Chapter 56

Chapter 56

"It certainly looks suspicious."

At Lee Seung-uk's words, Lee Myeong-hun, sitting beside him, nodded in agreement.

Yi-hyeon and the two men were holding a meeting at the Nonhyeon-dong team's office. They were discussing how to handle the investment presentation hosted by the Indonesian embassy in Korea.

"I don't know much about this sort of thing, but do they normally send invitations to companies that haven't even been established for a few months?"

"Of course not."

Yi-hyeon answered as he considered the question.

This was probably the limit of these two men's abilities. Their individual combat skills and judgment in tactical situations were exceptional, but when it came to understanding broader social affairs like this, they were no better than inexperienced high school students.

Yi-hyeon himself had been growing alongside Sion, developing insight and determination far beyond his years. But it would be unreasonable to expect the same from these two.

He needed more people. More talented individuals, particularly someone capable of comprehensive thinking and making decisions on his behalf.

In any case, he needed to reach a conclusion.

"I've decided to attend the event. You two make the necessary preparations."

Yi-hyeon spoke briefly and stood. He had already reached this decision after consulting Sion. The plan was to follow the bait his enemies had presented and capture whoever was pulling the strings.

When Yi-hyeon stepped out of the conference room, the people in the office rose to greet him. There were nearly ten of them. Lee Myeong-hun and Lee Seung-uk had been steadily recruiting personnel at his instruction.

As a result, the Nonhyeon-dong team now had close to twenty members. It had grown beyond Lee Myeong-hun's capacity to manage effectively. They needed a more senior leader.

'I should contact the commander.'

After returning to his Samseong-dong office, Yi-hyeon picked up his phone. Although it was already past seven in the evening, he didn't mind.

"Well, look who it is! That cheeky little rascal Song Yi-hyeon. Haha."

"Have you been well, sir?"

General Im Gi-yong was as energetic as ever. He was currently stationed at a rear-area division near Gimhae.

The former commander of the 707th Special Mission Group.

Even a man as formidable as him was now just another general assigned to an ordinary rear-area division. If things went well, he might earn his second star and become a division commander. Anything beyond that lay in the political realm, making his prospects uncertain.

"I have a favor to ask."

General Im Gi-yong listened silently as Yi-hyeon explained his situation.

"Whew. I heard some things from Senior Brother Bodeok, but you really do have a talent for stirring up trouble. Listening to you has reminded me of someone. I'll speak with him first and then get back to you. I'm not even sure whether that gentleman is in Korea right now."

After hanging up, Yi-hyeon thought about the conversation. Whoever General Im Gi-yong had in mind must be quite an important figure. Even the general hadn't spoken about him casually.

* * *

Two weeks later, at the H Hotel on Namsan.

Yi-hyeon attended the investment presentation hosted by the Indonesian embassy in Korea. At the entrance to the enormous ballroom, people who appeared to be embassy staff checked invitations and identities before attaching name badges to the guests' chests. Each badge displayed the attendee's name and company in neat English lettering. There appeared to be well over a hundred participants.

Most forums and seminars operated this way. It made it easier for attendees to recognize one another and exchange greetings.

The female employee who pinned Yi-hyeon's badge on him brightened at the sight of him and escorted him to his seat. Apparently, even the seating arrangements had been prepared in advance.

It was now eleven in the morning, and the event began.

First, Indonesia's Minister of Industry, who had arrived in Korea a few days earlier, took the podium to deliver congratulatory remarks. The Indonesian ambassador to Korea followed with another address.

These bastards had organized an actual event just to capture Yi-hyeon. That meant China's MSS had even managed to mobilize the Indonesian government. Once again, he was struck by the extraordinary lengths they were willing to go to get their hands on him.

After all the Indonesian dignitaries had finished their greetings, the meal service began.

"Oh, these fellows have put some thought into this. The food is quite good. Hmm, but why aren't you eating, Representative Song?"

The man seated to Yi-hyeon's left at the round table spoke to him again, in English. He had introduced himself the moment Yi-hyeon sat down and hadn't stopped talking since. He claimed to be the Singapore branch manager of a foreign private equity fund, that his company had recently established a Korean branch, and that he was simultaneously serving as its Korean branch manager, among other things.

"Ah, my stomach hasn't been well since yesterday, so I'm fasting."

Yi-hyeon gave a casual reply and left it at that.

In fact, he hadn't so much as taken a sip of water since sitting down. If he consumed something suspicious and went into shock, these men would immediately carry him away.

He was in enemy territory. Caution was essential.

"I see."

The man beside him replied, his eyes gleaming.

His name badge read Mr. Anderson J. Chang. His company was listed as Kale & Kung Co.

He was probably an ethnic Chinese Singaporean. Around forty years old, perhaps. His short hair was neatly combed back, and his gold-rimmed glasses gave him a tidy appearance. Unlike his refined face, however, his physique looked solid and well-trained.

"Where does S&K primarily invest? I imagine the Korean market isn't your main focus. Regulations here are severe, and even repatriating investment profits takes time. It's hardly an ideal environment for serious investment."

"That's right. We've been gradually reducing our exposure to Korea and expanding our investments in America and Europe."

That was true.

Even setting aside the corporations established in America, the funds managed under Yi-hyeon's personal name had become far too large to keep entirely in the Korean stock market. His investments in America and Europe now accounted for a much greater share.

"In that case, how would you feel about investing in the oil field recently discovered on Sulawesi Island? I've been surveying the site since last year, and I've already established a separate corporation. We're just about ready to invest. But the required capital is so large that headquarters won't approve it. They want me to find another fund willing to invest an amount comparable to ours. Damn it, those fellows sit around at headquarters staring at numbers all day. They have no understanding of what things are like on the ground."

Yi-hyeon merely smiled.

Trying to find a co-investor at an event like this was laughable. And if the investment target was an oil field, the complications were almost beyond description. Indonesian government involvement would be unavoidable, and every stage, from distributing equity stakes to managing profits, would require international legal certification and due diligence.

Specialists could handle those tasks, of course, but what about the investment risks? Even if they began working on it immediately, establishing a joint venture would take an eternity.

Yi-hyeon had no intention of making investments like that. If there was a good opportunity, why share the profits with someone else instead of taking it all himself?

More importantly, was this man the person he was looking for? It certainly seemed so. Yi-hyeon's instincts were remarkably accurate in such matters. And besides, Sion was there to tell him.

- I estimate that more than eighty-seven percent of what this man is saying is false.

Three in the afternoon. The event would be ending shortly.

Yi-hyeon was perfectly relaxed, but the man beside him apparently wasn't. After stepping out for a while and returning, he made a suggestion.

"By the way, Representative Song? Would you care to step outside for some fresh air and a smoke? I happen to have some excellent cigars."

Finally!

"I'm not particularly fond of smoking, but it is a little stuffy in here. Shall we step outside?"

The man's face lit up when Yi-hyeon stood. He looked as though the plan he'd been carefully nurturing all morning was finally bearing fruit.

The grand ballroom was on the second floor. As Yi-hyeon left the ballroom and entered the corridor, which was lined with an elaborately patterned carpet, Anderson Chang took the lead.

"There's a smoking area around that corner."

He pointed toward the far end of the corridor. To reach it, they would have to pass a junction with another hallway on the right.

Yi-hyeon followed Chang with a cold smile.

These bastards···.

Just as Yi-hyeon followed Chang past the junction where the two corridors met,

"Don't move!"

A door to the emergency stairwell suddenly burst open, and several men rushed out.

Two of them! Both were carrying guns. They wore hotel staff uniforms.

As Yi-hyeon briefly regarded them, Chang approached from behind.

"Representative Song, please come with us for a moment. Someone is very eager to meet you and has something important to discuss. I assure you, it won't be to your disadvantage. Come along."

Chang spoke in a leisurely tone, but his hands urgently pushed Yi-hyeon toward the emergency exit. Once they passed through the doorway, another man was waiting. He stood at the far end of the emergency passage, pressing the button for a freight elevator.

Clunk.

The instant the steel emergency door closed automatically behind them, Yi-hyeon began moving.

First, the two men holding guns.

Swish!

Almost simultaneously, Yi-hyeon struck both men in the chest and spun around toward the one still pressing the elevator button.

"Huh?"

The man froze in astonishment at Yi-hyeon's movements. He hurriedly reached for the pistol at his waist, but at that instant,

"Urgh!"

Yi-hyeon's right hand drove into his side.

Leaving the collapsing man where he fell, Yi-hyeon glared at Chang and took out his phone.

"It's me. I'm in the emergency passage off the corridor in front of the second-floor ballroom. I've captured a few bastards here."

"Yes, sir!"

Yi-hyeon slipped the phone back into his pocket after hearing Lee Seung-uk's vigorous reply, then looked at Chang.

"Now it's your turn to come with me."

"Hiyah!"

While Yi-hyeon had been on the phone, Chang had stood motionless as though bound by ropes. Now he clenched his teeth and lunged at him.

His hand was neither clenched into a fist nor fully extended, but held somewhere in between. It shot toward Yi-hyeon's throat like the wind.

The technique was clean and efficient, but Yi-hyeon could sense the tremendous force concentrated in that hand. An ordinary person struck by it would suffer ruptured neck muscles and arteries.

Yi-hyeon lowered his stance, slipped beneath the incoming hand, and extended his left arm. Both men moved with lightning speed, and they collided almost immediately.

Smack!

"Khup!"

When Yi-hyeon's left hand seized his side, Chang's face instantly turned yellow. He couldn't breathe.

What the hell is this bastard!

He was tall and looked so lean that he seemed to possess no strength whatsoever. Yet he could perform a technique like this?

Chang sank to his knees under Yi-hyeon's grip, his mind racing. He had received a briefing before coming here. The reports written by the four men defeated near Gimpo Airport had described in detail the techniques demonstrated by Yi-hyeon and his subordinate.

But he'd never imagined they were capable of anything like this.

"Huuu···."

Fighting desperately against his increasingly obstructed breathing, he glared at Yi-hyeon.

"Listen here. You bastards don't have a monopoly on kidnapping. You're all coming with me, and you're going to have a great deal to tell me."

Less than three minutes later, Lee Seung-uk and Lee Myeong-hun came running up the stairs with their subordinates.

"Representative!"

"Take all these bastards away. This time, I intend to question them personally."

"Yes, sir!"

Yi-hyeon watched as the four men were loaded into the elevator and taken downstairs, then turned around. He needed to return to his seat, conclude his participation in the event, and leave properly.

* * *

That night, at the abandoned factory in Siheung.

After the event ended, Yi-hyeon had calmly returned home, changed clothes, and altered his face and physique enough to disguise his appearance. He then climbed into the car Lee Seung-uk had brought and traveled to Siheung.

"This way, sir."

Following Lee Seung-uk downstairs, Yi-hyeon entered a large chamber with concrete walls and a steel door at the entrance. Four men lay sprawled across the floor.

"They still haven't talked. These bastards are pretty tough."

As Yi-hyeon listened to Lee Myeong-hun, who was holding a square steel pipe, he surveyed the prisoners.

The three men who had been hiding in the emergency passage appeared to be unconscious, lying completely motionless. Only Chang was still writhing on the floor, and he slowly raised his head.

"Urgh."

Chang's blood-soaked face was a gruesome sight. Yet his eyes still burned fiercely.

"You'll fall into our hands eventually. Just kill me now. I'll never open my mouth. They used to call me the Reaper."

Several of his teeth had been broken, making his pronunciation unclear, but everyone present understood him perfectly.

Yi-hyeon crouched in front of Chang.

"Listen, Mr. Chang. Did you just ask me to kill you? You talk about death far too easily."

Yi-hyeon reached out and gripped Chang's chest. A moment later, a harsh groan burst from the man's mouth.

Before even a minute had passed, Chang's wailing echoed throughout the basement.

"Arrgh, aaagh, please! I'll talk, so just kill me quickly! Please!"

© Saedungi#1tjzr