Chapter 200: Perpetrator
The first technical vehicle, which was firing a machine gun, exploded after being hit by a drone’s penetration bullet.
The bullet pierced the armor and hit the ammunition belt inside the vehicle, causing a large fire.
[Target 1 eliminated]
[Remaining hostile vehicles: 2]
The second vehicle quickly turned and tried to hide behind a building, but SWAN 3 and 6 simultaneously attacked from both sides.
Boom!
The front wheel of the vehicle burst first, causing it to lose balance. The following bullet pierced the passenger window.
[Target 2 neutralized]
[Confirmed death of occupant]
“Run while you have the chance!”
As the remaining vehicle hesitated and slowed down, Min Guk-cheol, supporting Jo Seong-hwan, ran toward the rendezvous point again.
SWAN 4, which passed by them, fired the final shot.
Crash!
The drone’s warhead struck the magazine loaded in the rear of the vehicle. Soon, dark red flames rose.
And then the explosion followed.
[Target 3 eliminated]
[Confirmed elimination of surrounding heat signatures]
Iron Howl’s three technical vehicles were annihilated in an instant. Then, they unleashed indiscriminate attacks on the enemy troops chasing after them.
“Wow… I heard the drones would help, but…”
“I never imagined it would be this much.”
“It’s as if each one has a will of its own and moves alive.”
Sergeant Jang Su-hyeok and Corporal Ha Jin-oh kept exclaiming in admiration, and Jo Seong-hwan, catching his breath while sitting on the ground, was equally amazed.
“I thought a system like this would take a long time… It seems Tae-jun mobilized the company’s full capabilities to save me.”
At that moment, Kang Tae-joon’s voice came through the earphones.
[Seong-hwan, are you okay?]
Jo Seong-hwan’s eyes welled up at the voice filled with concern.
“…I’m fine, brother. You must have been worried, huh?”
[What kind of question is that? You should’ve been careful if you were abroad. Getting kidnapped and all. You’re banned from overseas trips for a while.]
“No… This wasn’t something I could prevent by being careful.”
Of course, I knew that this wasn’t an issue Seong-hwan could have prevented by being careful.
Still, considering how worried I’d been, I felt like I needed to give him a good scolding to feel relieved.
[Anyway, it seems like we’ve pretty much dealt with them. Hurry to the rendezvous point… Wait, is there still one left?]
A red dot was blinking on the thermal sensor displayed on the HUD.
“Damn it… How the hell could this happen?”
Kim Chun-il.
A colonel belonging to Room 39 under the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army.
He was the commander overseeing this operation and was now in a state of great confusion as he left the operational area.
“I thought securing Jo Seong-hwan, Kang Tae-joon’s close associate, would allow us to secure the AGE without any problems.”
In fact, when they secured 2,000 AGE rifles and $300 million, he believed the operation was already more than half successful.
But…
Everything collapsed too quickly, in ways he couldn’t understand.
The desperate situation reports mixed with screams came over the radio.
[Comrade Colonel, our soldiers are being indiscriminately killed by unknown attacks.]
[Where the hell are the attacks coming from? Find them quick… Boom!]
[Aaaah, I don’t want to die here. Run… Boom!]
The explosions and death rattles heard over the radio were all too vivid. Even deploying Iron Howl’s mercenaries didn’t change the outcome.
Facing the incomprehensible situation, Kim Chun-il’s pupils shook, and his fingertips trembled incessantly.
‘First, I need to get out of here.’
Sorting out the situation would come later.
Clenching his teeth, he tried to hide in the alley behind the abandoned building.
Thud!
A bullet flown from somewhere shattered his kneecap. More accurately, it blew off his leg below the knee.
“Gaaaaah!”
He had endured hellish training in North Korea, but the pain of losing a leg entirely was unbearable.
As he screamed and crawled on the ground, another bullet flew towards him. This time, it was his remaining leg.
Lying on the ground covered in blood, he saw someone’s cold gaze looking down at him, which was also his last memory.
Numerous people’s eyes were drawn to a short post on Kang Tae-joon’s KTalk feed.
[KTalk Feed] - @Kang Tae-joon | 79,128,875 followers
Safe return!
Didn’t give the AGE, didn’t give the money.
Sent the kidnappers to a better place.
Except for one.
#RingleaderCaptured #TheMastermindsShouldBeNervous
└Wow! What’s the stock price?
└What stock?
└After Kang Tae-joon posted that he was going to the kidnappers himself, Dojin Frontier’s stock price dropped to $6.5, but it skyrocketed with the post about his safe return.
└How much?
└68%!
└What… Dojin Frontier’s stock price rose 68% in a single day? And it’s not even a penny stock?
└The whole world was watching this incident.
└Well, even my grandma knows about it. It was a big deal.
└But is it true that Kang Tae-joon went alone to rescue Jo Seong-hwan from the kidnappers?
└The kidnappers told him to come alone.
└But surely he didn’t go alone. He must have gone with special forces or something.
└Whoever he went with, I’ve completely changed my view of Kang Tae-joon this time. A chaebol risking his life for a friend.
└The $300 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers was all his personal money, too. He didn’t touch the company’s funds at all.
└If he had touched the company’s funds, the National Unity Party would have definitely caused trouble.
└And he not only gave the money but also captured the kidnappers’ ringleader.
└But what does the hashtag ‘The masterminds should be nervous’ mean?
└…
…
…
Mujinwon (無盡園).
The heart of Ahsung Group, deep within the chairman’s office.
Chairman Cheon Ho-tae leaned back in his chair with a heavy gaze.
In front of him sat Choi Ha-rim, who had taken over the Strategic Planning Office in place of Director Kim Seong-jae, and Gwon Seok-tae of the National Unity Party.
Everyone knew.
How serious this matter was.
“Not only did that Kang Tae-joon come back alive, but he even captured the ringleader…”
At Chairman Cheon’s low words, Choi Ha-rim cautiously spoke.
“If Kim Chun-il were to reveal anything about us, the situation would become irreversible.”
“That won’t happen.”
Gwon Seok-tae said, feigning composure.
“Kim Chun-il, who was in charge of the operation, is one of the most extremely trained members of North Korea’s Room 39. He won’t easily open his mouth.”
“Then… that’s a relief.”
Chairman Cheon’s expression seemed to ease slightly.
If, by any chance, Kim Chun-il were to speak up, everything would be exposed: what Ahsung and Assemblyman Gwon Seok-tae discussed with the North Korean side and what deals they proposed.
But as long as he remained silent, it could be treated as an unrelated matter.
However, no matter how well-trained a special forces member might be, they wouldn’t undergo training to withstand both legs being blown off. And all three of them were unaware of Kim Chun-il’s current condition.
“…By the way, Kang Tae-joon’s life is quite tenacious.”
At Assemblyman Gwon’s words, Chairman Cheon’s wrinkles deepened.
“Have we still not found out how he managed to survive there?”
“It has been confirmed that he went with three Blacktail agents, but we haven’t determined how just four of them, including Kang Tae-joon, managed to defeat so many troops.”
“It’s unfortunate it failed, but next time, we need to make sure it’s the end.”
When Chairman Cheon Ho-tae first heard the name Kang Tae-joon, he thought of him as just a somewhat lucky businessman.
Now, everything Kang Tae-joon did felt like a threat to him and Ahsung.
“So, we can’t let Dojin and that Kang Tae-joon run wild anymore.”
If necessary…
Even if it means killing him…
But suddenly, something unexpected happened.
Bang!
The chairman’s office door was forced open.
Investigators in black suits burst in, and a man leading them walked in quietly.
“We are from the Central District Prosecutor’s Office.”
Jung Woo-min, Chief Inspector of the Public Security Division 3 of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
He was famous for uncovering the ‘North Wind Manipulation Case’ in the past and was a key figure in the prosecutorial reform line directly recruited by President Baek Mu-jin.
His eyes were cold, and his actions showed no hesitation.
“Strategic Planning Director Choi Ha-rim and National Unity Party’s Gwon Seok-tae.”
“You are under arrest on charges of violating the National Security Act, the Defense Technology Protection Act, leaking national secrets, attempting to trade defense technology, and violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.”
As the investigators presented the warrant, Gwon Seok-tae jumped up from his seat.
“What the hell is this! Do you know who I am? I’m a member of the National Assembly! I have parliamentary immunity…”
“This is an arrest of a perpetrator.”
Chief Inspector Jung Woo-min’s voice was firm and cold. He strongly stated that even if someone was a member of the National Assembly, parliamentary immunity did not apply if they were a perpetrator.
“Evidence has been secured that a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea traded national strategic technology through abduction and threats. I’ll hear what you have to say in the interrogation room.”
Click.
The sound of handcuffs being snapped on the two of them echoed through the chairman’s office.
Gwon Seok-tae clenched his fists in anger, and Choi Ha-rim was led away silently with his head down.
The chairman’s office, suddenly empty.
Chief Inspector Jung Woo-min turned to Chairman Cheon Ho-tae and said,
“You are not a suspect today, but I will visit again soon. However, next time, you won’t be sitting as comfortably as you are now.”
After Jung Woo-min and the investigators left, the chairman’s office became so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.
Neither anger nor confusion.
Only the scent of crisis lingered heavily in the air.