Chapter 181: < Protect – Episode 180 – Six-Party Talks [1] >

Just like how Ahn Soo Ho had his own people, so did Ahn Da Sol. Just as Nicholas Cha’s name implied, he moved from the West to Eastern Europe. To be more exact, his grandfather was a North Korean partisan while his father was an agent that went between North Korea and the Soviet Union before their collapse.

As someone who watched over Pyeongyang and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nicholas Cha went to j.a.pan and became a Korean resident residing in j.a.pan. It had already been over 25 years since he met her. Her boldness that didn’t match her looks resembling a middle school student even made him surprised.

‘k.u.miko… Wait, is she Ahn Da Sol now?’

The j.a.panese government simply viewed her as an information a.n.a.lyst, but Nicholas Cha was certain that she was a complete monster. The Soviet Union also created many monsters. They constantly engaged in human experiments in order to beat the Yankees, and Nicholas Cha happened to be in the end results of those experiments.

Problems regarding Returner Group had been raised for quite some time. Since it was hard to retire in this field of work, there were many agents that laundered their own pasts just like him. If they could disappear just like that and live a good life, that was a relief, but it wasn’t just spies that wanted to forget their pasts. What controlled today’s world was information.

Fatal information that could bring down the ones in power.

The ones in power who wanted to sleep comfortably at night had to focus on cleaning after themselves. The reason why spies lined up behind power was to become successful, but it was also for the sake of their survival. Most people who enter the intelligence world begin with patriotism, but later on, they simply wanted to be promoted for greedy reasons.

They had to survive somehow.

Clean it up.

As soon as Nicholas Cha heard Ahn Da Sol’s voice through his earpiece, he got out of his car. At the same time, other men with different eye colors got out as well.

“Clean it up.”

Nicholas’ men dispersed in response. He took out a cigarette and laughed bitterly. His New Year’s resolution was always to quit smoking, but he had yet to accomplish it.

“Huu.”

The cigarette’s smoke filled the air around him.

Team Leader Cha.

Nicholas grabbed his keys in response to the radio call.

“What ?”

-You need to come up here.

“Hold on.”

He put out his cigarette and walked up the stairs heading outside of the underground parking lot. Following Ahn Da Sol’s gunshots, the police were going to be dispatched soon. Considering s.h.i.+mura Financial… or more like Daerim Industries’ connections, 8 to 10 minutes was the longest their dispatch could be postponed. Nicholas Cha was walking past his subordinates getting rid of all the CCTV evidence when he smelled something fishy and frowned.

“Ahhh!”

The body was a wreck.

It had been a long time since the designer suit was made into rags. He was butchered.

“Huh? Why did you come up here?”

Ahn Da Sol, who was holding a machete covered in blood tilted her head at Nicholas’ appearance. Was it already time for the police to arrive? Nicholas shook his head.

“We still have time.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Look at yourself, Boss.”

Ahn Da Sol and Nicholas were close, but since there were other people around, he kept his formalities.

“Oh.”

She looked down at her b.l.o.o.d.y mini dress and then stuck out her tongue. She got so into shooting and stabbing that she ended up covered in blood.

Nicholas looked at his watch.

“Three minutes.”

“Not bad.”

As soon as he turned around, Ahn Da Sol looked at the man handcuffed to the desk.

“If you lie again, I’ll really cut off your wrist.”

“Ugh! I don’t know! I swear!”

For the last few decades, the CIA had been sending over economic a.s.sa.s.sins to their competing organizations. In some cases, they even sent some to those of allying countries. The reason why America was at the top of the world was because of their economic power. Without strong economic power, there was no strong US military or military power.

Economic a.s.sa.s.sins were experts that could be hired to kill an economy. Some considered them as spies, but in a broader sense, they also counted as businessmen with the support of the government. The reason why Korea was at the bottom of the totem pole in the intelligence world was because they were too ethical when it came to considering national profits.

Koreans called the j.a.panese weak.

Koreans thought the Chinese were stupid.

But was that really true? Not at all. Just like how China hid their hacker and criminal organizations behind that image, j.a.pan also possessed the strongest lobbying groups as well as criminal organizations called yakuzas.

China’s potential in a cyberwar wasn’t far too behind that of the States. And in the same way, j.a.pan’s lobbying capabilities was compet.i.tive with that of Was.h.i.+ngton D.C. The number of funds and manpower both countries invested for their own national profits were astronomical. If it was for the good of their nation, there was nothing they couldn’t do. But on the other hand, Korea still had an amateur mindset.

‘There’s no such thing as fair play in international society.’

While Korea was sweeping its underground banking with economic a.s.sa.s.sins, the Korean government’s hands were tied. Despite their opposition using illegal and cheating ways to do the deed, they just talked about fair play and watched. While Ahn Da Sol lived as k.u.miko, she committed all sorts of evil acts as a j.a.panese citizen. It might have sounded like an excuse, but she did it all for the benefit of j.a.pan’s profits. And from now on, she planned to live diligently as a Korean.

“I’m not even asking for that much. Just tell me the names you know.”

There was a top economic a.s.sa.s.sin sent from j.a.pan to Korea that she didn’t know of.

As soon as she put the machete against his wrist, he screamed with a pale look on his face.

“Ma… Masmura Sosuke!”

“Masmura Sosuke? I’ve never heard of him before.”

“He has a Korean name, too!”

“Go on.”

He gulped and then responded.

“Han Young Jin!”

“Han Young Jin? Youngjin Group?”

Youngjin Group wasn’t just Korea National a.s.sociation’s puppet after all.

“How interesting.”

******

The Korean government labeled Bridal Mask as a terrorist.

Seeing from the murder cases, it was easy to misunderstand that the safety had gotten worse in Korea, but besides the murders, the number of crimes decreased drastically. However, there were some side effects. There were many copycat crimes that put the blame on Bridal Mask, and Bridal Mask somehow found them and made them pay. After that, even the copycat crimes stopped.

Not only were they more capable than the police, but the victims of crimes who were fed up with the slow and shabby investigations were ready to sign a pet.i.tion as a group. The citizens no longer had any trust in governmental authority. What started as a candlelight vigil led to an explosion of scandals, provocation of North Korea, as well as a threat to public safety. However, the responses of foreigners looking in from the outside weren’t so bad.

They were actually looking for where to invest their money. In response to the chaotic changes in the market, the economic experts were bound to be shocked. But despite a criminal attacking the newsroom and sending out a report and countless foreign tourists dying on Korean land, the external responses were quite calm.

Even j.a.pan was busy cussing at the yakuzas for committing crimes in Korea. There were still protests, but there was absolutely no sweet talk about the murder case by the protestors or politicians. Korea’s diplomats in both Korea and j.a.pan were puzzled as well.

‘Masked terrorists. Who are they?’

Following the broadcast on HBS, people no longer a.s.sociated them with Korea. Also, they were no longer called Bridal Mask alone. In the case of Captain America in New York and Guy Fawkes in London, they didn’t get much support in the beginning. However, when Bridal Mask mentioned their names and showed the mask swapping performance, netizens all over the world got worked up.

I want you!

For justice!

It was a simple phrase that caused a sensation.

The wave of masked heroes in America, Europe, South America, and Africa all had the common destination of Asia. But the police had a headache following the societal movements against evil. There was a steep rise in violence cases. And the problem was that they were no longer manageable as before.

The sudden change in popular opinion shocked the investigative authority. For example, they normally looked over the inappropriate conduct of underage kids, but that was no longer the case. The inappropriate behavior of underage kids led to physical fights, and not even the adults that were pa.s.sing by held back. If it was yesterday, the student would have been in favor, but not anymore.

In the last month, the amount of violence increased by 3000% and it was still on the rise. They realized the truth that the law was far from them and fists were closed, but following the seeking of justice, it was to their disadvantage. No matter how righteous something seemed, it didn’t always resonate with the law. Despite the fact, it made those who were pa.s.sionate about justice act in a loud manner.

“Reformation of the rich! Get rid of the rich! Abolish the rich!”

“Reformation of the rich! Get rid of the rich!”

“Reformation of the rich!”

However, they didn’t hold any candles.

As a result of Hacker Try Net’s reveal, the Korean economy went down, and the public didn’t even let the powerful politicians off the hook. The members of the National a.s.sembly were immune to it, but it didn’t apply to those who were involved with bribery, tax evasion, and abuse of power. This was the first time a general a.s.sembly was crippled due to so many members of the national a.s.sembly losing their jobs because they were connected to crimes.

In every party was illegal and cheating ways. As a result, each party committed itself to gain popular sentiment once more and put the bridal mask issue to the background. They had to put out the big fire first. A by-election was a crisis as well as an opportunity.

The beginning of a national reformation committee didn’t need the National a.s.sembly’s confirmation. Ahn Soo Ho spoke about how the reformation of the rich was going to take place and what effects it would have in interviews, and everyone who had some money in Korea swarmed in.

“In the case of the affiliates, wouldn’t the division make them less compet.i.tive? Then their business performance will worsen leading to fewer profits, so they’ll have no choice but to restructure their organization and lay off a lot of employees.”

“Daesan Group is working on how to resolve that.”

“Are you saying you’re not responsible for it whatsoever?”

“Isn’t the dissolution of the rich what you all wanted?”

He made it sound like he was asking why they were causing a fuss when he was doing what they wanted.

“Regarding the system isolation, Daesan Group already decided on their internal stance. Besides, Chairman Kim Dae San and Chairman Kim Dae Chan are good businessmen. They both believe that clan management needs to end in order to make themselves more compet.i.tive.”

“Are you saying there isn’t any special treatment?”

“Special treatment? The former employees of Daesan will hate me. I’m scared about staying at Daesan Hotel now.”

“Haha.”

He loosened up the mood. The 300-seat discussion meeting had a lighthearted atmosphere. It was an open event that even average people could attend as long as they signed up beforehand. Ahn Soo Ho had a discussion meeting every few days in order to help the Korean citizens understand, and he allowed both television and internet broadcasts to take place.

“Wasn’t there an unpleasant event at HBS recently, Chairman Ahn?”

“Unpleasant, yes… I suppose so.”

“Luckily, there were no casualties.”

Bridal Mask, who put on a very short broadcast at HBS, disappeared as quickly as he appeared. And he had already hidden by the time the police arrived.

“Wasn’t it scary facing a terrorist face-to-face?”

“Since he was wearing an explosive vest, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

“How did that happen? Please tell us in more detail.”

“This has nothing to do with reformation though.”

“Please!”

Ahn Soo Ho nodded in response.

“I ran into Bridal Mask in the middle of monitoring the broadcast station. Since one of our employees was captured as a captive, I had to take responsibility as the man in charge.”

That night, Mrs. Park Ok Nam and Jang Seol Hyun got so angry that they hit him over the back.

“What are your thoughts on Bridal Mask’s remark?”

“Which one?”

“For justice.”

‘For justice!’

This was a phrase that was comforting. Shay Leeper put on a better act than he expected. Smart criminals that dreamt of perfect crimes were narcissists as well as perfectionists. Ahn Soo Ho didn’t trust him. Those with higher IQs tended to be more arrogant.

‘Arrogant narcissists are exhibitionists.’

If a person would egg him on, he felt flattered, but there was a limit to everything.

“Whether it’s Bridal Mask, Guy Fawkes, or some masked hero, they’re not serving justice. What they doing is an injustice. Korea is a const.i.tutional state. No matter how unfair it may seem, it’s not right to ignore the law.”

“The citizens love it.”

“But that’s not right.”

“Are you saying the people are not right?”

The reporters showed sparkling eyes in hopes that they got a scoop.

“The reason why they cover their faces is because they don’t’ feel honorable. The reformation committee doesn’t have investigative authority, but we can urge the police and prosecution.”

Was the justice of the unfortunate and the fortunate different?

In terms of justice, what Ahn Soo Ho did was unjust. However, the people were so disappointed in Korea’s upper cla.s.s, and their leaders.h.i.+p that they loved the injustice. After all, it was refres.h.i.+ng to see.

Ahn Soo Ho pointed at the camera.

“I need you.”

Every listener probably sensed something different from that phrase.

“For justice.”

It was time to end his game of justice.

< Protect – Episode 180 – Six-Party Talks [1] >