“You seem to be stuck in a right ol’ pickle, my lord.”
Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “...Instead of quipping, how about helping me first?”
“Of course, my lord. I'd dearly love to assist, but… Hmm. It's a bit tricky, isn't it?” Wiggins coolly smiled while peering closely at Kang Jin-Ho. “Also, your enormous power output is making me wonder if I'm even qualified enough to help you.”
Kang Jin-Ho’s brows quivered ominously.
Wiggins went ‘Eeek!’ and hurriedly backed off. “I’m merely joking, my lord.”
“Now doesn’t seem like the right time nor place for a joke, though?”
“There is no cause for concern, my lord. Others from the Assembly are at the front of the building, after all. As such, there shouldn't be any further loss of lives. Although, it is regrettable that some issues have cropped up while we were en route.”
Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and peered at Wiggins, obviously not impressed.
It was good to be relaxed, but wasn't Wiggins a bit too relaxed, considering the urgency of this situation?
Of course, Wiggins also had some things he wanted to get off his chest but was valiantly holding them back.‘Goodness me. Is he even human at this point?’
How many times did Wiggins nearly freak out at Kang Jin-Ho's incredible feats? At this point in their relationship, Wiggins should have become more or less numb to all the outlandish things Kang Jin-Ho did.
On his way here, Wiggins told himself not to get surprised by anything, even if he found Kang Jin-Ho playing fetch with a bloody whale inside the fish tank! However…
Wasn’t this a little too much?
Wiggins could see it. And it being nature's energies rapidly getting sucked into Kang Jin-Ho!
Wiggins was a swordsman-and-magician hybrid. Magicians didn't accumulate energy inside their bodies before using it but directly utilized what nature provided. As such, they were far more attuned toward the movement of external energies compared to other types of martial artists.
That was why Wiggins could clearly sense all the energy Kang Jin-Ho was sucking in.
‘How is this even possible, though?’
Accumulation and emission should be impossible to perform simultaneously. Not even cars could refuel and drive at the same time!
Yet, here was Kang Jin-Ho, seemingly pulling this feat off as if it was the most natural thing in the world! No wonder Wiggins was having a hard time masking his shock.
Since he couldn't analyze this phenomenon, he couldn't deduce the end result either. Wiggins wasn't sure whether Kang Jin-Ho was in danger or still had enough room to mess around. And that was the source of his current fluster.
Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “It'd be nice if you started helping me... Right about now.”
“Do you… genuinely require my assistance in this situation, my lord?”
“Why would I ask for it if I didn't need it?”
Wiggins and Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at each other, their eyes still narrowed suspiciously.
“Kuh-hum. Since you said you need my assistance, I shall provide it, my lord. However, what can I even do here…?” Wiggins frowned while glaring at the water pouring out of the crack in the acrylic wall.
The water pressure practically resembled a constant, unending explosion.
‘No, not an explosion, but more like a large cutting machine.’
Wiggins sneakily backed off without even meaning to. He wasn't like Kang Jin-Ho, who could ably withstand the destructive power of the water. If Wiggins got swept up in that water pressure, he'd quickly end up looking like a well-pounded lump of meat!
When pressurized enough, water could even crack diamonds. In other words, it was not something a human being made out of flesh and blood could withstand. The sight of utterly obliterated surroundings should be proof enough of the water’s power.
“My lord?”
“I don’t care if it’s your lord or lard, just help me already.”
“I’ll be honest, I… I’m not sure where to even begin,” Wiggins sheepishly scratched his cheek. “The best and simplest way is to freeze the surrounding area. The resulting ice would have to be extraordinarily thick in order to withstand the water pressure, but I can do it.”
“Then, do it.”
“However, there’s a problem with this method. Non-martial artists will soon be entering this area, so the sight of a frozen aquarium will undoubtedly raise a huge commotion.”
“Mm…!”
“That ungrateful brat, Lee Hyeon-Su, insisted that no one must know of our involvement in this event. It’s hard to tell who’s the teacher and the disciple sometimes. In any case…! That’s why I don’t recommend this method. Not only that, but freezing the area will kill all the fish inside the tank as well. As an animal rights activist, I strongly oppose this method, my lord.”
Kang Jin-Ho’s cheeks twitched ominously. He was working his butt off here, yet Wiggins had the cheek to talk about animal rights and whatever?
“Okay, what then?”
“It is unfortunate, but we'll have to sacrifice a few for the greater good,” said Wiggins while pointing into the aquarium. “Can you see that, my lord?”
“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho turned his head a little and looked inside the water tank. At the spot Wiggins was pointing at, he could see a whale shark swimming leisurely around.
Wiggins continued to explain. “Although I loathe the idea of hurting an innocent animal, I loathe the idea of everyone dying a lot more. It pains me to say this, but we’ll have to sacrifice that majestic creature for our own survival. I shall summon it here and plug up the hole.”
Kang Jin-Ho frowned a little again. “Really? Wouldn't that thing get ripped to shreds from the water pressure?”
“Indeed, my lord. That is why I'm thinking of reinforcing this wall as well. If lady luck is on our side, the creature will survive the ordeal. And we'll have a pretty good excuse of a whale coincidentally plugging up the hole and stopping the potential destruction of the aquarium to non-martial artists. Whether such a thing is possible or not is secondary, my lord. We will have eyewitnesses, and not many people would know about the true sturdiness of a whale shark, anyway.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. He had no idea which of the two options would be better. But he trusted Wiggins on this one. If this English gentleman said so, it must be more or less true.
“In that case, why aren’t you doing it already?” Kang Jin-Ho tutted again.
“Well, my lord, there is one other minor issue here…”
A couple of veins bulged on Kang Jin-Ho’s forehead.
Vator and Lee Hyeon-Su got disciplined periodically, so they didn't talk back and ably carried their weight most of the time. However, ever since joining the Martial Assembly, Wiggins… No, that wasn't right. Wiggins still hadn't received a beating from Kang Jin-Ho since their first encounter, no?
‘In that case, I should set aside some time and beat him up real good later.’
Meanwhile, utterly oblivious to what the person in front of him was thinking, Wiggins flashed a radiant grin like some kind of an action movie star.
Then again, this place had a ruptured aquarium with a ton of water flooding out of it, and the water level was steadily rising higher with every passing second. With a handsome and well-groomed older gentleman coolly observing this dramatic scene, no wonder Kang Jin-Ho briefly thought he was stuck inside a movie.
...Even if the genre of this particular movie was about to morph into horror pretty soon!
“To lure the whale shark this way, I need to cast Taming on it, but the distance precludes me from doing so. This means I must enter the aquarium myself, but… The water pressure makes it impossible to enter from this side. So, I'll have to enter through the top while you hold on for a little while longer.”
“You need to lure the whale to come this way first?”
“Yes. And that’s a shark, my lord.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Wiggins pouted slightly in dissatisfaction while nodding. The difference between a whale and a shark was as great as the one between a dog and an ape. He wanted to stress this point to Kang Jin-Ho, but the situation wasn't fit for such a lecture. “Yes, my lord. I need to coax the creature to swim over this side.”
“I see. Wait here, then.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
Without saying anything else, Kang Jin-Ho shoved his hand inside the gaping hole in the acrylic wall. That diverted the jets of water everywhere, and some slammed into Wiggins' face without any warning.
“Kuh-whak?!”
Wiggins dramatically tumbled to the floor at that sudden wet punch to his face.
Kang Jin-Ho disinterestedly looked back. “Oops. My bad.”
Wiggins frowned suspiciously. Didn’t this situation seem… deliberate?
As if Kang Jin-Ho knew what he was doing?
Just before Wiggins could demand answers for this situation, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Kang Jin-Ho reached as deep as he could inside the water and squeezed his hand tight. And then… the leisurely swimming whale shark trembled seemingly in panic before freezing stiffly, unmoving.
Kang Jin-Ho began pulling his hand back, which also prompted the whale shark to get dragged toward the acrylic wall like a piece of iron being attracted by a magnet!
Kang Jin-Ho glanced back at Wiggins. “Is this close enough now?”
Wiggins wordlessly and absentmindedly nodded as his eyes remained glued to the whale shark visibly struggling against the unseen force while floating near the acrylic wall.
‘It seems I should keep my attitude in check from now on…’
It was at this point that Wiggins finally sensed grave danger to his well-being.
***
“I think we're more or less finished, my lord,” said Wiggins while rubbing his chin. He didn't seem wholly satisfied by his handiwork, though. The short, white beard ruffled a bit from his fingers moving back and forth.
Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly nodded while studying the aquarium. A paralyzed whale shark was stuck right in the hole in the acrylic wall. That poor thing looked like a living rubber plug.
Water still gushed out of the gaps the marine creature's body couldn't plug up completely, but it shouldn't be as big of a problem as before.
Lee Hyeon-Su should have taken care of things by the front of the aquarium. And Kang Jin-Ho’s job was to create a nice little pretext for him.
“How long will this fish tank endure like this?” Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked.
Wiggins furrowed his brow slightly. “I'd say around two hours or so. My reinforcement magic doesn't last forever, unfortunately.”
“Hmm…”
Two or so hours?
Wiggins cast reinforcement magic on the aquarium itself as an additional measure. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the wall would explode the minute Kang Jin-Ho stopped supporting it, after all!
Kang Jin-Ho cocked his brow. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous for the rescue workers, then?”
“My lord,” Wiggins firmly raised his voice. “You can't worry about everyone's fate. It's impractical and impossible. You've already done everything you can in this place. At the very least, you have saved several hundred people today. Trying to look after every single person you saved will only stop you from doing what you actually want.”
Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly nodded. He had already experienced that, so there was no need to say anything else.
After letting out a soft sigh, Kang Jin-Ho scanned the main hall. “So, that means it’s finally over.”
“Indeed. You did great, my lord,” Wiggins coolly winked back at Kang Jin-Ho. “Of course, I’ll have a word with Lee Hyeon-Su and station a couple of our men here in case another problem rears its head after we leave. To save people if necessary, of course.”
“Suit yourself,” Kang Jin-Ho coolly shrugged, then turned around to leave.
His role in this event was over. Others should take care of the rest from now on.
Kang Jin-Ho looked down at his shaking hands. A smirk floated up on his lips without him realizing it.
When was the last time Kang Jin-Ho's dantian was depleted to this degree? Even the battle against the Crimson King hadn't completely exhausted his reserve like today. The unique sensation of a totally depleted qi reserve was something Kang Jin-Ho hadn't felt in several decades.
And his empty dantian was rapidly being filled back up even as he walked away from the main hall.
The speed even surprised Kang Jin-Ho. He estimated he needed to cultivate at least three hours straight to fill his dantian to a decent amount, yet qi was accumulating without him not doing anything in particular.
‘Although it’s not quite good enough to say I’ve reached the next realm…’
At least, Kang Jin-Ho could say he had a foot through the doorway now. The application for his new 'technique' should be limitless.
If it hadn't been for this incident, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't have felt the need to absorb external qi. Saying this pricked him a little in his guilty conscience, but... This incident turned out to be a lucky opportunity for him in the end.
‘The old idiom of turning danger into a heaven-sent opportunity applies to this situation, I guess?’
While Kang Jin-Ho was contemplating this and that, Wiggins walked up and began pestering him. “It'll be a good idea to leave before the rescue team arrives, my lord. It'll be difficult to explain what we're doing here, after all.”
“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. ‘Well, I need to confirm if the kids are okay, anyway.’
Walking away from this ordeal unhurt wasn't the end of the story. Going through a traumatic event like this would surely leave one's mind in a chaotic state. Some kids might even develop PTSD in the long run, too.[1]
Kang Jin-Ho should get rid of the turbid qi in their heads before that and help them return to their usual lives. After deciding what to do next, Kang Jin-Ho gallantly waded past the water to reach the narrow exit. The water level had dropped to his ankles by then.
Wiggins followed from behind while curiously asking Kang Jin-Ho. “By the way, my lord? Did you always know how to absorb external energy like this?”
“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No. I came up with the idea just now.”
“Just now? As in, while stuck in this situation?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t be human. This event had confirmed it for Wiggins. This dude… couldn’t be a human being like everyone else!
Wiggins couldn't even feel a speck of humanity from Kang Jin-Ho right now. Or, at least those things that made humans so flawed and human! Wiggins wasn't the type to get easily agitated or stunned into silence, but Kang Jin-Ho had managed to do that time and time again.
‘Just how much stronger is he planning to get?’
In a way, what Wiggins had done was the same as exiling himself to a tiny little well. The Korean Martial Assembly was nothing compared to the Round Table, after all.
However, Wiggins' horizons were repeatedly broadened after he joined the Assembly.
For the umpteenth time, Wiggins was reminded of how important the presence of a single charismatic individual was to an organization.
‘Even though he’s so powerful, my lord also doesn’t hesitate to throw himself into danger for the sake of other people. And he doesn’t oppress the weak with his overwhelming strength, either…!’
What an amusing person Kang Jin-Ho was turning out to be!
It might be nothing more than him being a prisoner of the moment, but… Wiggins was feeling rather chuffed about how today had unfolded. Not because the potentially deadly disaster had been averted, no, but because it showed him that joining the Martial Assembly was the right choice.
Kang Jin-Ho suddenly stopped walking and glanced at Wiggins. “By the way, your arm…”
“I beg your pardon?” Wiggins followed Kang Jin-Ho’s gaze and stared at his arm. Or, more correctly, the prosthetic arm occupying the previously-empty sleeve.
Kang Jin-Ho pensively asked, “How is it? Any issues?”
“Oh, this?” Wiggins raised his prosthetic arm. The metallic limb issued mechanical noises as it sleekly moved like a normal arm. “My lord. It's not 100% perfect yet, but most of the settings have been dialed in by now. It's as easy to use as my own arm.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry about me, my lord.”
Look! Look at how Kang Jin-Ho even worries about his subordinate! Truly an exemplary man among men, is he not!
That was when Kang Jin-Ho smiled in satisfaction while theatrically nodding away. “I see, I see… That means I can go as wild as I want, then.”
“...I’m sorry?”
“A-tten-tion!”
When Wiggins heard Kang Jin-Ho’s icy voice, he instinctively realized something was terribly wrong.
Unfortunately, it was too late by then.
1. PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. ☜
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