The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 994

Chapter 994

Turning a blind eye to crimes tied to organizations.

Actions taken simply to accommodate the Awakened Guild’s convenience, regardless of consequences.

The quiet assassinations of political rivals or certain individuals, along with their subsequent cover-ups.

Despite their apparent absence or rarity, these things surely existed and occurred on a daily basis—it was simply that no one had bothered to dig too deep.

But once the surface was scratched, it all spilled out like an unending tide of horror stories.

The moment a person with power discovers they can wield it without consequence, they unwittingly crawl deeper and deeper into the abyss of corruption.

At the start, Congressman Park had gone to astonishing lengths to hide evidence every time. But as time passed and less people were able to restrain him, he grew bolder in his actions.

Of course, the evidence collected and compiled by Detective Oh over the years played a significant role in the scale of his eventual exposure.

This was exceptionally clear to the assembly members who had gathered to discuss the scandal.

“How on earth did you find all this...?”

“We didn’t have to—we’ve already had it on standby for a while now. We were just waiting for the right moment, until media manipulation or whatever other tactics would imbue it with maximum impact.”

The others in the room nodded subconsciously, recognizing the unfortunate reality of their legal system.

“With this much evidence, are you still going to try to defend him?”

“Well...”

“We’ve already seen enough. Mr. President, we cannot overlook Congressman Park’s actions any longer. We must bring this to the public and—”

“Now, now, now, hold your horses! Why are you only looking at one side of the issue? Can any of us here truly claim to be clean in good conscience?”

“That’s exactly the problem. This doesn’t stop with just Congressman Park—the moment we allow this to slide, the same thing will happen again and spread like a disease.”

The president, having stayed silent during the discussion, cleared his throat to suppress the outcry.

“Ahem.”

The room fell silent in an instant.

It was an informal gathering, which meant the president could speak without restraint.

“The direction this conversation is taking is odd. It almost sounds as if avoiding consequences for crimes is some kind of privilege you should all be allowed.”

“Ahem! Your Excellency, that’s not what we meant,” one of them began with sweat dripping down their back.

“Then what reason is there to oppose this?”

“Well...”

“Expose everything. Congressman Park has crossed the line, and there’s no saving him now. He will be held responsible for every crime committed, whether real or fabricated. His end will be far darker than any of us can imagine.”

“Your Excellency...”

“Do you know why this happened? Do you think it was just because a petition was submitted anonymously? No—it was because Prince Davey personally intervened.”

The assembly members’ expressions stiffened.

They were surprised at his sudden mention.

“Why now, of all times...?”

“He asked us to thoroughly investigate Congressman Park and demanded that, if guilty, his crimes be publicly announced, followed by a suspended sentence.”

But it wasn’t for the sake of forgiveness.

“Could it be...?”

“Yes. It’s exactly what you’re thinking. The suspension is just for a brief delay. He knows far too well how cruel this countr— no, how modern humans can be.”

“He’s ruthless...”

Sighs of exasperation spread throughout the room. The members couldn’t help but believe that out of all the people to provoke, why Congressman Park just had to target someone connected to the one man nobody could afford to cross.

Of course, most of them already knew Congressman Park to be a scumbag who harbored venomous ambitions, excessive even when compared to his fellow politicians.

It was just that no one had openly acknowledged it, given everything he had built up over the years.

Even when the political scene underwent significant reshuffling, he had managed to survive—one of the few corrupt politicians who had successfully concealed his wrongdoings.

There were too many people who had opposed him, only to see their political careers come to an abrupt end.

“Justice always prevails. Everything returns to its rightful place...”

If it were another foreign figure, this kind of one-sided intervention wouldn’t have been possible. But the Saint of Tionis was different.

Moreover, when Korea struggled to survive the monster onslaught in the past, the government had signed a few treaties with him.

“Your Excellency, but if even one thing goes wrong, the backlash will be enormous...”

“You’re not wrong. Prince Davey... Despite his smiling face, he’s far crueler, more rational, and colder than most realize. But tell me, Chief Secretary—how much time do we have left in our term?”

“Uh. That would be...”

“The nuclear waste neutralization system.”

Confusion spread across the room at the abrupt change of topic. They weren’t sure why the president was bringing up such an issue at the moment.

“Mining the underground resources buried in the East Sea, and exchanging materials useful for developing technology.”

The assembly members tilted their heads, trying to grasp his point.

“These are the trade terms he proposed. You all need to prepare for the elections, don’t you? If this deal goes through...”

The members gulped in tension.

The scales in everyone’s mind began tilting toward one side.

They exchanged glances as the president continued to talk.

“We need to evaluate the feasibility of success...” one member ventured.

“Even if it turns out to be impossible, becoming the only country to establish trade with the continent of Tionis would be a massive international advantage. Foreign investment would, of course, increase, and the youth unemployment issue—something the people have been desperate about—would finally see some relief. Most importantly...”

He briefly paused before continuing.

“We’d finally get to strike back at that damn neighboring government that’s been provoking us. We sure clashed with them a lot over the Awakened individuals and the Church of Neltarid.”

Neighboring countries usually didn’t have good relations with each other.

“How much longer are we going to sit back and do nothing? Forget all that talk about ancestral pride—if they hit us, we need to hit back.”

Unanimous agreement instantly followed.

* * *

“Ugh. Ughhh.”

The man curled up, trembling, as he stared at the young man before him.

He looked no older than his twenties—barely past the age of a boy. But Congressman Park had no time to dwell on such thoughts.

“You thought you could just hide away? Not a chance. You still need to see just how cruel this world can be.”

Congressman Park couldn't believe that the man standing before him was actually from another world.

Modern humans, in their pursuit of self-improvement and progress, had developed an odd contradiction—they were fiercely individualistic, yet eerily uniform at the same time.

The anonymity granted to them via various means made them more alike in their conduct than one could imagine. Sometimes, it even pushed them to terrifying extremes of cruelty.

“Please... Have mercy.”

At first, he hadn’t thought much of it.

But as time passed, he began to understand just how this kind of thing could drive a person mad.

Sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, Davey spoke coldly.

“Mercy? I seem to remember you saying that having power meant you had every right to trample over others, no?”

“T-That was...”

“Doesn’t feel so great when it’s happening to you, does it? All of the people you crushed were human, just like you.”

Davey then stood up.

Despite being in a dark room, his crimson eyes glowed with an eerie chill.

“Don’t worry. This won’t last forever. Just for a little while—I just want you to get a taste of what the people you trampled over felt. The rights of the oppressor? Those only come into question after we’ve ensured the rights of the victims.”

“...”

“Since Aeria shed tears, I’ll make your eyes shed both blood and tears.”

He suddenly vanished from sight.

The modern world was full of people.

But in this crowded jungle, there were times when silence was more brutal than anything—and when the storm came, it was merciless.

* * *

“Oh, if it isn’t Professor Park Sang-Chul! It’s been a long time. I heard you couldn’t make it to the last academic conference. How’s life as a professor at the University of Korea?”

“Good to see you, Professor Yoon Hae-Sang. I heard you transferred to Korea University.”[1]

“Haha, yes, it just happened to be so.”

There were numerous guests in a meeting room inside a building at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

Professor Park Sang-Chul, from the University of Korea’s Department of Material Science and Engineering.

Professor Yoon Hae-Sang, from Korea University’s Engineering Department.

Professor Um Ji-Yeon, from Seoul National University’s Engineering Department.

And many others—from Soongsil University, Konkuk University, Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and POSTECH itself.

Some of the most distinguished professors in the country had gathered inside the vast conference room.

“So, who exactly called us all here?”

“No idea. My school’s dean insisted I attend, so here I am.”

“Oh? You too, Professor Park? Same thing for us.”

“We were told the same thing, too.”

“You as well, Professor Um? Just what is this about...?”

“They told me not to be too surprised and, whatever happens, not to cause trouble.”

“Haha! Professor Um, you do have a bit of a reputation for stirring things up.”

Laughter echoed through the room as the professors chuckled amongst themselves.

“Sitting here talking amongst ourselves is fun and all, but still... the person who called us all here hasn’t even shown up yet.”

“Exactly. We’re all busy people, especially with so many conferences coming up soon.”

“Wait, Professor Lee, you’re from this university, right? Have you heard anything?”

“I don’t really know anything about this, either. I just got a message this morning telling me to drop everything and come here. I had to notify my grad students to tell my students that lectures would be canceled today.”

It was at that moment—

Click.

The conference room door opened, and two girls walked in.

One was a small, blonde girl, looking no older than twelve or thirteen. The other was an exceptionally beautiful girl with fiery red hair, around nineteen years old with a face full of mischief.

“Young ladies...? What brings you here?”

The professors wondered if they were here to meet a family member. They did look foreign, and given that they didn’t resemble each other, they assumed they were just friends.

The professors thought of all sorts of possibilities, but the ultimate conclusion was clear—these children had wandered into the wrong place.

Professor Um from Seoul National University, putting on her warmest smile, approached them and asked, “Oh my, how adorable. How old are you, sweetheart?”

The small blonde girl flinched and instinctively hid behind the red-haired girl.

“Oh dear, how cute. No need to be scared, little one.”

The blonde girl hesitated, her lips moving slightly as if she was too terrified to talk.

Then—

“Princess, how long are you going to keep trembling?”

“Huh?”

The unexpected title left the professors momentarily stunned.

At the same time, the blonde girl, who had been hiding behind the red-haired one, hesitantly stepped forward.

“P-Pleased to meet you! I am... Aeonitia O’Rowane! I-I manage the Research Workshop in Heins Territory!” she said with a reddened face.

Her pronunciation was slightly awkward, as if stumbling over a tongue twister.

“It was at my request that you were all gathered here today.”

The professors froze, their expressions blank with shock.

They couldn’t believe what the girl in front of them was saying.

She didn’t look Korean—her naturally blonde hair and pale eyebrows confirmed as much—but her Korean was surprisingly fluent.

And from the look on her face, they could tell she wasn’t lying. She was utterly serious.

More than that—

“Did she just say O’Rowane?”

“M-Mhm! That’s right! I’m the Third Princess of the Rowane Kingdom!” she answered with her small hands clenched together.

Her cute appearance made the professors look at her even more adoringly.

“I see. Aeonitia, if you’re the Third Princess of the Rowane Kingdom... that would make you royalty, correct?”

“A-ah. T-That’s...”

“Well then, may we ask what business a princess has with us?”

The professors spoke to her as if they were coaxing a child, trying to guide her through her words.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again with newfound determination.

“There’s so much I don’t understand about Earth’s science! And there are things I just can’t apply properly, no matter how much I study!”

‘Apply? Apply to what?’

The professors began to suspect if this mischievous little princess was here to ask for lessons.

But what she said next left them utterly speechless.

“I... I want to borrow this research facility and start a p-project with you all!”

“A... project?”

“Yes! Specifically, I want to work on a study related to neutralizing the radioactive waste from nuclear power plants!”

The professors went blank.

“But the existing methods won’t work, so we plan to neutralize the chemical composition of the bluescreen metal we imported from the Yurgian Continent using reagents that you have available here. From there, we’ll make some adjustments and... Oh! I’ve been studying chemistry after coming to Earth, and working hard to understand it better! Though my knowledge is mostly limited to Tionisian chemistry and metallurgy, Lady Tiara here is one of the greatest engineers on the continent when it comes to this field...”

Aeonitia emphatically gestured in the air as she spoke, trying to explain her thoughts.

The professors had no problem understanding what she was saying, of course.

Even so, they couldn’t help but feel an extreme sense of incongruence when looking at her using such advanced terminology.

Aeonitia hurried through her explanation while blushing and flustering up, prompting Tiara to let out a deep sigh.

She then pressed Aeonitia down by the head slightly.

“Professors, I think our princess is a bit nervous and isn’t explaining things well.”

“Ah... I see.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tiara. Just call me by my name, no need for formalities.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Tiara. But... about what the princess just said...”

“Let’s skip the complicated stuff and get to the point. The reason we gathered you all here is simple—we were told you’re the leading experts in your fields.”

The professors exchanged glances.

“We’d like to combine your knowledge with ours to conduct a joint research project.”

“A project? You mean that thing about nuclear waste disposal?”

“Yes. It might seem a bit out of the blue, but it’s not entirely unthinkable.”

She smiled elegantly, then took out a duralumin case from her bag and placed it on the table.[2]

With a soft click, the case opened, revealing a cold, blue-tinged metal inside.

The professors could tell that the metal wasn’t from Earth with just a glance.

“This is bluescreen metal. It comes from a continent called Yurgian.”

The moment they heard the unfamiliar continent’s name, the professors widened their eyes in surprise.

The eyes of the material science professors sparkled even more.

All of them couldn’t help but think about how many papers they could publish if they studied the metal in front of them.

They instinctively reached out for the metal.

Bang!

Aeonitia, barely reaching the height of the table, slammed her small hands onto it, as if throwing a tantrum.

“No! You can’t take it! My brother said he can’t send many samples yet, so we have to use them sparingly!”

“Ah. I see...”

“F-For now, we’ll provide you with knowledge about this metal and its c-chemical composition. In exchange, we’d like you to share Earth’s technology and knowledge with us.”

A collaborative research agreement between the alchemists of Tionis and Earth’s professors.

The professors finally grasped the situation.

Even so, the fact that the supposed top scientists of Tionis were mere young girls left them feeling uneasy.

It seemed people were the same, no matter where they were from.

“Um, Tiara? Is it really just the two of you? Are there no other... adults involved?”

Tiara flashed a bright smile.

“Are you implying that we’re not capable enough, Professor?”

“Ah... No, that’s not what I meant!”

The professors hesitated, wondering how to phrase their concerns without hurting the girls’ feelings.

The new material was fascinating, but they couldn’t ignore the sense of dissonance they experienced, having to work with girls who looked like middle schoolers.

Seeing their hesitation, Tiara thought for a moment, then clapped her hands together.

“Princess, princess! Do that thing.”

“Huh?”

“Come on, quickly!”

Aeonitia stood blankly for a moment, then looked around in uncertainty. With a reluctant expression, she picked up a whiteboard marker and tapped it against the board with a soft clack and got to writing!

Of course, with the cap still on, she ended up just scratching the whiteboard.

“Huh? Why isn’t this working...”

“Pfft.”

A few professors chuckled at her cuteness.

Without a word, Tiara quietly reached over and removed the cap from the marker.

“There. Now it’ll work.”

Aeonitia looked up at her nervously.

“So, um, what should I write about...?”

“Why overcomplicate it? Show us the proof of the bluescreen metal by using Earth’s science.”

Aeonitia hesitated for a moment before looking up at Tiara and tugging at her sleeve.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s too high... I can’t reach.”

“Pfft!”

Laughter broke out inside the room.

“Haa... Alright, here we go.”

Tiara slipped her arms under Aeonitia’s armpits and lifted her up.

With a small sigh, Aeonitia first steadied herself—then, without hesitation, she began to write.

“Wait, but that’s Korean?!”

Since she was from Tionis, the professors had assumed she’d write in her own language.

Yet Aeonitia was writing in fluent Korean.

At the same time, the formulas she was writing weren’t something a child in elementary school could possibly produce.

She jotted down intricate, complex, and highly precise equations across the whiteboard, as casual as if they were drawings rather than complicated calculations.

Tiara, still holding Aeonitia in her arms, spoke softly.

“Princess Aeonitia considers herself an ordinary person. But in the Rowane Kingdom, those with royal blood sometimes inherit special characteristics.”

Among the current royal family, only two possessed such an ability.

“Characteristics?”

“Absolute Memory. Though the Princess’s ability isn’t quite on the level of Prince Davey’s, she has a uniquely exceptional talent, coupled with memory retention dozens of times greater than the average person. In Tionis, she's known for her extraordinary gifts.”

Discovering what was already known was easy. Forging a path into the unknown, however, was difficult.

It was no coincidence that this young girl, barely in her early teens, was called the Clockwork Princess.

“I am also a disciple of the Technical Advisor of the Heins Territory School of Alchemy. I assure you, we won’t disappoint you as research partners.”

Before long, news was spread across the world.

Magazines and media outlets reported on how a collaboration between researchers from Tionis and a Korean university had begun a groundbreaking project—one that aimed to neutralize and recycle nuclear waste.

1. For those who may not know, an area/country’s colleges/universities can be under different overarching systems/groups, making the University of Korea a separate entity from Korea University. ?

2. Duralumin is a strong, lightweight aluminum alloy that is primarily used in aircraft construction, so the case’s material is indicative of the high value of its contents. ?