Demon Progenitor Development Project

The Purpose Behind Chapter 109

Will the Demon Slayer Corps merge with the Shogunate?

"Looks like they've been pushed to their limit."

With a deep gaze, Shugo slowly wiped the floor until it gleamed before setting out his cleaning tools.

He wasn't surprised that the Demon Slayer Corps had come to this point.

Muzan asked, puzzled, "Aren't you surprised?"

Given Muzan's belief that "everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps is mentally unstable," it's quite surprising that such stubborn and inflexible individuals as the Demon Slayer Corps would join the government's ranks.

"There weren't many roads for them to travel to begin with," Shugo said calmly, reaching out to flip through the report Muzan handed him.

To be more precise, it was actually members of the Demon Slayer Corps who joined the Shogunate.

Shugo puts aside the intelligence and starts a brainstorming session.

In addition to targeting the ore used in Nichirin Blades, he also launched multifaceted attacks on the Demon Slayer Corps.

How do you take down a well-structured organization that can provide intelligence and logistical support?

Targeting combat personnel?

If they aren't all killed at once, the combat personnel can always be replenished.

It's merely pruning branches like a gardener; it can't damage the Demon Slayer Corps' foundation at all.

Moreover, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen are scattered in various places.

Killing them one by one is also very troublesome.

Targeting intelligence personnel?

The Demon Slayer Corps' intelligence organization, "Kaku," is so well-known that it cannot be easily discovered.

Targeting logistics?

The location of the knife-forging village is secluded and difficult to search; they can also relocate.

Over the years, Shugo has sent people to search for them, and Fubukatsu Hayabusa has been flying around in his eagle form every day to gather information about the Demon Slayer Corps.

But there were no clues whatsoever.

The Demon Slayer Corps can hide even better than rats and cockroaches.

Sending people to search for him would cause a lot of trouble. Searching for someone in the deep mountains and forests is too time-consuming and more likely to result in death. Shugo himself also hid many secrets in the deep mountains and forests, which he was well aware of.

The progress was too slow, so Shugo just treated it as a daily routine.

However, the supplies needed for forging the sword and the problem of feeding the entire village were not so easy to solve.

A village whose main business is forging would never engage in large-scale farming to support itself; they simply don't have the time or inclination.

The village specializes in forging swords; even eating and crafting weapons cost money.

The hidden members gathered intelligence and traveled all over the country demanding money.

Swordsmen who slay demons hone their skills, do not engage in production, and therefore require money. (Being a swordsman requires being well-fed; in ancient times, those who could afford to practice martial arts were definitely not poor.)

Let's assume this is in modern times.

The Demon Slayer Corps is a money-losing business that costs money in every aspect but has no profit.

Even a novice would shake their head at this company's financial statements; investors would run away as soon as they see them.

This is a bottomless sinkhole!

If it weren't for the curse on the Ubuyashiki family, would the Ubuyashiki family spend exorbitant sums every year to support the Demon Slayer Corps, a bottomless pit that only drains resources and never generates income?

You only invest money but don't get any real benefit.

Perhaps he gained some fame and received gratitude from others?

Haha, what use is a reputation hidden in the shadows?

Ubuyashiki couldn't possibly publicize his reputation; that would be to expose himself and wait for the Demon King to come and take his life.

To be honest, even after doing a quick calculation of his expenses, Shugo finds it strange that Ubuyashiki hasn't gone bankrupt yet.

He's involved in both income and expenditure in his business, you know? He also has dozens of tons of gold and silver as a base, and yet he still feels short of money.

Shugo can simply target the root cause and bankrupt Ubuyashiki.

To support the Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki would inevitably have businesses in areas such as hotels, food, and transportation.

These industries must be managed separately and controlled by different people.

By closely monitoring these industries, investigating their revenues, calculating profits and losses, and comparing them with the spending of the industry owners, discrepancies will naturally be identified.

You earn money, so naturally you'll spend it. What? You live a simple life, don't like extravagance, and prefer to save money.

Okay, then let's send a ghost in to check the accounts and see if the money in your house matches up.

It doesn't match?

Then I'm sorry.

Better yet, they fund their rivals to compete in business, acquire industries, and leave them penniless, allowing for further observation.

I almost sent someone to kill the property owner and observe the aftermath. If something seemed amiss, I would follow the clues; if everything seemed normal, I would arrange for one of my own people to inherit the property.

Money or life, choose one.

The merchants who were targeted by Shugo were all incredibly unlucky.

Adhering to Boss Cao's style of "better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free".

Ubuyashiki properties will inevitably be affected.

Unable to afford to support the Demon Slayer Corps and with the Shogunate cutting off the supply of Nichirin Blades, it's not surprising that Ubuyashiki made this choice.

"Is this how they joined? They had no choice, but it suits us just the way they want."

Hiiragi narrowed his eyes.

Ubuyashiki is so poor they can't afford to support the Demon Slayer Corps anymore, so they've started large-scale layoffs, and some low-level swordsmen have probably been fired.

No, the question is whether they have that many swordsmen right now.

The swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps come from roughly four different sources.

One reason is that survivors of demon attacks join in order to seek revenge; examples from the original work include Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro Kamado.

Secondly, like the Rengoku family, they are hereditary swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Thirdly, like Zenitsu Agatsuma, they could be noticed and recommended to join the team by retired swordsmen.

Fourthly, there are those like Inosuke Hashibira who stumble into the swordsman's trial and become swordsmen by accident.

The first type of swordsman should account for 80%, and the remaining three types should account for the remaining 20%.

As for actively seeking out people to join?

That's even more absurd.

Ghosts, these are the demons and monsters that seem to appear in myths and legends.

Suddenly someone tells you that cannibals exist in the world and earnestly invites you to slay them.

A person with a better temper would say, "I'll give you a suggestion: go get your head checked."

People with bad tempers won't say a word; they'll just spit at you.

"In this way, Ubuyashiki should have been able to cut their losses in time."

Shugo doesn't believe the shogunate will genuinely accept the Demon Slayer Corps; breaking up the organization is inevitable.

How could the shogun not feel apprehensive about an organization that has existed in the shadows for hundreds of years, whose swordsmen and samurai whose fighting prowess surpasses that of the shogunate?

If the Ubuyashiki had any ambition, they could have changed the dynasty long ago.

Most importantly, the Demon Slayer Corps can't even find any business anymore.

After so many years of trials and tribulations, even the dumbest demons have come to understand that if things aren't done well and performance targets aren't met, it will become part of the Demon Slayer Corps' performance record.

That naturally resulted in it flying up in the air.

Therefore, Shugo could no longer find any useless people to give to the Demon Slayer Corps.

The decrease in the number of demon appearances means that the Demon Slayer Corps has run out of personnel to replace.

Demons now travel in groups, shooting and moving on, making it difficult for the Demon Slayer Corps to find them.

The villain inevitably makes the mistake of not eliminating the root of the problem after killing someone, and years later, the survivors come knocking on his door shouting for revenge (here, we specifically mention the scumbag boss who didn't wipe out the Kamado family). Shugo deeply abhors this and has emphasized the importance of eliminating the root of the problem since early on.

Only a fool would give someone time to develop.

The main villain should be stuck in the beginner village!

Nowadays, when ghosts kill people, they'll split even a passing earthworm upright, shake an egg until the yolk is broken, and dig up the grave!

This is the only foolproof plan!

"It seems the Demon Slayer Corps has changed its strategy and started playing the elite policy." Shugo smirked.

Ubuyashiki definitely didn't give up on the Demon Slayer Corps; it was their clan's hope for breaking the curse.

No fool would entrust their lifeline to someone else.

It is now the early days of the Meiji Restoration, a period of recent reforms.

Is it fair to place our hopes on this group of people?

You couldn't have done this without a stroke lasting ten years.

The demons' shift from territorial to nomadic behavior means that the Demon Slayer Corps' efficiency in killing demons is extremely low.

If you can't find your goal, all your skills will be meaningless.

The head of the Ubuyashiki family wouldn't do that, so they could only scale it down and turn it into an elite model.

Is it so that people can openly borrow the power of the Shogunate by joining the Demon Slayer Corps?

No, how could the Demon Slayer Corps not have someone in the government to hide for so long?

What's the point of openly borrowing this?

And what is the mastermind behind this move trying to achieve?

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem to be of much use.

Forget it, we will fight against the enemy with our soldiers and block the water with earth.

Shugo stopped torturing himself and gave up directly, realizing it would be foolish to let the enemy distract him.

Breathing techniques are the foundation of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Let's start from this angle and give the Demon Slayer Corps a hard time.

P.S.: This is a flashback, set before Kotoha's escape.