South Korea's Greatest Crisis!

The screen displayed local news from South Korea, densely packed with articles criticizing themselves.

[Kim Geun-seok, coward! Absolutely not!]

[Such a person is completely unfit to be the head of the Kim family, and the Kim family is unfit to be the leading conglomerate in the Settlement!]

Kim Geun-seok is truly a disgrace to the South Korea Settlement; he's a disgusting presence!

[Is that all? First they fell out of the top 50, and now they've completely disgraced South Korea. This kind of person is nothing but a parasite on South Korea.]

[If I had Kim Sissy's points, I would have wiped out Lin Ye long ago!]

The Kim family, Choi family, Lee family, and Park families are all vampires! They suck the blood of all Goryeo people!

[Suspecting Kim Geun-seok has Great Xia blood, he's deliberately sacrificing himself for Great Xia!]

The Kim Family Conglomerate! Bankrupt! Get out of Goryeo!

[...]

The overwhelming negative news terrified Kim Geun-seok.

Violence is not an option in this world. As a conglomerate, the Kim family's means of controlling the Koreans are actually limited to the economic sphere.

The reason they were able to achieve economic monopoly was also due to public support.

Once the public loses confidence in the Kim family, the Kim family's economy will quickly collapse, and its status will be lost.

This is also a characteristic of the conglomerate system under the rule of the Firmament Curtain.

The only true ruler of the entire world is actually just a single Firmament; everything else is just a paper tiger.

Other so-called South Korea chaebols or the Emperor of Daiwa, at best, represent spontaneous popular support and cannot be considered true rulers.

However, there is another major difference South Korea Settlement and the Dahe Settlement: the South Korea generally have lower loyalty.

When you're successful, you're treated like royalty; when you fall from grace, you're treated worse than a pig, dog, or cow.

Kim Geun-seok swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

He truly hadn't expected that this failed Instance run would have such a significant impact on the situation in South Korea.

Kim Geun-seok continued reading and discovered even more explosive news to come.

That is, the Great Xia is actually Group Assault various Instances of South Korea! Within a single day, hundreds of young Goryeo people Designers have been directly wiped out!

Because he had been in the Instance the whole time, Kim Geun-seok only just found out about these things.

For a moment, he was completely taken aback, his mouth agape.

"How could this be?!"

"How dare they do that in the Great Xia Settlement?"

Kim Geun-seok couldn't believe it was true for a moment, because for so many years, Great Xia had been making all sorts of concessions.

The people of the Great Xia Settlement had tolerated the underhanded actions of the South Korea Settlement in the past.

Once upon a time, in order to prove his strength in Instance, Old Man Kim Chan-hoon wiped out several researchers from Great Xia. Even after things went this far, Great Xia did not break off relations.

But this time... the Counterattack was so decisive and direct.

"How could that be? Do you know that my Instance has already been breached by several top-tier players from Great Xia?!"

Kim Chan-hoon roared angrily.

"In the past, Great Xia only had Long Yuan as a notable player, so it was cautious and willing to compromise. Now, with the sudden emergence of Lin Ye, Great Xia has suddenly gained another member in the TOP50!"

"My back is definitely much stronger!"

"This confidence comes from Lin Ye, who gave Great Xia this power!"

The reason is simple: it's not that we couldn't beat you before, it's just that we had other things to do and didn't focus our attention on the Koreans.

Now that we are powerful, we naturally seek to achieve a clear understanding of everything.

After saying that, Kim Chan-hoon slapped Kim Geun-seok the face again.

Snap!

With that slap, Kim Chan-hoon was sent flying, stumbling and falling to the ground.

"Dad... I..."

Do you even know why I slapped you?!

"The first slap I gave you was for deserting in the face of battle! It was a slap to show your spinelessness!"

"The second slap is for the fact that you've dragged down the entire Settlement and the Kim family!"

"And this third slap is for your blindness!"

After saying that, Kim Chan-hoon pointed at Kim Geun-seok's nose and cursed, "With your meager abilities, what makes you think you can mess with Lin Ye?!"

"If even the Emperor can't handle this, do you think you can?!"

"Do you know that Lin Ye currently occupies two of the top three spots on the Instance Heavenly Rankings? There's no one as awesome as him in the entire history of Azure Star!"

Even without his father saying it, Kim Geun-seok regrets it more than anyone else right now.

I got nothing from these three Instance challenges, but I got myself into a lot of trouble.

Just because he made a few foul remarks online and then wiped out an insignificant nobody from the Great Xia Instance Research Institute, the Strong Clan Plan was exposed, and a war broke out between Great Xia South Korea.

"Dad, what should we do now?" Kim Geun-seok was also a little flustered at this moment. Although it wasn't visible on his face, his mind was in complete turmoil.

Although he was the highest-ranking person in South Korea- Park Seong-man, this power was actually inherited from his father.

Having not experienced many major events, the sudden turn of events terrified him; he was almost scared to death.

"Call..."

Kim Chan-hoon let out a long sigh and slumped weakly onto the sofa.

The cane in his hand fell limply to the side.

"Things have come to this point; this is no longer just a war between you and Lin Ye... it's a war for the entire South Korea Settlement."

"If I'm not mistaken, Park Seong-man will personally lead the team in Lin Ye's upcoming Winter Is Coming Instance."

"Park Seong-man will definitely summon you later. Remember to shift the blame to the other three families."

"And... about your suicide attempt, just say it was an accidental discharge. Understand?"

Kim Geun-seok- seok gasped.

At this moment, he dared not resist in any way and could only obediently follow his father's instructions.

The arrogance and pride they once possessed have vanished completely.

One hour later.

In the Commander's office at the Rakuten Building.

Park Seong-man angrily overturned all the documents on the table and threw them to the ground.

Then he picked up several folders and threw them at the faces of Kim Geun-seok, Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, and Lee Jae-yong.

"You call this the Four Great Families?"

"I helped you get to this position, and this is how you repay me?"

"Exposing their Strong Clan Plan, using their top-tier military force, and then ending up in this sorry state? They've become a laughingstock for the entire Azure Star."

Kim Geun-seok, Choi Tae -Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, Lee Jae-yong looked at each other, speechless.

After a long while, Lee Jae-yong spoke.

"Commander Seong Wan, the Lee family really has no choice. Lee family Howitzer Vehicles are strategic weapons; if it comes to a direct confrontation, they are definitely no match for tanks."

"This Commander-in-Chief is none other than Young Master Kim; shouldn't he give us an explanation?"

Choi Tae-won, standing to the side, also wore a strange smile and said coldly, "Putting aside whether he was in command or not, Young Master Kim's suicide attempt was certainly a masterstroke."

"The commander committed suicide before the Instance was even finished. This must be one of the most unusual things that has ever happened in the history of Azure Star."

Kim Geun-seok forced himself to remain calm and gritted his teeth before speaking.

"First of all, let me clarify that I did not commit suicide, but rather that the gun accidentally discharged due to the turbulence of the war."

"Furthermore... I don't think there was anything wrong with my command. We lost to Lin Ye not because of tactics, but because of the difference in combat strength."

"If the heads of the families have any objections, why don't you tell me how you would arrange the layout? I don't believe you could do it better than me!"

The atmosphere in the room was tense Park Seong-man -man rubbed his temples hard and slammed his fist on the table.

"Enough!"

"Did I call you all here just to listen to you shirking responsibility? If the challenge failed, then all four of you are useless, with no distinction between high and low."

"Do you even know what kind of situation South Korea is in right now?!"

As he spoke, Park Seong-man played a video of Lin Ye's provocation directly on the office's large screen.

Lin Ye's words in the video were very brief.

But every word was deadly and inflicted emotional damage.

Finally, they even clamored to have the entire South Korea Settlement attacked together.

After watching the video, Kim Geun-seok and the other three fell silent again, clenching their fists.

This was a blatant insult from Lin Ye.

By specifically naming them, they are essentially putting the South Korea Settlement in a precarious position, facing the impending Winter Is Coming.

If they don't accept the offer, then the people South Korea Settlement will become true cowards...

"Commander... do we really want to accept this challenge?"

"Actually, we can just ignore Lin Ye," Lee Jae-yong said in a low voice.

"You can refuse, of course, but as you've seen, the people of Great Xia are already taking action against South Korea. Are you going to ignore this too?" Park Seong-man looked at Lee Jae-yong with a hint of sarcasm, then shook his head in disappointment.

"And you should know that Lin Ye, as the Designer, has 20% direct designation authority. Even if we don't engage in combat, he can still drag at least a million people into the Instance and ravage them."

"If he specifically targets low-level Challengers from South Korea and wipes out a million of South Korea people in one fell swoop, how will you respond?"

Park Seong-man's words sent chills down the spines of all four of them.

From this perspective, South Korea will have no choice but to accept the challenge of the next Winter Is Coming.

Taking a deep breath, Park Seong-man became very serious.

"Afterwards, I will issue an international statement, accepting this challenge as the Commander of the South Korea Settlement!"

"At the same time, I will set a wager for this challenge. If we win, Lin Ye will be eliminated, all his technology will belong to us, and the Great Xia Settlement will not be able to retaliate."

"If we lose, I will resign from my position Commander of South Korea, and I will hand over the management of the South Korea Settlement to Lin Ye."

"I believe Lin Ye will agree to such a bet, and so will the Great Xia."

Upon hearing this, Kim Geun-seok and the other three were completely dumbfounded.

This is truly gambling with the fate of a Settlement!

"Commander... Commander, are we really going to go this far?" Kim Geun-seok was completely terrified, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"If we hand over our Settlement to Lin Ye, then we Goryeo people will have nowhere to live and will have to live as refugees in other Settlements."

In fact, the initial regulations for the Firmament did not include a concept of Settlement in the true sense.

Settlement is merely a community of a race. Larger races can occupy territory and form Settlements, while smaller races can only live as dependents.

If the South Korea Settlements are handed over to Lin Ye for management, the Goryeo people will be forced to migrate from their Settlements.

The concept of South Korea no longer exists!

Park Seong-man frowned, lit a cigarette, and slowly began to smoke.

"That's right, it's definitely a gamble where it's either you or me, but there's no other way now."

"If we just keep going like this, we won't be able to outlast Great Xia. But this method offers a glimmer of hope!"

"My mind is made up. All four of you Four Great Families must participate and fight one last battle for our Settlement!"

Silence fell over the room.

Regardless, Park Seong-man remains the Commander of the South Korea Settlement, and the Four Great Families must obey his orders.

"Commander Seong Wan, my Kim family is naturally willing to go through fire and water for you, but..."

"Even including the Four Great Families, our South Korea Settlement shouldn't have five million top-tier fighters."

"Even if you include all the Challengers from the Four Great Families who are at least level 2, and call up all the elites from the entire Settlement, it still won't exceed one million level 2s... The remaining level 1s are just cannon fodder once they enter the Instance," Kim Geun-seok said helplessly.

The South Korea Settlement was small in scale, far smaller than the previous Dahe Settlement.

The total number of Level 2 residents in the Dahe Settlement was approximately one million. Emperor Xiaochuan led this one million people to conquer the Raging Waves.

However, the South Korea Settlements did not possess such strength.

Kim Geun-seok's statement is actually correct, because only Level 2 individuals have the ability to carry weapons.

If this standard cannot be met, entering the Winter Is Coming is simply suicide.

"Then get him to LV2 as quickly as possible. Don't you Four Great Families have a lot of points? Give them all back!" Park Seong-man said coldly.

Standing to the side, Choi Tae-won wore a bitter expression, his eyes filled with helplessness. "Commander, we are certainly willing to contribute, but even so, it's impossible to gather five million LV2s for the Settlement in such a short time."

Park Seong-man placed his hands on his forehead, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

"When did I say that South Korea had to take over this entirely? And there's no rule that all five million people have to be of Goryeo people."

"Hmph... Five million is a great opportunity to break through the Instance, and we're not the only ones on Azure Star who have a grudge against Lin Ye."