Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Sweep
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Jo Dae-sang, the enforcer captain of the drug organization, kicked the car inside the crumbling warehouse.
"Fuck! How embarrassing is this? Getting our asses handed to us by some random punk!"
His close subordinate, Kim Dong-sik, spoke up.
"That guy up front rampaging wasn't some ordinary civilian. I thought a demon had shown up."
"That bastard's no ordinary human. How does he not even flinch when we shoot at him?"
The subordinate next to him had tried shooting an arrow at Na Gang-in but got hit in the shoulder by a flying jackknife.
"He catches arrows barehanded and throws knives like arrows. I thought he was a robot, not a person."
"Today's just our unlucky day. Why'd a guy like that have to..."
Jo Dae-sang's face twisted in frustration.
"You don't think he knew about our deal and came after us, right? The Chinese didn't betray us, did they?"
"He was with those actors, wasn't he? If the Chinese sent him, he wouldn't have been hanging out with them."
"Ah, right. Damn it."
The gang member who'd been cut clutched the bandage wrapped around his shoulder.
"Boss, the bleeding won't stop. Can we head to a hospital...?"
"If we go to a hospital now, we're both dead meat. Hang in there. I've got a doctor buddy, so let's get to the office first."
"Then when do we head out...?"
"We gotta hide here for at least two hours. The cops think we've already hit the highway and are probably combing through the road CCTVs right now."
Jo Dae-sang asked another subordinate.
"You swapped all the plates?"
"Yes! Completely different numbers now!"
"We should switch cars entirely to be safe... but in this situation, changing plates is the best we can do."
Enforcer captain Jo Dae-sang emerged from the rundown warehouse after exactly two hours.
The warehouse was quite a distance from the incident site. It was the farthest they could go without getting caught on CCTV, sticking to back roads.
Jo Dae-sang scanned the surroundings from the passenger seat. No police cars in sight.
"See? Wait long enough, and the cops are gone. They're probably still tearing up the area around Cheongpyeong."
"What about the highway?"
"You think the cops are gonna check every single car that passed the highway all day? They'll scrutinize the ones from two hours ago, but right now, they'll just glance at the plates."
The plates on this car had been taken from another stolen vehicle.
"These plates match the car model and color perfectly. So if we go now, we won't get caught."
"As expected, Boss is always thorough."
Na Gang-in quietly tailed Jo Dae-sang's car from a safe distance.
Shin Eun-ha asked from the passenger seat.
"How'd you know they wouldn't bolt and would hole up instead?"
"I figured it was fifty-fifty, but this caught my eye."
He'd tracked recent tire marks on the unpaved road all the way here. He'd spotted them leading to that abandoned house an hour ago.
Instead of confronting them then, he'd driven past, parked far away, and waited for them to emerge. Just as he'd predicted, Jo Dae-sang moved out two hours after the incident.
Shin Eun-ha asked.
"But is tailing them from this far okay? What if we lose them?"
"They're gonna be on high alert while fleeing, so we need this much distance or they'll notice."
Unpaved roads leave tire tracks. With Combat Support AI Jeon Ji-in analyzing them, he could follow.
"Once they hit a main road, we can close the gap—they won't suspect us with all the other traffic. But tail too close here, and they'll spot us, then they won't head back to base."
"Base?"
"Where the rest of their crew is holed up."
Jo Dae-sang's car entered Seoul and pulled into the parking lot of a shabby two-story commercial building.
They scanned the area cautiously before heading inside. The one with the shoulder wound hid his bandage under a jacket.
After they entered, Na Gang-in's car drove past the building.
Na Gang-in said.
"Eun-ha, call the cops and report a drug den in that building."
"Me?"
"They'll take it seriously and send plenty of backup if it's you reporting."
"Oh, right. The fight we had is all over the news, so if I call, they'll swarm immediately."
"Exactly."
As Shin Eun-ha went to make the call, she asked.
"Wait. So we're not fighting?"
"Huh?"
Shin Eun-ha raised both hands in front of her, chopping the air with her palms.
"I thought you'd go in there and beat the crap out of them, Oppa. I'd back you up from behind, whacking away."
Na Gang-in said.
"Why fight when we can let the cops handle it? We'll just watch from back here."
This drug organization had thirty members in total.
But Jo Dae-sang, who'd taken twenty out with him, returned with only five.
The boss trembled with rage.
"What the hell? You blew all my product and left fifteen guys behind?"
Jo Dae-sang knelt and pleaded.
"Boss, there was no choice. Those guys were too strong..."
The boss grabbed an ashtray and hurled it at Jo Dae-sang. The glass ashtray smashed into his head and bounced off.
Jo Dae-sang's head snapped back hard. Blood streamed down his forehead, but he didn't wipe it, just kept talking.
"B-Boss, I'm sorry..."
The boss flipped the desk sideways and kicked Jo Dae-sang.
"You punk! You come back after getting beat by civilians and now you yap? You trying to ruin me?"
"N-No..."
The boss suddenly pulled a knife and stabbed at Jo Dae-sang.
"Just die, you bastard!"
He could've taken the ashtray hit, but a knife was different. And the boss wasn't aiming for thigh or arm—he went straight for the gut.
Jo Dae-sang jerked back, dodging the blade. If he hadn't, it would've sunk into his stomach.
Jo Dae-sang realized it fully then.
'He's seriously trying to kill me!'
He'd seen the boss kill like this before. Stay still, and he'd be dead.
Jo Dae-sang's eyes flashed with madness. He'd joined the drug gang to live large, not die like this—not even a fingernail's worth.
As he backed away, he bellowed.
"Fuck! This ain't right! The boss is gonna kill us and bury us! Grab your weapons!"
His four men panicked. Kim Dong-sik hurriedly asked.
"B-Boss, there must be some misunderstanding..."
"Our faces are all over the news! That's why he's gonna bury us all! Stand still and we're dead!"
The word "dead" made his four subordinates draw knives in a flash.
The boss's men drew theirs too.
Jo Dae-sang's side was outnumbered two-to-one. But they were desperate—losing here meant death.
Jo Dae-sang yelled at the boss.
"We're outnumbered, but we won't go down easy! If we fight like this, everyone here dies!"
A police operations room officer received the tip and reported urgently.
"Shin Eun-ha called in—she spotted the drug gang's hideout!"
"What? The actress Shin Eun-ha? You sure?"
"Yes! It's definitely her voice!"
"Some of the guys who escaped the Cheongpyeong mess must be there!"
The info shot straight to the task force. Orders came immediately.
"Send in units now! Don't let a single one escape!"
The drug gang's internal brawl ended with the boss's faction victorious. Jo Dae-sang's crew fought desperately but couldn't overcome the numbers.
The boss approached Jo Dae-sang, slumped and bleeding on the floor. His men had done most of the fighting, so he was unscathed.
The boss dangled a dagger in front of Jo Dae-sang.
"Dae-sang, you should've just gotten caught back in Cheongpyeong. You might've kept your rat life then."
"You bastard..."
"You've cost me big. That product was expensive, and replacing those guys ain't easy... Sigh."
"You asshole. With your hidden cash and gold, you could cover it..."
The boss pressed the knife to Jo Dae-sang's gut and whispered.
"You sniffed out where I stashed it, didn't you? That's why you gotta die. If you spill to the cops, my money's gone."
Jo Dae-sang's eyes shook. The blade against his skin terrified him. He pleaded desperately.
"Boss, misunderstanding! I was just heated earlier."
"And you bought a gun without telling me?"
"Huh? That was..."
"A rifle? With a scope, you could snipe. Who were you gonna snipe? Me, right?"
Jo Dae-sang's eyes shook harder.
"N-No, that's not..."
"It is. I know what's in your head..."
Suddenly, the office door exploded inward with a bang. Detectives rushed in, guns drawn.
"Police! Don't move!"
The lead detective scanned the room and froze.
"What the hell? What's with these guys?"
The one behind him said.
"They're already covered in blood? Did they fight each other?"
"Thought they'd be busy running. Makes our job easier."
"Only one's unscathed."
That unscathed one was the boss. He was half-crouched, knife to Jo Dae-sang's gut.
The knife was hidden by Jo Dae-sang's body at first. The lead detective stepped aside to let others in and spotted it.
"Knife!"
The detectives raised pistols again.
"Drop it, asshole!"
The boss panicked.
"F-Fuck."
Jo Dae-sang's eyes darted wildly. He was badly hurt, expecting death by the boss's knife—then cops showed up.
'Even prison's better than dying.'
Plus, a shot at revenge.
Jo Dae-sang rolled away from the knife, sprawling backward, yelling.
"That bastard's the real villain! He's killed people! I know where he hid all the drug money—save me and I'll tell you everything!"
He didn't know the exact spot, but he had guesses.
The detectives' faces lit up.
"Really? Hey, call 119 and get him to the hospital first."
The boss, frantic, raised his dagger high, shouting.
"Shut up, you rat!"
A detective pulled the trigger. The shot rang out.
"Don't move! Drop the knife!"
The boss flinched but no bullet hit. It was a blank for warning.
Relieved, the boss stabbed down at Jo Dae-sang. A sharp-eyed detective fired again—this time live rounds.
He didn't shoot the boss. The bullet hit a decorative statue behind him, ricocheting to shatter the window.
The detective bellowed.
"Drop it or I shoot for real!"
The boss's eyes flicked to a wall mirror. He saw the broken window behind him.
A detective tried to calm him.
"Hey, put down the knife and stay still..."
The boss spun and dove out the window.
"Huh? Hey!"
The detectives panicked but couldn't shoot a fleeing suspect in the back—too much paperwork.
"Grab him!"
Shin Eun-ha asked in the middle of the street.
"Why are we just standing here?"
Na Gang-in pointed at the second-floor window.
"After the cops breach, anyone fleeing has to come out this way."
A gunshot rang out, and glass shattered, shards raining down.
Shin Eun-ha hunched her shoulders.
"Gunfire? Shouldn't we find cover?"
"Cops firing. Someone's coming out now."
Suddenly, the boss hurled himself out the window. He didn't drop straight—he grabbed the sill, hung, then jumped.
He hit the ground scanning around. He spotted Shin Eun-ha. His eyes gleamed.
Shin Eun-ha pointed at him.
"That guy?"
"Yeah. That's him."