Mercenary Black Mamba

Mu Ssang pressed the broken chain and knife together like he was kneading dough. The power of the Billion's Water Armor was undeniable.

Crack—

Creaaak—

Frightening sounds rang. Flints of metal transformed into a round ball as though they were glued together.

Bang—

The lump of metal fell right before the gangsters.

"Uuhhhhhh!"

The five gangsters' faces turned pale.

"Your heads and bones aren't tougher than iron, are they?"

The devil bared his teeth and growled.

"Yes, yes!"

"Obviously."

"Of course."

The gangsters nodded their heads quickly as though it was a competition. If they replied late, their heads would be crushed by the same hand that crushed iron. Mu Ssang glanced at the cigarette butts discarded near the entrance and clicked his tongue.

"Wow, these b*stards are smoking despite their condition. This… this costs 500 won per pack, doesn't it? It seems like gangsters have a lot of money these days. B*stards, pick up all of the cigarette butts. You b*stards, get rid of all the spit and gum that you spat out!" Mu Ssang shouted.

The two gangsters, who had been blocking the entrance, immediately ran to pick up their cigarette butts.

Hyung Dong kicked the butt of the gangster who stepped on his spit with the sole of his shoes. The other one was sharp-witted. He immediately scraped his spit with his hands and shoved it into his pocket. Although he got sticky liquid on his hands, he managed to avoid getting kicked on the butt.

"Follow me!"

Mu Ssang entered the front door without turning back. The five gangsters stared at each other's faces.

"Hey, let's run!"

"F*** that, didn't you see him flying around?"

"If we get caught, our skulls will be crushed."

"Let's believe in our big brothers."

In incredibly low voices, they exchanged whispers like lightning. Gangsters could only survive if they're sharp-witted. Although the night goblin was terrible, their elder brothers were even more so. They collectively agreed to put their trust in their brothers rather than running away and getting beaten to death. The five gangsters followed after them in a line.

Mu Ssang walked comfortably up the stairs like it was his own house, grabbed the door handle of a room on the second floor, and pushed the door. He pushed the five gangsters inside and entered. A middle-aged priest with a shaved head came into his sight first. A man in a suit was leaning back with his legs crossed on the three-seater couch next to the middle-aged priest. Like guards, three men wearing mais[1] were standing behind the man in the suit.

"Bone-head, you b*stard, I told you not to let anyone in. Who is this-"

The man on the rightmost with glasses on his face glared. He couldn't finish his sentence.

Slap—

A palm slapped his chest and disappeared. It was an attack sharper and faster than a chameleon's tongue.

Bang—

The man, who flew against gravity, hit his head on the iron cabinet in the corner of the office and lost consciousness.

"Oi, go kneel in the corner and raise your hands."

Mu Ssang glared. The five gangsters, who were dragged all the way there, glanced at the men in the room and kneeled in a corner.

"B*stards, raise your hands!" Hyung Dong shouted.

The five gangsters raised their arms up high. Priest Bumwoo looked at Mu Ssang with a lost expression. Hyung Dong immediately rushed forward and whispered into the priest's ear. The priest nodded as the tension in his face melted away.

The man in the suit sitting on the couch and two men behind him wearing mais glared at Mu Ssang silently. Their gazes were as sharp as the tip of knives. Silence filled the office.

"Mu Ah greets you, priest, who's built many fortunes. May you attain Buddhahood," Mu Ssang politely greeted priest Bumwoo.

"I'm a weak person who's thrown this way because I couldn't solve a single thing in reality. It seems like this is the age where Asuras are needed more than Bodhisattvas. I'm Bumwoo. May you attain Buddhahood," priest Bumwoo jumped to his feet and praised.

"You work hard guiding low-class citizens back to the right path, sir. Still, I think your method's a bit wrong. While everyone deserves equal education, and it's good to reflect on oneself using the five precepts, there are ranks for low-class citizens too. There's the bossy man and woman who can tell the difference between s*** and bean paste by looking at them, scoundrels who can tell the difference by smelling them, gangsters who can tell the difference by tasting them, and those who still can't tell even after smelling and tasting them. These ranks cannot be assigned unless each one's been hammered down with the wooden fish used for chanting. Wooden fishes should be used to crack open skulls instead."

"Keke, hahaha! What a refreshing distinction."

Priest Bumwoo's entire body shook as he laughed. The man in the suit leaned his body further back against the couch. He gave a death stare while maintaining his silence. The other two men wearing mais glared at Mu Ssang.

Mu Ssang slowly observed the man in the suit. He looked like someone who practiced martial arts. He was in his early 40s, well-built, had a strong aura, had an unwavering focus that he didn't even turn to look at his beaten subordinates, and remained patient even when insulted. He was either a strong man or someone who was specially trained. He could also be both.

"What a monkey-like guy. What are you?"

The man in the suit growled. Although his pronunciation was slightly off, it was a perfect standard accent.

"B*stard, if you want to trace other people's ancestry, you should introduce yourself first."

"I'm An Bae Tae. Who are you?"

"Abe? A Jap doesn't have the right to ask," Mu Ssang interrupted him.

Hyung Dong laughed. If those men could stand such disrespect, they were among the most generous of Buddhists.

"Die!"

Whoosh—

The two men standing behind the couch moved at the same time. The sports-hair guy jumped to an alarming height. He spun once in the air, kicked the wall, and flew toward Mu Ssang's blind spot.

Ssshink—

A chained weight slipped out of the sports-hair guy's sleeve. Seung Pyo was a mid-range weapon with a heavy shuriken attached at the end of its thin chain.

The block-hair guy hurled his body, slid, and spun a ring shuriken around his finger at the slightest pause. A ring shuriken was an assassination weapon created from the merging of bagh nakh, a weapon that mimicked the claws of predators, and shuriken.

The shuriken attached to the chained weight was aiming at the back of his neck, and the ring shuriken was aiming at his ankle. They were certainly incomparable to those gangsters. They were b*stards who learned proper martial arts. Every technique they used was a ninja technique.

Mu Ssang's body shook like a branch shaking in the wind. It was a combination of Flexible Moving Technique and Fearless Steps in which his upper and lower body moved in different directions. He lifted his left foot, avoiding the ring shuriken aiming at it. In one smooth movement, he stepped on the other person's shoulder as though he was walking.

His chest moved a foot's distance to the right while his stomach was still in place. Four movements taking place simultaneously—it was an impossible move considering the human anatomy.

Whoosh—

The chained weight swept past the area connecting his spine and neck. He shifted his weight to his left foot, which was on the other person's shoulder, and turned around.

Crack—

The sound of bones breaking under his foot was heard. The sports-hair guy jerked his wrist and returned the chained weight. The shuriken flew toward his forehead. It was a devious weapon specific to chained weights.

Slap—

He caught the shuriken, rendering the attack useless. Mu Ssang's arm muscles twitched. The sports-hair guy was dragged down relentlessly from the air.

Whoosh—

The sports-hair guy bent his foot like a whip and aimed at Mu Ssang's temple. He was someone with astounding flexibility.

Long fingers wrapped around his ankle. The sports-hair guy's body turned in the air like a pinwheel before slamming onto the couch. The man in the suit slid away from the couch where he had been sitting.

Bang—

The sports-hair guy trembled and fainted, falling head-first. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Mu Ssang's initial plan was to bash his head into the stone floor because of his deadly hand movements, but he let him live out of pity instead.

"Aaagk!"

It was only then that the scream of the block-hair guy with the shattered shoulder bone was heard. That showed how fast their exchange was. Mu Ssang applied more pressure to his foot. Three tons of weight settled on the block-hair guy's shoulder.

Craaaack—

His shoulder blade, clavicle, upper arm bones, and joints were all crushed together with the tendons and muscles. They were unrecoverable.

"Kugh!"

Unable to endure the shock, the block-hair guy fainted, falling head-first.

"Namu Amita Bul!"

Priest Bumwoo chanted a prayer. The single exchange ended in three seconds. Against Mu Ssang, they were half-a**ed opponents anyway. The stronger one's abilities were, the more decisive a fight was, and depending on the difference in skills, a fight could be determined in half a second's worth of exchange.

Silence pressed down heavily on the 15-pyung room. Mu Ssang looked around. The man in the suit and Hyung Dong were standing, wide-eyed, while the lackeys were shriveled up, unable to breathe.

"Now, let's hear both sides of the story. I'm quite the mediator, you see. This b*stard, why's he taking up space when the couch is small in the first place?"

Mu Ssang flung away the sports-hair guy who had fainted on the couch and sat down. It was as though he was throwing away a teddy bear. Hyung Dong flinched. That wasn't mediation, but a mediator who could beat up both sides and more.

"I made a mistake. I won't visit this place again."

The man in the suit bowed slightly.

"Come on, why are you acting like this? I barely managed to prepare a negotiation table, who else would I ask for compensation if the assailant disappears? That won't do."

Mu Ssang patted the couch with his palm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that there is a high-ranking master like you here. I won't visit this place again."

The man in the suit kept lowering his head. Abe Asotaro was meant to have the Korean name "An Bae Tae Rang" but because of the wariness against the Japanese, he was named "An Bae Tae." His heart was racing. He wasn't confident against a joint attack of second-rank trainees even though he was a first-rank trainee himself.

The opponent was strong enough that he could win against all of his elders' attacks. He didn't know where such a terrible human being came from. Well, the elders from his martial arts hall were always worried. They always warned that seeds in Korea had to be eliminated before they grew since there were always people with special abilities popping out of nowhere. Right now was the time to lower his head and plan for the future.

Mu Ssang's gaze grew cold.

"You cowardly b*stard, are you saying that you have the right to enter any children's home and cause a scene as long as there isn't a master hiding inside? You started this ordeal, but I'll finish it. You better sit unless you want your neck snapped."

"I understand."

As An Bae Tae stepped forward with his head slightly lowered, kunai flew in like arrows. They flew at him from within three meters.

"I knew it, b*stard."

As long as Mu Ssang didn't lower his guard, nothing within three meters, no, one meter was unavoidable. Mu Ssang raised his hand and swung it as though he was smacking someone. It was something that he learned from the cycloid technique, a method of Reverse Lines and Remodeled Operational Attacks.

Snap—

His hand skilfully caught five kunai. Even the sharpest of iron couldn't pierce his Billion's Water Armor.

"Jap-boen, don't you have anything more to show?"

An Bae Tae's face creased devilishly.

"Why are you surprised? A Jap who knows his way around shurikens, kunai, and chained weights, you must be from a traditional martial hall. However, those b*stards were using Jidang and Huijul techniques. Are you a descendant of the Shinsengumi?"

"Hehe, you should stop. It's impossible for you to kill all of the members and destroy the evidence. If someone from our headquarters visits, you'll all die. The children will start disappearing one by one."

"Your cowardly instincts are showing through now. I'll wipe you out cleanly."

A light pink color started spreading inside of Mu Ssang's eyes.

"Look, Mu Ah, since that friend says he won't appear again, let him go. Several of them are injured anyway. They should head over to the hospital now. Although their actions are wrong, if one side doesn't yield, hatred will continue."

Mu Ssang turned his gaze toward priest Bumwoo. The priest feared for his children's safety. They're the kind of b*stards who attacked when shown compassion.

"I wonder if your benevolence will reach that Jap b*stard, priest."

Flick—

Before he could finish his sentence, An Bae Tae moved as though he was sliding. A thick arm wrapped around priest Bumwoo's neck from three meters away.

"Ah, priest!" Hyung Dong shouted.

"Hehehe, you poor Joseon b*stard, tie up that b*stard's hands and feet if you don't want this old priest murdered."

An Bae Tae kicked the chained weight that had fallen to the ground toward Hyung Dong. Bewildered, Hyung Dong looked back and forth between the priest and Mu Ssang.

"Priest, do you see? That's the nature of those Japs, the baser side of their personality. Abe's clan is known for constantly changing their opinions."

"Hoo, it's my fault."

Priest Bumwoo let out a deep sigh.

Mu Ssang could have stopped An Bae when he moved but left him alone on purpose instead. He wanted to show priest Bumwoo the epitome of a despicable human being.

Mu Ssang believed in his sound wave attack. Both orientation and concentration had to synchronize for damage to be done with sound waves. Mu Ssang applied the sound reproduction principle of an LP phonograph record. He narrowed down the resonance waves until they were as compact as a saw blade and used air as a transmitter to deliver them into the other person's ear. He then released compressed resonance waves for them to crash against the sound waves, like bowing violin strings with a bow.

Resonance with grating sound waves produced the sound of an explosion. The vestibular system that balanced the human body had semicircular canals that detected rotational movements, a utricle that detected horizontal movements, and a saccule that detected vertical movements.

When powerful sound waves exploded in one's eardrums, the entire vestibular system would be displaced. The person on the receiving end would receive a large amount of shock enough to flip the world around. Although it was a weaker skill compared to blacky's skill, which released extremely-low frequency in spirals, it was enough to disable an opponent temporarily.

"An Bae, no, Abe. Won't you regret your decision?"

"Regret? A warrior from the Great Empire of Japan doesn't do anything he regrets. Moreover, I don't regret what I did."

"Oh, fine, you b*stard, you're so great and mighty. Ha!"

"Kuaaagh!"

Abe, who received a huge resonance shock wave, jumped in his seat.

Whoosh—

Mu Ssang moved instantaneously and grabbed the back of Abe's neck before slamming his face into the floor. The terrazzo floor rang loudly.

Ugh, that must hurt.

Hyung Dong trembled as he watched.

[1] Japanese jackets.