Ch.272[Chapter 272] Repayment

Sir Dominic looked at the confused Mister Wang and tilted his head.

No matter how he looked at it, Mister Wang’s attitude wasn’t that of someone who had plotted a scheme.

“A-Are you alright?”

Mister Wang, who had hidden under the desk in surprise at the sudden bullets, asked.

He was soaked from the rain pouring through the broken window, looking disheveled as he inquired about Sir Dominic’s well-being.

Sir Dominic nodded toward Mister Wang and looked back through the broken window.

His instincts were still sending warnings.

Several bullets pierced through the rain, but Sir Dominic’s shield perfectly blocked all bullets coming his way.

Sir Dominic moved a few steps sideways just to be sure.

He confirmed that the bullets were adjusting their trajectory slightly to follow wherever Sir Dominic was.

“It seems… they’re targeting me.”

“Here! Use this!”

Sir Dominic turned his head at Mister Wang’s shout.

Mister Wang threw a complex device that could be planted in the ground. As Sir Dominic caught it, Mister Wang continued his explanation.

“If you plant it in the ground, it will generate a barrier! It was my hidden trump card that I was saving for myself, but you seem to need it more right now!”

Mister Wang raised his voice as much as possible in the downpour.

Sir Dominic decided to trust Mister Wang’s words and planted the device in the ground.

A physical force field emerged from the device, blocking not only the hail of bullets but also the pouring rain.

“Now let’s get out of here! The barrier won’t last long!”

Mister Wang said to Sir Dominic as he ran toward the entrance.

Sir Dominic looked at the barrier for a moment.

As Mister Wang had said, the barrier began to crack each time a bullet hit it, and soon it was standing precariously, about to break.

Sir Dominic started running toward the door just before the barrier shattered.

The floor was slippery from the rain that had poured in, but Sir Dominic managed to maintain his balance and successfully made it through the door into the office.

As soon as Sir Dominic returned, Mister Wang closed the door and pushed a nearby bookshelf to block it.

“A-Are you alright?”

Mister Wang sat on the floor, panting, and asked about Sir Dominic’s well-being.

Since this had happened in his office, he was trying to be as kind as possible, fearing Sir Dominic might misunderstand.

“I’m fine. However…”

Sir Dominic was unharmed despite the tremendous barrage of bullets.

But his shield wasn’t so fortunate—it seemed to have a bug, with dark purple material appearing and disappearing like soap bubbles.

“This is Mountain Bridge Marsh’s doing.”

Sir Dominic concluded after looking at his damaged shield.

There were many bugs in Gachaland, but only Mountain Bridge Marsh would weaponize such a seemingly fatal bug.

“…It’s a glitch. This must be Mountain Bridge Marsh’s work. They must have hidden listening devices somewhere.”

Mister Wang seemed to have reached the same conclusion, sighing and blaming himself.

“In that case, my son’s fate is now uncertain. Until now, I believed he was alive based only on what Mountain Bridge Marsh told me, but seeing how reckless they’ve become, my son probably isn’t safe either. I need to go check on his condition.”

Mister Wang stood up with a determined expression.

“Sir Dominic, you should back out now. You got involved by chance, so it’s not too late for you to leave.”

Mister Wang said this to Sir Dominic as he prepared to leave.

“The place where Sir Dominic was sitting was where I often sat during consultations. The fact that they targeted that spot means they have no intention of letting me live. So Sir Dominic is still—”

“That’s not true. The bullets’ trajectory kept following me.”

Sir Dominic countered Mister Wang’s words.

“If they had continued attacking that spot even after I moved, I would have thought their vision was obscured by the rain and they couldn’t distinguish their target. But seeing that they shot at me as I moved shows they could identify their target.”

Sir Dominic logically persuaded Mister Wang.

“So this isn’t just your problem. I have the right to be involved.”

“…”

Mister Wang looked at Sir Dominic.

Then, as if it still wasn’t too late, he began to warn him.

“The place we’re going is essentially Mountain Bridge Marsh’s headquarters. It means it’s full of all kinds of dangers. You might even die. Not Gachaland’s cheap death, but true rest. Still want to come?”

Sir Dominic looked straight into Mister Wang’s eyes despite his warning.

…

At Mountain Bridge Marsh’s largest secret base, there was Wangi, one of the highest executives of Mountain Bridge Marsh, and General Joseph, who worked under Wangi after being compromised.

“Let’s give up on this project… By the way, how is that other matter going?”

Wangi asked General Joseph while holding a wine glass and abandoning a potentially profitable project.

General Joseph, dressed in empress attire, pondered for a moment about what “that matter” might be, then realized it referred to the plan to overthrow Gachaland and began to speak.

“Unfortunately, progress has been delayed. There have been some interferences in certain areas—Eek!”

“Interference? Inter-ference? You said you calculated for variables, but you’re stopped by one interference? Are you kidding me?”

Wangi violently threw the wine glass at General Joseph with all his might.

The glass flew quickly and shattered against the wall, with the remaining wine spreading across the wall like blood.

“It’s just one setback among the many plans we’re executing simultaneously. The other plans are proceeding smoothly—”

“Fine. That’s understandable then. If it’s just a part of the whole.”

General Joseph made excuses in an increasingly faster and higher voice, as if terrified.

Only then did Wangi seem satisfied, straightening his disheveled collar.

“If this plan succeeds, Gachaland will be mine.”

Wangi looked at the world with eyes gleaming with desire.

Wangi had grown up making choices since childhood.

Even when he clearly chose good options, negative results sometimes followed, and when he chose negative options, the greatest rewards sometimes came.

Of course, there were many opposite cases too, but Wangi realized that choosing negative options usually yielded at least moderate results.

If he needed money, he stole it from somewhere; if someone annoyed him, he beat them; if he wanted something, he took it…

Wangi joining Mountain Bridge Marsh was perhaps a natural progression.

Thanks to these choices, Wangi was able to become an executive instantly, and although there were occasional mistakes, they were trivial matters for Wangi, who had already become the center of power.

When Wangi first became a top executive, he was overjoyed.

Mountain Bridge Marsh was the king of the underworld, and the highest people in Mountain Bridge Marsh were the top executives, including Wangi.

However, Wangi’s passion quickly faded because there was nowhere higher to climb.

It was very easy to maintain his position by spending tens or hundreds of billions of Gacha Stones every month.

He could obtain as many Gacha Stones as needed by pushing his subordinates.

Wealth was no longer his goal, and there was nowhere higher to climb in terms of honor.

Frustrated, Wangi despaired at the thought of living such an unchanging, boring life.

But soon Wangi had a good idea.

It was to take over Gachaland and become a true king.

Although the top executives of Mountain Bridge Marsh were called kings of the underworld, they didn’t encompass all of Gachaland.

With that thought, Wangi invested everything he had to establish a plan for conquering Gachaland, and recruited—no, kidnapped and threatened talented people to join his side.

These recruited talents had to create the foundation for Gachaland’s conquest for Wangi.

In a way, it was a perverse hobby.

General Joseph working under Wangi was part of this hobby, and Sir Dominic catching Wangi’s eye was also because of this hobby.

Wangi looked down at Gachaland from a high place with a clear view.

Of course, this wasn’t the actual center of Gachaland.

He was viewing footage sent by high-definition cameras secretly installed in the center, displayed through a cluster of large LCD monitors.

Looking at the bustling scene of Gachaland, Wangi muttered as if making a promise to himself.

“I am not a person of non-possession and non-desire like my father. Father was wrong. You have to desire with all your might and take with all your might to become the best.”

Wangi stared expressionlessly at the LCD monitors showing Gachaland, then picked up a remote control and turned off all the monitors at once.

In the place where Wangi and General Joseph had been, only darkness remained.