Chapter 184: The God of Death (1)

He seemed pretty old. He seemed to be at least 70 years old.

“I should be the one to thank you for reaching out to me. Please sit over here. Ah, excuse me for a moment.”

There was no need to have a long conversation. I knew the foundational information about the idea already. We just needed to hire an expert in this field for the rest.

I just needed to do one thing.

Of course, there was something to confirm first. The wrong results would come out if Victor Coleman was a staff member and there was someone else who was in charge of the plan.

“Is this idea your own? Or is there someone else who came up with it with you?”

“Overall, this is my idea. There are some supporting researchers, but, as their titles indicate, they are just supporting researchers.”

That meant that I could relax.

I quickly took my smartphone out and used a Chaos Jewel.

The smartphone immediately listed Victor Coleman’s information.

[Wealth: 81/100]

[Intelligence: 78/100]

[Health: 65/100]

[Morality: 23/100]

[Politics: 68/100]

[Violence: 61/100]

……

* Human average/highest value: 50/100

What’s this?

I thought his wealth would at least be 90. I needed it at that level to be interested.

But it was only 81. It was quite high compared to the average person, but it was too low in return for the potential risk I was taking.

The bigger issue was his morality.

23.

It was less than half of the average person. That meant that his morality was at the bottom.

Putting those two together made it easy to tell what kind of person this Victor Coleman was.

‘He’s a scammer.’

Of course, the technology might be real. However, it would only be a money-guzzling idea for the investor if it cannot come to fruition.

But I couldn’t tell him to just leave when he made the time to come all the way here. Let’s at least pretend to listen.

“Please, tell me more about it.”

“The insect brain……”

Victor started to explain in detail.

“I’m sorry, but please give a short explanation of the core elements.”

I cut him off to make it shorter.

However, he was a really good talker. Listening to him made me think that I would be able to make a ton of money on it in the near future.

It made me even wonder if the Chaos Jewel had been wrong.

However, I trusted the Chaos Jewel.

“Thank you for the explanation. It really is an amazing technology.”

“Thank you for thinking highly of it.”

Victor waited for my next words with high expectations.

I may not even be thirty years old, but I had a pretty good idea about how to live my life after experiencing many difficult obstacles in Royal Roader.

Make as many friends and allies as possible.

Make as few enemies as possible.

The way you say something could turn someone into a friend or foe. There was no harm in saying some nice things.

“Mr. Coleman, you seem like someone who will leave quite a mark in the future. However, I don’t think this is a technology I can handle. To be honest with you, I am not confident. I will contact you after thinking more deeply about it.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Please don’t be too disappointed. I’m sure we will meet again in the future. At that point, we will be partners walking toward the future together.”

“Thank you for your kind words. I will wait to hear from you.”

Another group of people showed up soon after I sent Victor back. One was an Asian person with black hair while two of them were westerners with blonde hair.

“My name is Andrew Choi. Nice to meet you.”

Andrew Choi seemed to be the representative of the group. I felt a sense of familiarity with him.

“Are you Korean?”

“That’s right. I am your fan, Mr. Kang Hwi Ram. My parents are your fans as well. They are always so proud while watching your golf tournaments.”

“Thank you very much. Haha. Shall we take a look at the item first?”

This was about the idea of mass-producing carbon fiber.

Andrew Choi did most of the explanation regarding this item. The others added things here and there, but it definitely seemed as if Andrew Choi was the main representative.

“I’m sorry to cut you off, but how are the shares for this idea distributed? Do you all have equal shares?”

“Yes sir, we have researched and developed it together. However, I came up with the core idea and I am leading the research, so I have the most shares.”

“I see. Then please continue.”

Andrew Choi continued to explain.

I opened my phone and used a Chaos Jewel as he did that. The results would be the same even if Andrew didn’t have 100% of the shares, as long as he had the most.

My jaws dropped as soon as I saw Andrew Choi’s information.

[Wealth: 99/100]

[Intelligence: 80/100]

[Health: 56/100]

[Morality: 89/100]

[Politics: 77/100]

[Violence: 41/100]

……

* Human average/highest value: 50/100

His wealth was at 99. It was the highest number that I have seen until now.

His morality was up at 89 as well. His intelligence and politics level were very high too.

That meant that there was only one conclusion.

‘This is someone I must have.’

I didn’t rush. I knew what Andrew’s item was, but I didn’t know much about Andrew yet.

He might be someone who had a lot of pride.

No, I was certain that was the case. The fact that someone this talented did not have a sponsor until now meant that he was very selective of who he chose.

I listened to the explanation as sincerely as possible.

I shook Andrew Choi’s hand after investing a lot of time into it.

“Thank you for coming to meet with me. I like this idea very much. I feel close to you for some reason as well, Mr. Andrew.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I would like to sign a contract right away. I would be responsible for supplying you with everything you need.”

Andrew’s face, as well as the others’ faces, all lit up.

However, Andrew did not hurry.

“Mr. Kang Hwi Ram, I’ve heard that you ask for around 50% of the shares during these contract signings. Unfortunately, we are unable to give you that many shares.”

“It looks like you have thought it out in advance, please tell me what you are thinking. Negotiations are part of making any deals, right?”

“The three of us have discussed things in advance. We don’t think we can go any higher than a 3:3:2:2 split.”

That should be enough. It was more important to make sure I had an item like this more than making money.

It was quite a useful item that many companies would like to have.

“I will think about it positively. However, the details of the contract will depend on how much money I will need to invest and for how long.”

“Of course. We calculated that we should be able to grow to become the greatest company in the world if you invest two trillion won in a four-year time span.”

It definitely seemed possible. The Chaos Jewel was saying that as well.

“In that case, I think the split you mentioned should be fine. Shall we sign a general contract first? I don’t want to miss out on this idea.”

“We would be very happy to do that.”

Things went smoothly with them for the rest. My team can take care of the rest.

I continued to look through documents after that.

Some of them caught my attention. Thanks to that, I ended up using 5 Chaos Jewels today.

However, none of them showed signs of a positive future. Andrew Choi’s item was the only one that showed signs of success.

‘I ended up wasting 4 Chaos Jewels.’

However, I didn’t need to feel too bad. They helped prevent me from making bad investment decisions. Furthermore, I was able to gain Andrew Choi’s idea.

I should be able to invest significantly into it while knowing that it was almost a 100% chance of success.

‘I’m tired. I should go to sleep early tonight.’

“Over there is Altan Fortress.”

General Genos pointed to the distance.

It was quite the rough mountain range.

There were tall and wide walls on top of the mountain.

It was the place that the Jeppi tribe chose as their final bastion.

“There should be at least 10,000 of them in there, right?”

General Genos nodded his head at my question.

“The fortress is large. There might be even more of them in there. How about we wait until Commanding Officer Harrison and the reinforcements arrive?”

That was not a good method.

Harrison was currently at the Batoru Kingdom. Taking care of things over there and sending reinforcements here would take at least half a month.

That was a very long time. The remaining Jeppi tribe in the Ameri Kingdom might send reinforcements first or some unexpected accident might happen.

Furthermore, this was the last spot.

It had taken 6 years to get here. We started in Avangarde and got rid of most Jeppis in the Batoru Kingdom and reclaimed most of the lost Gokuri Kingdom as well.

There would be no more Jeppis to threaten the Batoru Kingdom nor the Gokuri Kingdom if we clear Altan Fortress in front of us.

Of course, that was the case as long as General Suani reliably protected the ocean.

However, I couldn’t come up with a method. The walls looked extremely tall and sturdy. We would need to sacrifice a lot of people to charge from the front.

I needed to find some other method.

“Are there no secret passages or anything?”

“There’s nothing like that. But there is a spot where the walls are weak. This part of the wall was difficult to build because the terrain was quite rough. Furthermore, the terrain itself around the fortress is so rough that it is a protected fortress even without high walls.”

Genos pointed to the map of Altan Fortress as he explained.

The incline was steep and there were boulders everywhere. We would be moving as if we were crawling to climb this mountain.

However, it was possible as long as we had the time.

“We would have the least casualties if we attack that spot.”

Genos shook his head at my suggestion.

“That’s not necessarily the case. I heard that the leader of the Jeppi tribe is someone named Chikichaka. He is known for being brave and intelligent. I’m certain someone like him would have placed a lot of soldiers there waiting to ambush us. He should know that this is the best spot to attack Altan Fortress.”

It made sense.

Furthermore, Genos was someone who had been in Altan Fortress for over twenty years. It must be that way if he says that it is.

However, there was something Genos was not considering.

He didn’t know about my abilities.

I thought about it for a while longer before coming to a decision.

“I will attack this side.”

“Then you need a way to deal with the enemies’ ambush. Putting them under a tight siege and dragging it out is our best method.”

Genos responded with a concerned expression.

Genos probably thinks that that is the best option. This seemed like a battle that could not be won.

It was even worse because Goonto and the Dwarves had returned home. The 1,000 plus Dwarves were a source of fear for the Jeppi.

Harrison did not send many reinforcements either. He could only send 50,000 soldiers because he needed a lot of manpower to maintain the Batoru Kingdom’s safety.

We got a lot of reinforcements from the Gokuri Kingdom, but we still only had a little over 100,000 soldiers.

We needed an exponentially larger number of soldiers than the ones guarding the castle to take it down.

It was not enough to take down a natural fortress with over 100,000 Jeppis.

But I just laughed.

“I chose this place because I have a plan. Please don’t worry.”

The Jeppis always had a numbers advantage until now. Not only did they have the numbers advantage, but their individual soldiers’ abilities were stronger than ours.

But I had won every battle until now. It would be the same in this battle as well.

“I will take the lead. Please follow me with 20,000 soldiers, General Genos. Speed up once I give the signal. Jul Goo, you wait at the southern gate with the rest of the troops. Just come in once the castle doors are opened.”

“Yes, sir.”

In some ways, it sounded impossible. It made sense that Genos looked grim.

He had only known me for 3 months. He had seen me fight a few times, but it was not enough to know about my full strength.

But he still didn’t say anything else. He was the type of person who thought that it was a soldier’s job to follow orders.

“Let’s go.”