One of the soldiers still inside the restaurant nervously swallowed his saliva. Lee Hyeon-Su glanced at them.

Looks like they have been properly trained, at least.

Besides the soldiers inside, there were also well-armed men outside on standby. The ones here could be some of the best this country had to offer.

However, none of them expressed their dissatisfaction with what Kang Jin-Ho said. Was it because they had been instructed not to provoke Kang Jin-Ho no matter what?

Lee Hyeon-Su knew, quite well in fact, how difficult it was to keep martial artists in line. After all, martial artists were fundamentally proud... no, arrogant creatures with too much testosterone in their system. The harder one tried to suppress them, the more they tried to break free.

So, rather than martial artists, they are soldiers... That assessment is right on the money, then.

Their reaction belonged to highly trained soldiers, for sure.

Lee Hyeon-Su stepped in. He usually kept his mouth shut when Kang Jin-Ho expressed his anger, but not this time. It was his job to mediate in situations like this one, after all.

“Mister Willie Reese. You say we must break off our alliance with the Chinese and join hands with you. But doesn’t that mean we must become enemies with the Chinese?”

Lee Hyeon-Su sounded icy as he glared straight at Willie Reese.

“Considering the relationship between America and China on the surface world, it’s plainly obvious how the Chinese would respond to the American martial artists setting up base in South Korea. You’re practically telling us to act like a barricade against China here... Do you take us for fools? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said that to our faces.”

Lee Hyeon-Su gnashed his teeth.

“You speak of efficiency and logic, but those things seem only applicable to your people. You expect us to become friends with you in that case? Wow, what an amazing friendship that would be!”

Willie Reese hurriedly waved his hands in denial. “I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding, Mister Lee, Mister Kang! I didn’t mean it that way.”

Kang Jin-Ho coldly muttered, “Lee Hyeon-Su.”

“Yes, Assembly Master.”

“Let’s go.”

“Understood.” Lee Hyeon-Su coolly nodded, then glared at Willie Reese again. “It doesn’t matter what your intention was. Now that things have reached this far, it’s too late to take everything back now. I strongly suggest you all return to your base today, then summon your superior. Someone who can take full responsibilities of whatever they wish to discuss. No, wait. I guess you don’t have to summon anyone.”

Lee Hyeon-Su smirked while casually glancing around the restaurant’s interior.

“After all, they must’ve heard everything by now, no? I’m sure they’ll decide on what to do next.”

Willie Reese frowned slightly. “I don’t follow...?”

“It’s not a good idea to keep glancing in a certain direction all the time while talking to us. Our senses are far sharper than you think, after all. Since we had nothing to hide, we didn’t bother to bring it up, but...”

Lee Hyeon-Su slowly wagged his finger.

“Next time you bring a listening device, prepare to lose the body part it’s mounted on, okay?”

“...”

“Have a nice day, gentlemen.”

Lee Hyeon-Su smiled cheerily while waving his hand. He eventually exited through the open doorway before closing the door behind him.

Willie Reese sighed deeply after visually confirming that the door was shut.

One of the soldiers, his adjutant, approached him. “Colonel...”

“It’s okay,” Willie Reese dismissively waved his hand. “This much is... manageable. Mm...”

Colonel William Reese furrowed his brow ever so slightly. For now, this should be enough to feel the other party out.

There were two ways of assessing a person. One was to take some time to learn about them gradually. The other way was to create an incident. The higher the potential for a visceral response to said incident, the better.

Colonel Reese sighed. “At least Mister Lee only talked about the listening device. I was afraid of them noticing our cameras, too.”

The adjutant asked cautiously. “Do you think they have realized this was all staged?”

“Even if they did, it doesn’t matter now.”

Because the data from this meeting should already be in the hands of the relevant parties.

The analysis on Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su must’ve begun even as this “meeting” was still in progress. Folks in some unnamed offices should be busy figuring out how the Korean duo had responded to things Colonel Reese had said, what types of men they were, and most crucially, how to deal with them.

Indeed, those pros from various specialized fields would analyze every facet of those two men.

The adjutant sighed deeply. “My anxiety almost killed me, sir.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Imagine being in my shoes, though.”

Colonel Reese leaned against his chair lifelessly and spat out a lengthy groan. He really thought death was staring at his face today.

Even someone as experienced in this line of work as Reese still felt this terror gnawing at his heart while sitting face-to-face with Kang Jin-Ho.

According to the intel America already had on Kang Jin-Ho, he was... basically chaos personified.

His motivations and principles remained incomprehensible, while what made him angry hadn’t been fully analyzed yet, either. The only thing the professionals could say with some confidence was Kang Jin-Ho’s tendency to attack his enemies like an obsessed lunatic once he lost his cool. That was all!

His superiors had pretty much forced Colonel Reese to have a chat with a man who might get angry for some unexpected reason. But Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t just any man. He was fully capable of ripping Reese’s head off on the spot if he got angry enough!

Since that was the case, not being nervous would have been even stranger.

The adjutant looked at the doorway. “What about Agent Factor, sir?”

“What else? Tell him to return to base,” said Colonel Reese with a helpless chuckle. “Getting dragged out of here must’ve been difficult for a fat ass like him. I better buy him a... donut or something. I hear fat bastards like donuts.”

“I didn’t know he could be such a good actor, sir.”

“Of course he is. He’s been doing this for a couple of decades already, after all. It would have been nicer if his act had worked, though...”

Colonel Reese helplessly shrugged.

“Well, at least now we know Jin-Ho Kang can’t be pressured into cooperating with us, so it’s not a complete loss. What a missed opportunity, though. If we had arrived a bit late, Factor would’ve become a wealthy retiree, after all.”

“Him, or his wife?”

“Of course, it’ll be his wife, what with his life insurance and hazard pay. Too bad, he just couldn’t do something nice for someone else for a change, huh? What a pity.”

Just as Colonel Reese said that...

Bang!

The door was shoved open, and Lee Hyeon-Su half-stepped inside. And then, he stared gravely at Willie Reese.

Colonel Reese’s expression stiffened. Could it be...? Did Lee Hyeon-Su overhear everything? However, if that’s true, someone should have alerted me from the outside...

“Excuse me!”

Lee Hyeon-Su pointed at Colonel Reese while making a strange expression.

“Can you, uh, loan us a car?”

“...”

“Preferably one with a GPS, too. We came here with that other dude’s car, you see? And we have no idea where we are.”

“...”

That was when Colonel William Reese suddenly had a hunch that dealing with these Koreans might be tougher than he expected.

***

“They already contacted you?!”

Wiggins shot up to his feet. While opening his eyes wide, he grabbed Lee Hyeon-Su’s shoulders and hurriedly shook the younger man around.

“What? How! You were only supposed to see the children off! What have you done, Mister Lee?!”

“P-please calm down, master! Nothing weird happened!”

“Nothing weird? Nothing weird?! That does not sound normal at all, Mister Lee! There is simply no way my lord wouldn’t have gotten offended by their conduct!”

“Well, uh, we did have to deal with a moron in the beginning, sure. But the others were surprisingly civil?”

“A... moron?” Wiggins furrowed his brow in frustration. “Explain properly, Mister Lee!”

“W-well, what happened was...”

Lee Hyeon-Su explained what had happened to them earlier in the day. And when Wiggins heard the story, he groaned loudly, then returned to his original spot on the couch.

“Most likely, that was all staged.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced a little. “It... Yes, I was thinking that it all kinda smelled fishy.”

“If our side had played along with this John Factor fella, the second person, Reese, wouldn’t have shown up at all.”

“Really?”

Wiggins smirked wryly. “That whole sequence of events might not have been staged at all. But it’ll be better to assume that it was. Better than getting hit in a blind spot later, that is.”

Wiggins slowly shook his head.

“Americans often resort to this method, Mister Lee. When it comes to diplomacy... Well, let’s just say America can be quite unpredictable. They would pretend to be all gentlemanly and the like, only to suddenly transform into lunatics making utterly nonsensical demands, before reverting to their gentlemanly selves.”

“...Then, what happened to us sounds like one of those good-cop-bad-cop things from TV shows.”

“Most likely.”

“Those bastards...!”

When Lee Hyeon-Su began gritting his teeth, Wiggins chuckled softly.

“No need to lose your cool like that, Mister Lee. I should praise you for ensuring that the meeting would end without anyone losing their life.”

“I didn’t do anything notable, sir. It’s just that we left before the Assembly Master could get even more angry. If we had stayed any longer and listened, the Americans would be making multiple funeral plans by now instead.”

“Hmm...”

Wiggins rubbed his chin. His expression said he was interested in something else.

“So, the Americans wanted to station their men in South Korea?”

“Yes, sir. At least, that’s what that man said.”

“It’s the same demand they made to the Round Table, then,” Wiggins grunted while rubbing his chin some more. Despite dealing with different targets, it seemed the Americans’ goal remained the same.

What America ultimately wanted to achieve was to strengthen its influence over the world. To enrich themselves, to improve their military might, and to widen the global reach of their political power; that was the Americans’ ultimate goal, their overriding ambition.

However, their approach this time was much, much more cautious than when negotiating with the Round Table.

This change in the Americans’ attitude helped Wiggins appreciate how much the Martial Assembly’s status had risen. Some of this improvement in status had come about from its geographical location and various other factors, but still... Without power, none of those factors would have mattered, anyway.

“Hmm...”

Wiggins nodded again in satisfaction.

Lee Hyeon-Su also nodded. “In my opinion, I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

“You mean, the American martial artists in Korea?”

“Yes, that one.”

Lee Hyeon-Su gave himself a few moments to organize his thoughts first before explaining his stance.

“Although our discussion ended a bit acrimoniously, the offer itself is worthy of consideration. After all, aren’t we at the Martial Assembly feeling the pressure from the Three Kings and their goons?”

“Just come out and say what you have in mind, Mister Lee.”

“I’m sh*t scared of the Three Kings and their factions, master.”

“...You’re being a bit too open about yourself there, don’t you think?”

Everything must be done in moderation. Including one’s confession, too!

Lee Hyeon-Su fake-coughed, then resumed where he left off.

“For now, the Three Kings are too busy duking it out with each other to pay attention to us. However, what if they have a sudden change of heart and turn their collective attention to South Korea to sort us out first? We’ll completely get obliterated in that case.”

Wiggins shook his head. “The likelihood of that scenario coming true is remote at best.”

“But the possibility is still there, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we prepare for all eventualities? Isn’t that why we also formed an alliance with the Round Table in the first place?”

“Mm...!”

Wiggins sucked in a deep breath.

“China’s influence in the martial world probably surpasses America’s influence in the surface world, master. No, let’s forget about influence for now and consider China’s actual combat strength. I have no doubt that it easily surpasses America’s.

“Let’s say the Three Kings decide to put their differences aside and wage a war with the rest of the world as a team. Do you honestly think martial artists from other countries stand a chance? Even if they work together? No, I honestly don’t think so.”

Wiggins gravely nodded. “When you put it that way, yes, you might be right.”

“Since that’s the case, we should actively increase the number of our allies, right? So that we might have a chance in case something like that happens.”

Wiggins glanced at his disciple. For some reason, he didn’t seem all that impressed by something.

“Mister Lee, I get what you’re trying to say. However, you have a slight problem here. And that is... Your opinion doesn’t really matter in a situation of this scale.”

“...”

“How did my lord respond?”

“Well...” Lee Hyeon-Su frowned while scratching his head. “If he didn’t like what he heard, he would’ve killed everyone there. And if he liked the idea, he’d have stayed put and hashed out the details. But he just left in a huff, so I’m not sure what to say.”

“Ah, I see. So he’s not sure himself...”

Wiggins reflexively looked up at the ceiling. Kang Jin-Ho was upstairs, probably relaxing.

Surely, even Kang Jin-Ho wouldn’t have been able to make up his mind on the spot. The topic at hand was too significant, after all. Besides, Willie Reese’s authority or rank had not been ascertained yet, either.

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned. “Then, what should we do? Maybe I could speak to the Assembly Master and...”

Wiggins shook his head. “No, don’t do anything.”

“Sorry? Why not?”

“Because you don’t know how the Americans operate. First of all, they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Doesn’t that mean things will get dangerous?”

“Dangerous, you say?” Wiggins chuckled softly. It was as if he was barely holding back his dismay. “Their goal is to get into my lord’s good books, so that this negotiation ends in their favor. In that case, what makes you think they will resort to threatening him?”

“Oh...”

Lee Hyeon-Su slowly nodded as if he, too, finally understood.

“I predict that we’ll start encountering amusing events from tomorrow onward,” said Wiggins. That was where he stopped talking and solemnly stared outside the hotel room window.

Of course, that was wholly dependent on whether Kang Jin-Ho’s anger had sufficiently subsided or not.

This country called the United States of America was a land of mystery even to Wiggins. As a matter of fact, only a small group of individuals from this country knew just how powerful the American martial society was.

However, we might get a glimpse during this trip. I just hope it’s not a discouraging sight, though.

Wiggins sighed softly, then glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su again.

“So? What will my lord do tomorrow? Is he getting ready for another meeting with the Americans?”

“No, sir. He’s going on a date with Miss Choi.”

“...Run that by me again?”

“He said he’d be going to... uh, Disneyland? Disney World? And the Universal Studios tour? Something like that. And other tourist attractions, apparently.”

“...”

Prioritizing his date over East Asia’s fate...?

Would that be okay, though? Wiggins couldn’t help but grow anxious just then.