Chapter 49
Records of the Dead.
When Kang Ha-min first obtained this skill,
he thought it could only show the records of people who had already died.
That wasn't the limit at all.
Today,
his understanding changed.
Records of the Dead didn't only reveal the records of the dead.
Summons,
thralls,
or any other beings under Kang Ha-min's control.
As long as they were bound to him,
their records could be read.
What did that mean?
This place was Siriel's Shadow Domain.
A place capable of turning anyone into her thrall.
Siriel had disguised herself as a fake Baek Cheon-myeong using shadows.
Then she had swallowed all the Chinese Returnees into her Shadow Domain.
A shadow had already entered Qilin's body.
When he opened his mouth to breathe,
the shadow had forced its way inside.
It was a shadow that could turn someone into a puppet regardless of their will.
Without realizing it,
Qilin had become Siriel's thrall.
To break free,
someone needed to possess power equal to Siriel
or be a higher existence than her.
There was only one person who could escape this Domain.
Kang Ha-min.
He was Siriel's master,
an existence above her.
And because Qilin had become Siriel's thrall,
he also fell under Kang Ha-min's authority.
As a result,
Kang Ha-min fulfilled the conditions for [Records of the Dead].
Through Ha Cheol-ryong,
Kang Ha-min already knew the Returnees had their circumstances.
That was why he had assumed even the Chinese Returnees might have reasons for what they were doing.
He had helped the Korean Returnees.
There was no reason to deny the Chinese Returnees a chance simply because they were Chinese.
They too might have been forced to make an impossible choice,
just like Tenzin.
At least,
that was what Kang Ha-min thought before using Records of the Dead on Qilin.
Kang Ha-min quietly glared at him.
"So you're a spy planted inside Astra by the Chinese government, so they could use Returnees as combat forces."
Qilin's face froze.
Now that he was a thrall,
he could understand Kang Ha-min's words perfectly.
From the beginning,
Qilin had only been an agent planted by the Chinese government.
He was never on the Returnees' side.
China had long ago decided to exploit Astra.
Astra was a terrorist organization.
If China used them,
it could eliminate targets without getting blood directly on its own hands.
That was why the Chinese government had intentionally planted Qilin inside Astra.
He earned the trust of Chinese Returnees,
became their leader,
and carried out missions ordered by the government.
Everything had been deliberately planned by the Chinese government.
Qilin's leadership,
his supposed care for other Returnees,
all of it was false.
Deep down,
he was nothing more than an agent working for the Chinese government.
"...I don't know what you're talking about."
Qilin denied it naturally.
Kang Ha-min knew.
Even if Qilin were tortured in every possible way,
he would never speak.
The Qilin shown through Records of the Dead
had been raised by the Chinese government through years of brainwashing.
His beliefs had been completely dyed with loyalty toward China.
A man who deceived his fellow Returnees
and served only the Chinese government.
Qilin felt no guilt about any of it.
Inside his empty eyes,
only devotion and loyalty toward China remained.
Maybe because Kang Ha-min now knew the truth,
his heart actually became calmer.
"Talking to you is just a waste of breath."
This wasn't someone who could be reasoned with.
Talking to a wall would be more useful.
Crackle!
Suddenly,
violent sparks erupted inside Qilin.
His entire skin began glowing blue-green
as tremendous heat gathered.
"I don't know who you are."
"But I know one thing."
From the moment Qilin became trapped here,
he had understood something.
He didn't know who this masked person was.
But no matter how desperately he struggled,
there was no chance of escaping alive.
The other person knew everything about him.
His power was also on a level far beyond Qilin's.
"You will become a great obstacle to China's will."
Then Qilin had only one thing left to do.
Die together with the enemy for China.
Red fanaticism filled Qilin's eyes.
"For the glory of great China."
This was the ending of a man brainwashed from birth.
Qilin's body began glowing intensely
and started to explode.
At least,
until the electricity running through his body died out with ridiculous ease.
Fizzle.
Qilin's eyes widened.
He had already prepared himself for self-destruction.
The explosion had stopped without his consent.
He had believed that once it began,
even he wouldn't be able to stop it.
"How dare you try to leave before Lord has finished speaking?"
A seductive voice came from behind Qilin.
A beautiful melody that hardly seemed human.
Yet a chill ran through Qilin's entire body.
Even a man who had endured countless torture-training sessions
felt his fingertips tremble.
His head turned backward with stiff movements.
He knew that looking might mean there would be no return.
Still,
the voice itself forced him to turn.
A blood-red moon filled his eyes.
The more he looked at that crimson moon,
the more his thoughts disappeared.
"Ah..."
It felt as though his brain were being emptied.
The shadow that had entered his body
burrowed into his brain.
As a result,
Qilin's original will was completely erased.
In an instant,
he became a puppet.
Drool ran from Qilin's mouth.
He had ruled over the Chinese Returnees as their leader.
Yet merely meeting Siriel's eyes had reduced him to this miserable state.
Normally,
Kang Ha-min would have been horrified.
