Chapter 159: South China?

Zhang Guohe just chuckled when he heard the news from Korea.

Still, as the leader of a nation, and someone of similar age, who stubbornly managed to drag his country back from the brink like a nation on life support, Zhang couldn’t help but feel a quiet sense of camaraderie with Han Sang-jae.

The front pages were filled with talk about Korea’s new flag, its new national name, and so on.

“Han Sang-jae, that bastard, he’s finally lost his mind. Calling himself the Pope, of all things.”

He might deny it himself, but would the people call him His Holiness without his own signal?

Realistically, the name Korea was going to fade into history.

“I suppose it’s to formally absorb the lands taken over by the Kanora Church?”

“Well, yeah. They used the Kanora Church as a front to seize Manchuria, so they can’t just drop it now. Using the Church to take over North Korea was a smart move, though. Reaping what they sowed, I guess.”

“Exactly.”

But when he thought about it, maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Honestly, changing the system of a country doesn’t magically change the people living there.

Look at Chinese history—countless nations rose and fell, but they all became part of China’s story.

Maybe it was just Korea’s time to change.

—Though, to be fair, this shift was happening way too fast.

Still, while Korea was busy stirring up chaos, he figured they’d have to make some moves on their side too.

The real problem was the sudden appearance of a labyrinth in the ruins north of Zhangjia.

Technically, it was better described as a dungeon.

And, of all things, the Kanora Church members stationed there—along with the spies sent to keep an eye on them—had all vanished without a trace.

“Hmm. What about the Kanora Church?”

“No sign of them, sir.”

“Tch. That’s unsettling. If they got caught up in a dungeon accident, we should’ve at least found some corpses.”

All the public security officers and Hunters assigned to monitor the Church’s saintess and her companions had disappeared along with them. Very suspicious.

Only the Namgung Clan survived, and apparently, they had split off earlier to help the poor in a nearby border village.

“Isn’t this sort of thing fairly common? After the Great Cataclysm, tens of millions went missing and never turned up. And besides, the U.S. will be coming down on Korea soon. They won’t have time to file complaints.”

“That’s true, but still…”

Why did this unease linger?

It felt like calling a glass of water with a single drop of milk in it milk.

Or like blowing your nose but still feeling stuffy.

This lingering discomfort… what was it?

“Perhaps you’re just overthinking it, sir. Even if they’re alive, a lot of our Hunters died too.”

“True. So I doubt those guys came out unscathed.”

“I think the stress from the Southern China situation is just making you overly sensitive, sir.”

It’s just a cult, after all.

They’ve been checked and double-checked; there’s no need to pay them any mind.

“Ahem. Maybe so.”

“Yes. I recommend you rest today. Anyway, Southern China won’t provoke anything now.”

Yeah, that was right.

Thanks to Han Sang-jae’s reckless outburst against Southern China, the world’s attention was now on them.

And with war considered madness after the Great Cataclysm, Southern China, once marked, wouldn’t dare make a move.

So, it should be fine to rest now.

At least, that’s what he thought at the time.

He had no idea that, down below, the supposedly missing saintess was busy slaughtering North China’s Hunters.

***

The Kanora Church’s return raid party was advancing at terrifying speed.

The moment they acted, they instantly spawned a dungeon right on the border between North and South China.

“A-aaah! That masked ghost! Aaargh!”

“How dare you call me a ghost? I even made this mask look pretty.”

Honestly, she had just taken a cheap smiley-face mask and decorated it a little.

How was that ghost-like?

—Honestly, it just looks like a bargain-bin villain mask.

“Hey now, even the goddess is being harsh. Anyway, how many souls have we gathered so far?”

—Hm. You’ve handed over about 1,500 souls to me now.

That should be enough.

Plenty for the goddess to enjoy to her heart’s content.

“Mmm. That’s a lot. Well, that’s a relief, I guess.”

—So, what’s next?

They had hunted enough now.

China had plenty of Hunters, but it was a vast land.

If it were just ordinary monsters, maybe they’d keep up.

But North China shared an extremely long border with South China, meaning they had to spread their forces thin to defend.

They had now specifically targeted and wiped out the Hunters stationed near Nanjing.

Counting even the unlucky, innocent Hunters who got caught in the crossfire, they’d probably killed 5,000 by now.

Wouldn’t that be enough to tempt Southern China into action?

“Ttaengchili, what’s the situation in Nanjing?”

“Hmm. From what I’ve gathered, things are definitely in chaos. Looks like they already know about the deaths of the North Chinese Hunters.”

“Wow, that was fast.”

“Those guys are always itching for an excuse to cross the border.”

Ttaengchili was using 24th-century satellites to spy on Nanjing’s Hunter Union headquarters.

And the results were surprising.

—Due to recent upheavals, a lot of dungeons have popped up, and it seems many Hunters have died. The Taiping Guild branch just north of Nanjing got completely wiped out.

—So that many Northern Chinese Hunters are dead? The Yangtze River’s defenses are wide open. Nanjing’s got its eyes on that gap—this is their chance!

Looks like Southern China was preparing to move.

In other words: war was about to erupt.

Which meant they now had an opportunity to play with Southern China too.

Even if the U.S. had given them some support, it was mostly their Hunter forces—not the general population.

So, with the right timing, they could spread the Kanora Church’s influence even further.

Unlike North China, Southern China wasn’t ready for them.

“For now, let’s have Master Cheonma and Battle mage use these cores to lure out and capture more Southern Chinese forces.”

“Huh. Truly a saint suited for killing.”

“Well, isn’t that the least we should do?”

“Then what about you?”

Me? I’ve only got one thing to do.

“First, I have to use the goddess statue. That’s how we lure people in.”

“Wow. You really pick the easy jobs. While we’re stuck with the hard stuff.”

The orc even pointed at me in frustration as he spoke.

Huh?

He’s really crossing the line now. Is he saying they’re doing the hard work?

Let’s be real — killing people doesn’t require me. But does he think rallying the masses is that easy?

Especially now that even the revolutionaries have backed out?

Only I can cause an explosion in Nanjing with my own power.

Could an orc pull that off?

Wait, actually, maybe that’s even better?

He could just beat people up and force them to believe — wouldn’t that spread things even faster?

“So, shall we switch roles? I’d actually prefer that, you know?”

At my words, the orc squeezed his eyes shut, looking conflicted.

Battle mage and Cheonma also thought for a bit before shaking their heads.

“Hmm. No, I don’t think I can pull off that level of madness. I’m not a saint, after all.”

“Exactly. So, I’ll go into Nanjing with Ttaengchili and the shrine maiden. You guys take care of the rest. And this time, don’t bother distinguishing between South and North China. It’d be best if we escalate this into a full-blown war.”

That way, our Namgung Clan can move on a bigger scale.

Under Kanora Church, the Namgung Clan, unified as righteous heroes, can take in refugees and offer salvation under the church’s banner.

“Shouldn’t be too hard. When killing Southern Chinese, we just say it’s revenge for the Taiping Guild. And when taking down the North, we blame famous Southern guilds.”

“Exactly.”

We quickly split into teams.

Me, the shrine maiden, and Ttaengchili would infiltrate Nanjing and start spreading Kanora Church.

The rest — Orc, Cheonma, and Battle mage — would keep hunting both Northern and Southern Chinese hunters.

Now it’s time to wipe them all out properly.

***

“Just need to get past that fortress now.”

“No unauthorized entry! Who are you people?”

Why is it that both North and South China can’t just leave people alone?

Like a medieval castle, a barricade made of various vehicles blocked the building ahead, with armed men running toward us.

Guess this won’t be easy either.

Has Kanora Church’s name spread to the south yet?

Maybe — but even if it has, there’s probably other issues.

With my hair covering my eyes, I won’t be recognized, but…

Looks like I’ll need a different approach here.

“We’re Christian missionaries who were doing missionary work in North China.”

Missionaries from the north — it sounds funny even to me, but this is all I’ve got.

The plan is to sneak into the Southern Chinese church and slowly corrupt — no, convert the nuns into Kanora followers.

That’s how the dark transformation starts.

Even if total takeover is tough, with a few brainwashed believers cracking some skulls, I can throw South China into chaos.

But that’s the limit.

There are too many people, and if America interferes again, it’ll be annoying.

So for now, the priority is just getting into Nanjing.

“Your clothes don’t look Christian at all.”

“There’s a reason for that. I recently awakened… spiritually. We’re all from America.”

Claiming to be American should make them less suspicious — after all, South China is currently receiving U.S. support.

“Ah, that makes sense. But why preach up north?”

“I used to be based in Korea, but with all the cults running rampant, I had no choice but to go north through unofficial routes.”

Never thought the day would come when I’d call Kanora Church a cult with my own mouth, but there’s no other way to get in.

“Ah, that could happen. Alright, go through.”

“Thank you. By the way, is there a church nearby?”

“You’ll see one just north of the Hunter Association HQ.”

“Got it, thank you.”

How kind of them to even give directions.

Looks like I won’t even need to use Ttaengchili’s abilities.

The important thing is — I’m inside Nanjing now.

Now, I just need to head to the church and start setting things up.

“Wasn’t that a little too easy? Is this okay?”

“We’re about to flip Nanjing upside down anyway. Now, let’s go to the church first.”

With war about to break out, the church will be busy — which means I can use that chaos to turn Nanjing upside down fast.

Sure enough, just north of what looked like the Hunter Association HQ, there was a church.

Looking closely, it was quite large, with some Westerners visible — probably stationed here for times like this.

In hard times, people turn to the Lord.

And soon, that Lord will be none other than our Kanora Goddess.