Chapter 162: The angelic woman returns home.

North China

Chairman Zhang Guohe could hardly contain his boiling rage.

Yes, it was all because of what the Nangong clan had just done.

“How the hell did this happen? A Kanora Zhonghua Republic that adopted Kanora as its state religion?!”

“Y-Yes, exactly…”

Smack!

Zhang Guohe slapped his aide hard across the face.

Was that supposed to be an answer?

What had they been doing until things got this bad?

Glowering as if he might kill the man right then, Zhang roared,

“Exactly? What the hell do you mean exactly?! How did this happen? What the hell went on in that month-long gap?!”

“It appears the people of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan have migrated to Gansu and Sichuan. The Nangong clan seems to be behind it…”

How many provinces had people drained from them?

Even though population had already thinned in some areas due to concentration around Beijing, China’s sheer numbers meant tens of millions must be involved.

If entire provinces’ populations were sucked into Nangong’s territory…

This wasn’t just bad — this was catastrophic.

“So how many are we talking about?”

“At least we’ve managed to hold onto Hebei for now, but southern China is in chaos. Reports say the people of Nanjing, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, and Jiangxi have moved en masse.”

So the south had fallen into total disorder too.

And with heavy casualties among Hunters, population loss would only escalate.

“Hundreds of thousands… no, millions? Tens of millions?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“So if they’re moving to Sichuan, then Nangong must have taken over there too.”

“Yes. Even though Shaanxi’s people have supposedly left, reports say it’s effectively under Nangong’s control now.”

Zhang Guohe frowned and spread out a map on his desk.

The massive map of China — still the same one from before the Cataclysm, though the actual controlled territory was now much smaller.

If Nangong had taken Gansu, Sichuan, and now even Shaanxi, that would make his dominion enormous.

“This is a nightmare. How did this happen…”

“It’s because the Hunters left. The border conflicts intensified, and Nangong exploited the chaos to lure away the people.”

So maybe it wasn’t just Kanora religion — maybe people left simply because war had made life unbearable.

And of all times, it had to be now, when the Hunters were gone.

Even if they recalled them, how many would return?

At this rate, should they just go all-out against South China?

But no… Hunter casualties were skyrocketing.

Even defending Beijing was starting to look difficult.

But still… why were casualties so high?

This wasn’t some localized skirmish anymore — this had become full-scale war.

Which explained why people were fleeing.

“Wait — wasn’t this supposed to be just another usual dispute? Why are so many Hunters dying? And it’s not even like South China is winning!”

It made no sense.

In war, one side wins and the other loses.

That was how it worked.

So why was South China a wreck too?

Were North China’s Hunters launching suicide attacks or something?

Even reports from the border were scarce.

They didn’t even know where and how the battles were unfolding.

And now that both sides were stuck, unable to withdraw troops, Nangong’s West China couldn’t be stopped from rising.

Especially with how powerful Nangong was.

China was inevitably splintering.

“So this is it — we’re about to reenact Romance of the Three Kingdoms. That bastard Han Sang-jae is probably busy stabilizing North Korea and Manchuria right now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That guy — he’s that cult leader Pope, so he’ll probably side with the Kanora Zhonghua Republic too.”

This was checkmate.

Wasn’t this whole scheme orchestrated by Han Sang-jae?

He sent that Saintess to drag Nangong into the Kanora cult.

Had Heaven finally abandoned China?

***

Meanwhile, back in Korea, something bizarre had happened.

They changed their country’s name to Holy Goryeo Theocratic State.

Was it just me, or did that scream Holy Roman Empire?

You know — a country that was neither holy nor Roman.

But on second thought… maybe it wasn’t wrong.

Han Sang-jae, apparently, had copied some Ukrainian-style buildings I had designed and was now constructing similar infrastructure across North Korea.

In short, North Korea was turning into some kind of Asian Europe — ruled by yellow-skinned people.

It did look kind of… holy, I had to admit.

“Han Sang-jae really is a competent president, huh?”

“If only he hadn’t crossed paths with us, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Yeah, true.”

I had to agree with Cheonma.

Han Sang-jae would probably go down in Korean history as a great figure.

Who knew how long this Kanora cult fad would last, but if it weren’t for us, Han Sang-jae would’ve been nothing more than just another first-gen president dealing with the Cataclysm.

He owed it all to me, honestly.

“They even finalized plans for a Kanora Federation with Japan. A summit is scheduled soon.”

“Wow, and Han Sang-jae actually accepted that?”

“Well, I guess in his mind, since he’s the Pope and Saito is just a follower worshipping Kanora, he figures Japan can be placed under him, right?”

Yeah… guy’s pretty sharp when it comes to strategy.

If I can’t avoid or stop what I’ve caused, then I might as well use it — that’s something a leader ought to have.

And surprisingly, he’s quite the smooth talker, even attracting foreign investment, so maybe that’s why the North has stabilized this much without us noticing.

On top of that, Han Sang-jae even showed us some favor.

“Oh, your divine aura looks bright.”

“Does it look bright to you?”

An elf slave in a suit came out to greet us in Pyongyang.

And guess what? That pointy-eared one was directly appointed as a minister by Han Sang-jae.

Han Sang-jae really pulled off quite a feat.

But this woman, for some reason, was pouting in dissatisfaction.

“Well, still, the Pope gave you the position of Minister of the Northern Environment, right?”

“Minister, huh.”

“Yeah. Just a slave, really. But hey, getting a minister’s title is something, isn’t it?”

Basically, a slave managed to get promoted.

Our elf, who doesn’t know how to do anything, suddenly made it big!

Being a minister should give her some decent status within the church-state.

Korea’s pride still runs deep, after all.

“Well, I mean, that’s a bit…”

“By the way, that Joseon pride of yours keeps doing stealth stuff, making us work our asses off while you sneak around. Someone might think you’re some invisible person.”

“Hey, even if I look like this, I’m a top-class succubus, you know? You think I came all this way just to seduce some refugees? And I told you, I’m not even a fighter.”

Why’s she getting all snappy?

Should I just smash her head in?

This damned bat woman’s crazy enough to think she’s weak.

A succubus, the embodiment of lust, losing to mere humans?

That doesn’t even make sense.

Anyway, I decided to make it clear to our slave.

She’s going to have to serve diligently for a while.

“Compared to some unemployed street bum, I bet our slave-wife here would be much more appreciated.”

“Stop calling me wife, will you?”

Oh?

Erin’s here?

Looks like it’s true that the hero’s party is in the North.

“Ooooh, hello, my elf lady. So what? Your mom’s got a 1+1 deal going on. And the bonus mom is even human!”

Now that I think about it, she’s got two moms.

I mean, I don’t have Park Siwoo’s mom or Karina’s mom in my life.

Both are motherless.

But this girl?

She’s got her real mom and, thanks to past life shenanigans, a human wife married to her mom acting as a second mom.

But saying that out loud in Korean makes it sound like total trash.

What even is this family structure?

“Today, it’s you or me — one of us dies.”

“Forget that. Where’s the hero?”

“The hero’s out doing volunteer work.”

Oh, that guy’s volunteering?

Sounds about right.

“Oh, as expected of the great hero.”

“Great hero, my ass.”

“Why? Isn’t it good that the hero is doing hero stuff?”

That’s literally what heroes are supposed to do.

“Why the hell are we working our asses off in this world? Damn it. Our party’s already famous as the volunteer squad!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Even the Red Dragon Guild came here to back us up and help out. That’s the real problem.”

Erin kept grumbling, and then Maria showed up.

Apparently, the Red Dragon from the UK came to help with the Northern restoration project.

“Oh, Maria. That’s life. The hero’s popular, so people naturally gather to support and praise him.”

“Ugh.”

“And besides, North Korea still doesn’t have solid law and order. The guardian dragon and the nine-tailed fox aren’t enough, so they need the hero’s help too.”

Just then, the hero himself appeared.

Shirt off, of course — typical hero style.

That muscular, well-built body probably made a lot of women swoon.

Not that I’m into him, but hey, even my eyes can’t help but notice.

“You say you need my help, huh. Well, well.”

“Hello, hero. Nihao?”

“Nihao? Anyway, yeah, thanks to this, I’m suffering even in this world.”

Well, I figured that’s how it’d be.

So I prepared something.

“I’ve got a gift for the three of you.”

“What is it?”

“First, for the two ladies, I’ve brought you qipaos to seduce the hero. Super sexy ones. Feel free to knock him down whenever you want.”

I handed them qipaos — perfect ones, showing just enough skin to be dangerously tempting.

The kind that’d make a husband or boyfriend lose control the moment his wife or girlfriend put it on.

“You crazy b—”

“If you don’t want it, I’ll take it back. I can wear it myself at night as sleepwear.”

“Wh-who said I didn’t want it?”

“Well, if you’re offering, I’ll take it.”

Both Erin and Maria accepted.

They sure talk a lot for people who are going to take it anyway.

And honestly, this is just a stand-in plan.

From what I see, this hero would go along with whatever I suggest.

And these women don’t seem to have made much progress with him yet, probably because of circumstances here.

So I’m telling them to just go for it.

“You’ve got some nerve saying that in front of me.”

“Think of it as doing it on my behalf.”

They’ve been frustrated because of me, so I’m telling them to handle things with the hero instead.

Not just for those two, but for the hero too.

It’s like a “chicken instead of pheasant” situation.

Do whatever you want with them — it’s none of my business.