## Chapter 2722 – 2722. Dragon Hunter
The vice presidents of the Dragon Hunter Association gathered in Gigantria, and the meeting began.
And I was present at that meeting. Not as an intruder. I was formally invited. Of course, it wasn’t just a simple invitation. I pulled some strings.
They sat around a round table. Baek Jeong-su sat at the center, flanked by three vice presidents on each side.
I took out a high-end chair from my inventory and sat across from Baek Jeong-su. He stared at me with cold eyes. From his perspective, I was an uninvited guest. He wasn’t the one who invited me.
“This is outrageous. Someone who isn’t even a vice president participating in the meeting. Is this even allowed?”
A middle-aged woman with a neat appearance spoke. Relga. A pro-Association President faction member.
“Heh heh. He’s an S-class Dragon Hunter. Even if he hasn’t accepted the position of vice president, he’s more than qualified to participate in this meeting. Besides, isn’t the main topic of this meeting him? With the person in question present, the discussion will proceed much faster.”
Go Doo-mo. An old geezer with dense tattoos covering his face and body. An anti-Association President faction member. The one who invited me to this meeting.
“It is a bit disconcerting.”
A middle-aged man in a neat suit with his hair slicked back. Virgo. The only neutral faction member among the vice presidents.
“…I’ve never seen such an evil person. We must punish him immediately.”
A middle-aged woman with a shaved head, dressed like a nun, openly showed hostility towards me. Ort. A pro-Association President faction member.
“I don’t understand why there’s such a fuss over this guy killing off some weaklings. During the Great War, tens of thousands died every day.”
A tall, thin man in his mid-30s, Baird. An anti-Association President faction member.
“Uh… let’s just do what the president says. The president has never been wrong before, right?”
A giant man with a blank expression, Seok Woon-jae. He’s more than just friendly to Baek Jeong-su; you could consider him a lackey.
Association President Baek Jeong-su stared at me for a while before finally speaking.
“…I didn’t expect to see you here. It’s quite disconcerting. Why are you here?”
“You’re not going to ask if I was invited, are you? I’ll get straight to the point. I want to become the president of the Dragon Hunter Association. To that end, I can prove my skills by dueling Baek Jeong-su one-on-one.”
At my words, Relga sighed as if she was dumbfounded.
“Ha. This is absurd. You barge into a meeting and demand the position of Association President? Mr. Seong Yu-jin. Do you think the Dragon Hunter Association is a joke? If I were you, I would apologize and leave this place immediately.”
I scanned Relga’s body from head to toe. She looked at me with contempt. Unfortunately, I wasn’t Seong Ji-gon, so I had no interest in ugly old hags. What I was looking at was the clothes she was wearing.
“Those are luxury clothes sold by the Plack Corporation. Clothes that I provided. If you support me, I’ll gift you luxury items just for you.”
“Are you trying to buy me with money? Ha. Don’t insult me. There’s a limit to what I can tolerate.”
“I’m willing to give you 1% of the Plack Corporation’s profits.”
“……”
Relga’s eyes wavered. She knew how significant 1% of the Plack Corporation’s profits, one of the world’s top companies, was. Especially for Relga, who was obsessed with luxury goods.
“…Do you think I would accept such an offer? I don’t need it.”
Relga closed her mouth. All the vice presidents present knew that her heart was wavering. Baek Jeong-su as well. He clenched and unclenched his fist under the table. My sharp senses caught it.
“Haha. I like it. The strongest guy takes the position of Association President. That’s right. The duel between the Mad Emperor and Lightning Flash. I’m really looking forward to it. Since we’re all gathered here, let’s start right away?”
Baird said with a savage grin. He was openly pressuring the Association President. His eyes blazed as he looked at the president.
An excessively high level of hostility towards Baek Jeong-su. The reason was that Baek Jeong-su had killed Baird’s cousin during the Great War. Baird only held the position of vice president because he wasn’t confident in killing Baek Jeong-su.
Baek Jeong-su simply frowned as if he was uncomfortable. Ort stepped forward in his place. The woman with the shaved head stood up from her chair, her eyes wide open, and said.
“That won’t do. You all know my abilities. I can see a person’s karma as a color. This person’s karma is pitch black. So black that I’ve never seen anything like it. Even the karma of a mass murderer would be pure compared to this person’s karma. The moment this person becomes the Association President, the world will become hell.”
The only neutral faction member, Virgo, agreed with Ort.
“That’s right. Don’t we all know about Lightning Flash Seong Yu-jin’s past? He’s a criminal. I don’t think he’ll be able to carry out the duties of the Association President. I’ll say it here. For the sake of the Association, for the sake of the world, we must execute Lightning Flash.”
Everyone looked at Virgo.
Execute.
Those words were too strong coming from Virgo, who was supposed to be neutral. He was more hostile towards me than Baek Jeong-su.
I almost burst out laughing, as I had expected this.
“Heh heh. I’m a criminal? That’s true. I have no intention of denying what I’ve done. But… I can’t stand being pointed out by a criminal himself. Virgo Gartonne. Compared to the Draconian Project you’re conducting, my crimes are nothing, aren’t they?”
Virgo’s expression hardened. Lasers seemed to shoot out of his eyes.
“Draconian Project? What’s that?”
Baek Jeong-su asked Virgo. The atmosphere was unusual. Before Virgo could answer, I took out documents from my inventory and handed them out to the vice presidents.
“This is the Draconian Project. Implanting dragon hearts into humans to create half-human, half-dragons. This guy is continuing the secret project of Bult, a nation that was destroyed during the Great War. The estimated number of victims is at least 300,000. Most of them were victims of the Great War, but it’s still shocking that they were used for human experimentation, isn’t it?”
“…Vice President Virgo. Is what Lightning Flash saying true?”
“……”
Virgo glanced at the documents I had distributed, then tightly closed his eyes before opening them again.
“…It’s true. I am conducting the Draconian Project.”
He judged that the evidence was too clear to deny. In fact, I had Oswald hastily create that evidence, so it was quite flimsy. Of course, since the documents were based on facts, they were valuable enough as evidence. More than 50% was fabricated, though.
Baek Jeong-su sighed at Virgo’s admission, and Ort glared at Virgo as if she wanted to kill him. The other vice presidents’ reactions were bland.
Human experimentation is being conducted? So what? That was the feeling.
‘Ort. That woman is pursuing good in a way that doesn’t fit this era. And Baek Jeong-su probably doesn’t think much of the Draconian Project itself. What’s important is Baek Jeong-su’s political position.’
Mad Emperor Baek Jeong-su has a righteous image to the public. That’s why the Association’s hunters and the general public support Baek Jeong-su.
If he wants to remain a hypocrite, he can’t tolerate the Draconian Project.
‘I have no choice but to turn the neutral faction member, Virgo, into an enemy.’
I chuckled. What are you going to do? Are you going to punish Virgo? I watched Baek Jeong-su with interested eyes. Will he attack Virgo like in the original story?
“…It’s difficult to be certain based solely on the evidence that Lightning Flash has presented. It seems necessary to thoroughly investigate this matter. Until then, let’s keep this matter confidential. You don’t want the world to become chaotic, do you?”
Unlike the original story, he decided to postpone even after learning about the existence of the Draconian Project. Ort protested against that.
“Association President! Human experimentation is happening! We must investigate immediately! And arrest Vice President Virgo!”
“Calm down, Vice President Ort. The topic of this meeting isn’t to reprimand Vice President Virgo and uncover his corruption. From the moment an outsider like Lightning Flash was invited to the meeting, the meaning of the meeting disappeared. Let’s end today’s meeting here. Lightning Flash. I warn you, don’t act rashly and stay still.”
“Act rashly?”
“Draconian Project. Since this is something that Vice President Virgo has committed, the Association will step in to resolve it. First, we need to confirm whether what you said is true.”
“Ah. So, shut up until the truth is confirmed? Ah. But I’m sorry about this. I actually submitted an article to the Plack Corporation before coming here. By now, the entire population probably knows about the Draconian Project, right?”
Baek Jeong-su and Virgo’s expressions crumpled.
“You crazy bastard…! Was this your intention from the start?!”
Virgo flared up.
“…What is your real purpose?”
Baek Jeong-su glared sharply.
“What else could it be? Chaos. If I wasn’t here, you’d be arguing about killing me, wouldn’t you? I’m really glad I attended this meeting. Thank you, Go Doo-mo.”
“Heh heh heh. I’m just returning the favor. Now that the meeting is over… this old man will return to his lodgings.”
Go Doo-mo stood up from his seat and went outside. I also stood up and followed him outside. The remaining vice presidents were not in the mood to continue the meeting.
‘Baek Jeong-su, Virgo, and Ort probably want to kill me for sure. Come on, show your teeth. I’ll personally break those teeth for you. Heh heh.’
You’re still not going to attack first? That’s fine. I can execute Virgo in the name of the Draconian Project. It’s only natural that the vice presidents, feeling a sense of crisis, will have a fit.
‘You’re not going to just let it go, are you? And Go Doo-mo. This time, he helped me after receiving a High-Dragon-Class Dragon Heart, but… he’s probably going to stab me in the back.’
The experiences I’ve accumulated so far were telling me that.
