I Became a Scoundrel of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 273

“An emergency press conference?”

He’d been hiding the entire time the exposé was unfolding, and now what—trying to make one last desperate move?

Yeah. No matter how dense he is, a man who’s managed to become mayor should at least grasp how things are unfolding by now.

All kinds of dirt had been unearthed.

The number of ruling party lawmakers still on his side was shrinking by the day.

And even the few who remained weren’t defending him all that strongly.

Which was why the special prosecutor bill, despite requiring majority support, had passed through the City Council way too smoothly.

He must’ve done the math by now.

He has to know his future’s gone up in smoke.

He wasn’t just cornered anymore—he was standing with his feet in the fire.

“Is this bastard about to declare martial law?”

At this point, martial law was about the only card he had left.

If even district mayors could impose partial martial law, there was no reason a city mayor couldn’t do the same.

He might just pull the trigger and unleash all hell to try and flip the table.

“...It’s not impossible. But since Incheon was elevated to an advanced autonomous isolation city, there hasn’t been a single case of a mayor declaring martial law.”

“Then if he does it now, he’ll make history. No one remembers what year some rando was mayor, but the first mayor to declare martial law? That’ll go in the books.”

And hey, he’d be the first.

That’s worth something, right?

Either way, he’s getting removed or killed.

Might as well leave his name in history on the way out.

“Even so, it’d be suicide. If he declares martial law in your city, Master, the Militaris will intervene immediately. Maybe even the national military.”

“So what? Now that a special prosecutor’s been appointed, his life’s already over. What difference does it make? It’s not like he’s the self-sacrificing type who’s gonna quietly shoulder the blame and die alone.”

Soo-ah couldn’t answer.

Even she must’ve realized it was a real possibility.

“If it were me—if I was going down anyway—I’d put on one hell of a sword dance before I died. That’s what a real man does.”

Maybe I wanted it to happen.

To hear the word martial law come out of Choi Cheol-kyu’s mouth.

He couldn’t harm me anyway.

I had sixteen elite bodyguards on standby. The guy wouldn’t be able to scratch me.

So if this was going to be his final dramatic tantrum, I might as well enjoy the show.

“If he actually does it...”

“Dear citizens of Incheon. This is Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu speaking.”

He finally appeared.

But it wasn’t in person—just a hologram.

Really?

All the reporters were there in the flesh, and he pulled this cheap move?

I clearly wasn’t the only one thinking that—

I could hear uneasy murmuring from the audience through the speakers.

“With the same feeling as spitting on my own face, I speak to you today. This city... is rotten to its roots. The political system is consumed by opposition for opposition’s sake. And now it’s reached the point where a duly elected mayor is being falsely accused of crimes he did not commit.

The judiciary has lost both fairness and transparency. I have been framed with slanderous, unspeakable accusations. Wild political attacks have taken hold, and special investigations are being thrown around recklessly.”

The beginning of his speech was nothing but fluff.

Basically, just whining.

“I didn’t do anything. It’s all lies. They’re fabricating everything.”

“Politics is broken. The legal system is compromised.”

“They’re not upholding the law—they’re serving someone else.”

Same old talking points.

Boring enough to make me yawn.

“The great ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ pillar of democracy—separation of powers—no longer functions. As your mayor, I believe I have both the duty and responsibility to resolve this crisis.”

Oh?

Is this it? Martial law incoming?

The tone was heading there.

“Master.”

Soo-ah opened her mouth cautiously, clearly having received a report.

“There are confirmed movements from elements of the City Defense Forces.”

“Oho!”

“They seem to be targeting regional prosecutors' offices, police departments, and district courts—basically all state institutions.”

“Numbers?”

“No precise count yet, but the estimate is around twenty thousand troops.”

“Hmm.”

That’s... not a bad number.

But still a little underwhelming.

They weren’t concentrating on one target—they were trying to take over all the national institutions across Incheon.

For that, 20,000 felt thin.

Just the Namdong Police Department, where Do Yoon-jung was stationed, had a deployable force of well over 20,000.

The Incheon police are armed like a full-blown army.

So if this force couldn’t even take a single police HQ...

“You think that’ll work?”

“...Unlikely. Seems more like a last, desperate thrash.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

If he was going to do it, he should’ve gone big—at least 200,000 troops.

What’s the point of bringing out a measly 20,000 in a demon city like Incheon?

Was he short on time?

Or did he just lack the charisma to mobilize more?

Probably the latter, huh?

Even his own party threw him under the bus after those ridiculous exposés.

No way the frontline commanders are following him now.

Whatever the reason, this didn’t have the impact it should’ve had.

“As of this moment, I hereby declare a state of emergency martial law.”

There it was.

Hologram Choi Cheol-kyu, looking grave on screen, officially declared martial law.

But...

It didn’t hit me the way I thought it would.

It wasn’t the scale I had been hoping for.

Hell, even Li Wei in Shanghai pulled it off with more drama.

Disappointing, really.

“Call Do Yoon-jung.”

“Yes.”

Soo-ah immediately made the call and handed me the phone.

“Yes, Master. Go ahead.”

“You saw the news?”

“The martial law announcement? Yes, I’m watching it live right now.”

“Any directives?”

“A dispatch order just came down under the Martial Law Command. It says all forces—ours included—are now under direct control of the mayor, who is the supreme commander of the City Defense Forces.

Orders are to move out and disable all designated targets.”

“And if you refuse?”

“Says here that under martial law protocol, refusal will be treated as treason and punished accordingly.”

Do Yoon-jung chuckled mid-response.

Sounded like even she found it hilarious as she said it.

“What’s your total police personnel again?”

“Including everyone? About 53,000.”

Holy shit.

Trying to take over the city with only 20,000 troops?

How the hell is that supposed to work?

“Then the police shouldn’t be a problem... The prosecution’s more of a concern. There can’t be that many armed personnel at the Prosecutors’ Office, right?”

“Well, it is a law enforcement agency. Should we send reinforcements?”

“Send some to Namdong District Prosecutors’ Office. Block the whole district off if you can. And about Lee Na-eun, the special prosecutor this time—she’s in charge of—”

And right then—

The hologram of Choi Cheol-kyu, who had been droning on and on from the screen, suddenly—

Pop!

His head exploded.

“...??”

What the hell?

Was this a transmission error?

Didn’t seem like it.

The explosion had played out right there in front of everyone, in full clarity.

He even collapsed sideways.

A grotesque, headless corpse remained projected as a hologram, still flickering in midair.

—Murmur murmur

“Wh-What the hell?”

“Is he dead?”

“His head blew up!!”

“Call 911...!”

The press conference room erupted into chaos a beat later.

Reporters jumped up all at once, so the screen was now filled with the backs of their heads.

Shortly after, the feed was abruptly cut off.

“Well, well... What the hell was that?”

“I... I have no idea...”

The mayor who’d just declared martial law, and then minutes later, his head explodes?

There’s only one group capable of doing something like this.

Ours.

The guy had revealed himself to the public via hologram, which meant he was holed up somewhere no one else could find. A bunker in his official residence, most likely.

You don’t broadcast by hologram unless you’re in hiding.

And yet—despite being hidden—he was taken out within minutes of declaring martial law.

His head just... blew up.

“Damn, they didn’t even hesitate. That’s cold as hell.”

What was even more shocking was the fact that they did it live, during a public broadcast to the entire city.

Just boom, dead. In front of everyone.

“Doesn’t matter if anyone sees it. Screw it. He’s annoying—kill him.”

That was the message.

“This isn’t even something you can cover up with a deleted video or destroyed device. And they clearly don’t give a shit.”

I remembered that time when the Rainbow Miracle General Director started blabbing during a live stream, and all footage of that was wiped clean—

Devices that had so much as streamed it once were remotely bricked.

But this?

This was blatant. A public execution of Choi Cheol-kyu, as if to send a message.

“Back then, the threat was personal—my identity getting leaked. But this time, it’s just a low-level servant getting killed. Who cares if the whole world sees?”

“Master.”

Soo-ah returned, this time with an even heavier report.

“...Every ruling party lawmaker who was in the emergency meeting about the special prosecutor for Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu... is dead.”

“??”

“Just like the mayor. Their heads all exploded...”

“...”

“Given the circumstances, we believe the rest of the ruling party lawmakers who haven’t been seen are also dead.”

Ah...

So they just killed everyone?

“A-And... Also... The party leader who was giving a live briefing about Incheon’s political situation from the mainland—his head exploded too...!”

“...”

Stunned, I flipped through the channels.

Every news network was in complete meltdown.

“Hoo... Whoever did this... damn, they’re ruthless as hell... Do Yoon-jung, let’s talk later.”

“Y-Yes, Master. Take care...”

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