Chapter 789: A Birthday Interrupted

The old man, the day’s protagonist, made his entrance in a wheelchair.

As he appeared, everyone seated at the circular table rose and bowed their heads.

People had even come from Japan just to celebrate his birthday.

Although he had retired, his juniors and younger brothers were still deeply involved in the gangster lifestyle.

The influence of the octogenarian was obvious today.

“Thank you all for coming such a long way today.”

The old man spoke into the microphone, greeting his juniors.

“Life was tough, so I ended up in the fist world. Luckily, I met good friends and brothers who helped me survive. Many people were lost in those chaotic times.”

Like an elementary school principal during the morning assembly, the old man spent a long time reminiscing.

The banquet hall, where the old man’s speech continued, was clearly divided by factions.

The factions supporting Chu Dong-bin and Im Hwa-soo and the faction supporting Yang Woo-guk.

Even as the old man spoke, they glared at each other.

“And…”

Having finished his recollections, the old man trailed off as he looked at Im Hwa-soo and Yang Woo-guk.

“Hwa-soo and Woo-guk. Come up here.”

At the old man’s call, Im Hwa-soo and Yang Woo-guk reluctantly stood up.

The two approached the old man and greeted him.

“Big Brother, congratulations on your eightieth birthday!”

“Congratulations, Big Brother!”

The two spoke as if they were competing with each other.

“I’m not deaf yet!”

The old man waved his hand to stop them, frowning and scolding them.

“You two. I heard you’ve been pointing knives at each other lately!”

“…….”

“You ignorant fools. What kind of era is it to wage war like that? Are you trying to get us all killed?!”

The old man slammed his fist on the armrest of his wheelchair.

Despite being in a wheelchair, the old man was still very vigorous.

“Hey! Hwa-soo.”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

“There’s an order to things. If you push aside the seniors to become the boss, does that mean they all have to retire? Tell me.”

“…….”

Im Hwa-soo could only lower his head, unable to say anything.

He had a lot he wanted to say, but it was inappropriate to say it in this setting.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you ignoring me now?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s not that I wanted to be recommended as the next chairman.”

“Then you should have declined. Can you say you had no ambition? Look me in the eye and tell me.”

Faced with the constant reprimands, Im Hwa-soo finally raised his head and met the old man’s gaze.

“…Originally, I didn’t care who it was as long as it wasn’t Director Yang. But he has already appointed me. This is no longer something I can control.”

As Im Hwa-soo said, the man who created Heavenly Group had chosen Im Hwa-soo.

But the old man didn’t care about that. Heavenly Group was created by gangsters, and it was an organization that his juniors would develop.

Decades after liberation, all of Korea’s gangsters had finally united.

It was something that no one else had achieved.

Even Kim Doo-han, who had once tried to dominate the gangster world, and Lee Jeong-jae, who enjoyed absolute power under the patronage of the Liberal Party regime, had failed.

If they just didn’t fight each other, everyone could have lived well.

The old man had no desire to see the underworld divided again.

“If Director Yang takes control of the Heavenly Group, we will return to the old days.”

After listening to Im Hwa-soo, the old man looked at Yang Woo-guk.

The murderous intent in Yang Woo-guk’s eyes made the old man narrow his heavily wrinkled eyes.

“Hey, Yang Woo-guk.”

At the old man’s call, Yang Woo-guk wiped the murderous intent from his eyes and bowed his head to the old man.

“Yes, Big Brother.”

“Even if you don’t like Hwa-soo being appointed as chairman, how could you attack your own people?”

“I did not order it, Big Brother.”

The old man frowned and asked again.

“Really? You didn’t order it?”

“Yes, that’s right. My subordinates were just overzealous.”

“Then is it okay to cripple that friend?”

Yang Woo-guk’s smile vanished.

“Big Brother, are you telling me to cripple my own subordinate?”

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t you? Are you protecting the bastard who ignored his superior and attacked his own people?”

Although he had been the one to cause the mess, he couldn’t outright abandon his subordinate in this situation.

Yang Woo-guk clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.

“…He is my subordinate. I must protect him.”

“Tsk. That’s why you’re not qualified to be a boss, Woo-guk. You must be able to discard people without hesitation.”

The old man clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Anyway, both of you stop attacking each other right now.”

“I will stop if Director Yang stops.”

“I will stop attacking if Director Im Hwa-soo gives up the chairmanship.”

The old man tried to mediate, but the two men’s opinions were like parallel lines.

“Then are you both going to self-destruct! Appoint someone else as chairman!”

“It is not something I can do at my own discretion. Even if I don’t want it, I don’t know if he will listen to me.”

Im Hwa-soo answered stubbornly. The old man was frustrated with Im Hwa-soo.

“Since when have we lived and died by the orders of that young brat Kim Mu-hyeok! We with our own strength…”

At that moment, the door to the banquet hall burst open and a man rushed in.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards the suddenly opened entrance.

“T-There’s big trouble! Someone has invaded! Many people are already injured.”

Im Hwa-soo and Yang Woo-guk looked at each other.

Thinking that the other had attacked, they both glared menacingly.

* * *

Under Manager Ma’s harsh gaze, Jung Seok-gi looked around.

The men on Im Hwa-soo’s side were watching cautiously, while the burly men on Yang Woo-guk’s side were glaring menacingly.

“Do you know how important today is for our company?”

“Why should I care about that? I’ll say it one last time, those who don’t want to get involved can leave the hotel and wait outside.”

Manager Ma spoke indifferently and raised his hand. Sensing that an order to advance was about to be given, Jung Seok-gi made a quick decision.

“We’ll pull back. Everyone, get out!”

Although Im Hwa-soo hadn’t ordered it, clashing with Manager Ma here was definitely not a good idea.

“What are you doing! Everyone, get out quickly!”

Im Hwa-soo’s gangsters hesitated for a moment, then started moving toward the front gate of the hotel, following Jung Seok-gi’s command.

“Hey! You bastard! Where are you going! Are you betraying us?!”

Yang Woo-guk’s gangsters yelled and grabbed their shoulders.

“Let go, you bastard!”

But Im Hwa-soo’s gangsters roughly shook off the hands holding them and quickly exited through the hotel’s main gate.

“We’ll go up and report first.”

Manager Ma nodded.

Having received permission, Jung Seok-gi turned to move toward the elevator when…

“Die!”

A man yelled and charged at Jung Seok-gi from behind.

The sashimi knife the man pulled from his chest gleamed sharply.

Startled by the unexpected event, Jung Seok-gi tried to turn and dodge the knife, but he didn’t manage to evade it completely and it grazed his side.

“Y-You crazy bastard!”

Seeing this, two of Jung Seok-gi’s subordinates pulled out sashimi knives from their jackets.

“You son of a bitch! How dare you swing a knife at our boss!”

A chaotic brawl erupted. Manager Ma, observing the situation, shook his head and gave a signal.

“Advance. And Team One, follow me upstairs.”

At Manager Ma’s signal, the mercenaries rushed forward.

Everyone who was going to leave had already done so. The rest were mostly members of Yang Woo-guk’s organization.

The gangsters who were flustered at the mercenaries’ arrival pulled out their sashimi knives and began to fight back.

“Die! What do you think this place is!”

Manager Ma, who had been observing the scene for a moment, took Team One with him toward the stairs instead of the elevator.

“Block them! Block those bastards!”

The man’s shout was heard, and a few gangsters rushed past the mercenaries and ran toward Manager Ma.

Manager Ma didn’t even look back.

While some of his subordinates peeled off to deal with those chasing them, he continued to head resolutely toward the stairs.

Burly men with sashimi knives blocked the stairs.

A few of Manager Ma’s quick-witted subordinates pulled out batons and dashed forward.

“Die!”

“Is ‘die’ the only thing you gangster bastards can say?”

Unlike the furious gangsters, Manager Ma’s subordinates were extremely relaxed.

Even with the fighting going on around him, Manager Ma slowly moved closer to the stairs.

He threw a punch at the huge man standing alone, unlike the other gangsters.

Before the man could even react, the punch landed squarely on his face.

The huge man fell to the ground with just one punch.

“Clear the way ahead.”

Half of the subordinates quickly ran up the stairs.

Dull thuds could be heard from behind Manager Ma as well as from above.

Manager Ma ignored the hulking figures on the ground and continued up the stairs.

It didn’t take long to reach the third floor where the banquet hall was located.

Manager Ma’s subordinate threw open the emergency exit door.

“Wow, it’s packed in here.”

A subordinate who had peeked in the door let out a sigh.

“Why? Are there a lot?”

A subordinate behind him asked as he went inside.

He then recoiled upon seeing the gangsters guarding the entrance of the banquet hall.

“It’s like they’re not insects. You kill them but they just keep coming out. I’m exhausted.”

“Well, what can we do? We just have to do what we’re told.”

After a lighthearted joke, the subordinates continued past the emergency door and arrived in the lobby of the floor where the banquet hall was located.

As Manager Ma entered, the subordinates parted to make way.

“Clean this up.”

“Yes sir!”

At Manager Ma’s order, the subordinates charged forward. The gangsters swung their sashimi knives wildly, but it was to no avail.

The sounds of sashimi knives and batons clashing filled the air along with screams and moans.

Because of the sheer number of gangsters, the fight continued for a long time. Manager Ma stood still and watched.

How much time had passed? The doors to the massive banquet hall opened and, behind the old man in a wheelchair, the veteran and current-generation senior gangsters came out.

“What? What is this mess! Which bastard is it!”

The old man couldn’t contain his anger and screamed.

The man holding his wheelchair confirmed Manager Ma’s face and reported to the old man in a whisper.

“That man is Kim Mu-hyeok’s right-hand man.”

Hearing the whisper, the old man glared at Manager Ma.

But Manager Ma met the old man’s gaze with a nonchalant expression.

“What day is it today! How dare a no-name bastard disrupt my party! What are you doing! Kill him! Kill him!”

Im Hwa-soo spoke from the opposite side to calm his anger.

“Things will escalate if we do this, Big Brother. Let’s find out what happened first…”

The old man interrupted him and pointed at Im Hwa-soo.

“You bastard! Are you ignoring me too? Do you think I’m powerless just because I’ve retired? Do you have any idea what my word can do? Hey, Woo-guk! Clean this up quickly and bring that bastard to me! If you do, I’ll support you no matter what.”

At those words, Yang Woo-guk smirked. It was not a bad offer.

With the support of this old man, Im Hwa-soo’s faction could be severely shaken.

“Yes, Big Brother.”

Yang Woo-guk sent a look to his people standing behind him, and a dozen or so burly men came out from the back.

They had formed an organization with Yang Woo-guk and were his key contributors to him rising to this position.

Each of them was a famous knife wielder in this world.

They walked forward and picked up the sashimi knives scattered on the floor, holding them in both hands.

And as soon as they picked up their knives, they rushed forward and joined the fight.

With the intrusion of the knife wielders, the atmosphere, which had been leaning to one side, changed into a fierce battle once more.

As time went on, more and more of Manager Ma’s subordinates began to get injured.

Manager Ma, closely observing the numbers and movements of the knife wielders, picked up a sashimi knife from the floor.

Then he charged forward.

“I’m advancing. Make way.”

The subordinates once again pressed the opponents.

Manager Ma followed the path they made and rushed quickly toward the banquet hall.

“Block them! Block them!”

“Where did that monster come from?!”

The knife wielders shouted, but they were unable to advance any further due to the blocked path.

Thus, Manager Ma was able to enter the banquet hall.

“M-Manager.”

Im Hwa-soo called out to him, but Manager Ma didn’t respond.

Instead, he immediately charged at Yang Woo-guk. Yang Woo-guk took a step back and yelled.

“B-Block him! Block that bastard!”

A few of Yang Woo-guk’s remaining subordinates stepped forward to block Manager Ma.

But Manager Ma easily subdued them by slashing their throats with his knife.

Blood splattered everywhere and the subordinates fell, clutching their necks.

Yang Woo-guk, terrified, trembled and slowly retreated.

There were still many gangsters, but no one dared to step forward to stop Manager Ma who was charging at them with murderous intent.

Manager Ma walked toward Yang Woo-guk who was backpedaling, and spoke coldly.

“How dare you ignore the Boss’s words?”

The murderous aura emanating from Manager Ma, who was approaching with a knife dripping blood, was terrifying.

Yang Woo-guk, in a fit of terror, finally lost his reason and lunged forward, throwing a punch at Manager Ma.

“Die, you bastard!”

But Manager Ma effortlessly dodged the punch and swung his knife.

“Agh!”

When Yang Woo-guk’s posture faltered after being cut on the arm, Manager Ma immediately rushed into him.

Then he grabbed one of Yang Woo-guk’s feet and slashed his Achilles tendon.

Blood spurted like a fountain. Blood splattered on his face and clothes, but Manager Ma didn’t mind at all.

“Listen carefully. The reason you all can have a party in such a nice place is not because you’re all great. It’s only possible because the Boss allowed it.”

His indifferent expression and monotonous voice.

And Manager Ma’s face stained with blood was enough to make everyone there tremble in fear.