by greater anxiety.

‘What’s going on? Why isn’t there any contact?’

According to the plan, it should have been more than enough time to kidnap them by now, but there wasn’t a single call.

‘We agreed he’d contact me if the kidnapping succeeded, but no contact means…’

It meant failure.

The possibility was high.

‘Damn. Did some variable occur…’

Even with Insight, he couldn’t grasp the situation.

Though some time had passed, it was still too early to conclude it had failed.

‘Please, please, please…’

If this failed, there would be no more methods.

He’d have no choice but to run around like a wanderer for the rest of his life, avoiding Choi Seong-min.

‘Hunter Choi Seong-min definitely had tracking traits too.’

That meant if he kept his feet on the ground, he’d be caught eventually.

There was no way to escape except taking his private jet and constantly moving around without rest.

‘Rather than living in a cramped airplane for life, it would be better to threaten Hunter Choi Seong-min.’

That’s why Woo Seong-jae could only hope for Jo Wang-chun’s contact.

This kidnapping was a matter of life and death for him.

Ring ring- Ring ring-

“It, it’s here!”

Seeing the caller ID on his vibrating phone, Woo Seong-jae unconsciously shouted.

The three characters “Jo Wang-chun” had never looked so beautiful.

“Mr. Jo Wang-chun! Is this really Mr. Jo Wang-chun?”

“Yes? Yes, it’s me, Lord Woo Seong-jae.”

“I can tell from your voice!”

Woo Seong-jae’s voice was soaked in joy.

“Calling like this means you succeeded in the kidnapping, right? You must have succeeded. Absolutely!”

He waited for Jo Wang-chun’s answer with a desperate voice.

“Don’t worry, Lord Woo Seong-jae. I succeeded in kidnapping Choi Seong-min’s mother and daughter.”

“Good…!”

Woo Seong-jae, who was about to shout with joy at the answer he so desperately wanted, closed his mouth as if he had bitten his tongue.

“Lord Woo Seong-jae?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Wh-who is this?”

“What? Suddenly what…”

“Could you be Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

As if he had said the right answer, a small laugh could be heard from the other end of the call.

“Yeah, I’m Choi Seong-min.”

“……”

The voice had changed.

From Jo Wang-chun to Choi Seong-min.

“How did you know it was me? The voice should have been identical.”

“Jo Wang-chun doesn’t call kidnapping targets by name. He only refers to them as targets.”

“To figure it out from just that. Impressive.”

“I didn’t know either. If my Insight trait hadn’t caught it, I would have been completely fooled.”

Woo Seong-jae’s tone toward Choi Seong-min was respectful.

Though he wanted to kill him, knowing he couldn’t, he had to bow his head.

‘The operation failed. Jo Wang-chun is dead.’

Especially since he was caught trying to kidnap his family.

It was truly the worst situation.

In such circumstances, he had no intention of irritating him with petty provocations.

‘Rather than adding fuel to the fire, it’s better to keep my head down as much as possible.’

Who knows?

Maybe Choi Seong-min would show mercy.

“Why are you silent? Having useless thoughts again?”

“N-no…”

“Don’t hope for mercy. I have no intention of sparing someone who touched my family.”

“……”

“Rather, show your true colors and accept it boldly. That would be more comfortable.”

Cold sweat beaded on Woo Seong-jae’s forehead.

Even though his opponent wasn’t in front of him, he was trembling and all his body hair stood on end.

It was because of the emotion of fear, which he had never felt in his lifetime.

“The operation was pretty good. Kidnapping the family while drawing attention with the criminals… Certainly, even with the ability to return instantly, it would have been difficult to prevent the kidnapping. That is, if I hadn’t anticipated the operation.”

“You… anticipated it?”

“Of course. That’s why I returned to Eastland, killed that Jo Wang-chun guy, and am calling you like this.”

“…By changing your voice?”

“Not just voice, I can change my face too.”

“How exactly…”

“Want to meet and see for yourself if you’re curious?”

“N-no. It’s fine…”

“No need to decline. You have to pay the price for touching our family anyway, right?”

“……”

“Let’s meet soon.”

The call ended as if there was nothing more to say.

Then Woo Seong-jae jumped up from his seat.

There was no time to waste.

‘I can’t keep my feet on the ground. I need to take my private jet and leave this country immediately. Wherever I am, Hunter Choi Seong-min will come looking for me. Even to this neutral country.’

Where Woo Seong-jae currently was is the neutral country, his territory.

An island between Eastland and Westland, named with the meaning of maintaining neutrality as the absolute ruler.

But now that all Great Heroes except himself were dead, that meaning was meaningless.

Moreover, with Choi Seong-min’s existence, he had to return the title of absolute ruler too.

‘Damn… for me, the absolute ruler, to be running around pathetically.’

He felt disillusioned, but only briefly.

‘Well, if I want to live, there’s no choice…’

Since there was nothing heavier than life, he threw away his pride and everything else.

‘Still, I’m fortunate to be in the neutral country. It’ll take some time for Hunter Choi Seong-min to come.’

Since the neutral country was in the middle of the sea, it could only be accessed by ship or airplane.

‘If I immediately stop all ship and flight services and block access, I can buy some time.’

Meanwhile, Woo Seong-jae could leisurely leave the neutral country on his private jet.

‘If I only move around in the sky without landing on the ground, even Hunter Choi Seong-min can’t catch me.’

Of course, he’d have to land on the ground occasionally due to fuel, but he didn’t think he’d be caught in that brief moment.

‘The plan is perfect. The problem is that I’ll have to live only on the airplane from now on.’

If he could just preserve his life, he could do anything.

Before ending up like the other Great Heroes, Woo Seong-jae quickly moved.

With the determination to never be caught by Choi Seong-min.

However.

“What kind of determination are you making so seriously?”

Woo Seong-jae’s footsteps froze as if solid.

Making his determination meaningless, the person he must never meet appeared before his eyes.

“Hun-Hunter Choi Seong-min…”

It was none other than the black reaper.