Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Electric Sheep
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Shin Eun-ha, walking alongside Na Gang-in, sidled up a little closer and asked,
"Scarlett Kelly? An international call? Nah, that wouldn't work—we couldn't make dinner plans. She must've come to Korea, huh?"
"She swung by the PC bang. Grilled me about why we weren't serving food today."
Shin Eun-ha grumbled.
"Tch. Why does someone with all that money keep going back there?"
"You have plenty of money too, but you show up at the PC bang all the time."
Shin Eun-ha quickly changed the subject by looking up at the seven-story building ahead.
"That's Penelope up there."
Restaurant Penelope was on the seventh floor of that building.
"Gang-in oppa. You wouldn't happen to be having dinner with Scarlett at a place like that tonight, right?"
"Nah. We're going somewhere cheap."
Shin Eun-ha's face lit up.
"Then can I join you for dinner? I'll pay."
"You don't have to. We're hitting the snack bar in my neighborhood."
Shin Eun-ha beamed.
"Ah, so you're meeting Scarlett at a snack bar. Makes sense. If she's in Korea, she should try Korean snacks. There are plenty of fancy restaurants in America."
Cougar and his three underlings emerged from the seven-story building. Their car was parked in the underground lot.
The sidewalk was so wide that Na Gang-in and Shin Eun-ha passed Cougar's group without even brushing shoulders.
AI Jeon Ji-in didn't record every passerby's face. Even if she snapped a photo, she didn't report it to Na Gang-in one by one.
But this time, she did.
"What's odd about them?"
"Probably soldiers. Keep their face photos just in case."
AI Jeon Ji-in displayed holograms of the four.
Shin Eun-ha was wearing a mask and sunglasses too. She even had a hat on.
Shin Eun-ha asked from the side.
"Why do you mumble to yourself sometimes? Reciting magic spells or something?"
"Better than magic."
Na Gang-in sent Scarlett the location of the neighborhood snack bar. Scarlett handled her daytime schedule and headed there in the evening.
Standing in front of the snack bar, she asked,
"This is really it?"
Jessica answered from beside her.
"Checked the address. It's the right place."
"Is this some hidden Korean gem?"
"Nope. Just your average neighborhood snack bar."
Scarlett grumbled in disbelief.
"Wow... Na Gang-in. You're saying we're doing our date here?"
"It's not a date."
"Ouch, don't hit me with facts—it hurts."
Scarlett stepped inside the snack bar.
Shin Eun-ha was sitting right next to Na Gang-in.
Shin Eun-ha waved with a bright smile.
"Oh! Scarlett. Long time no see."
Scarlett was floored.
"Whoa. And Shin Eun-ha's here too."
Scarlett tucked in her pouty lip and composed her expression before sitting across from Na Gang-in. She asked,
"So, dinner for the three of us tonight? You're not super busy and have to head out early, right, Shin Eun-ha?"
Her hint fell flat.
"Oh, no, I'm not."
Shin Eun-ha even counterattacked.
"And it's not three—it's four."
"Jessica's eating with our staff next door."
"Not Jessica."
High schooler Lee Yeon-ji, in her uniform, flung open the snack bar door.
"Yesss! Made it on time!"
Na Gang-in beckoned her.
"Come sit."
"Yes! Oh! Hi, Eun-ha unnie."
"Hey. Come on over."
"Huh? Another guest..."
Lee Yeon-ji pointed at Scarlett with her finger and shouted,
"Ah! Scarlett Kelly!"
Scarlett tilted her head slightly.
"How does a student know me?"
"Of course! I read your paper in an international academic journal!"
Scarlett grinned.
"Heh. Another fan here."
Na Gang-in asked Lee Yeon-ji,
"So you really wanna be a scientist, huh?"
Lee Yeon-ji sat next to Scarlett.
"Heehee. Dream for the future. Right now, I'm just a starving high school girl."
"You eat like a ravenous beast."
Among the four, Lee Yeon-ji ate the most, Shin Eun-ha quite a bit too, and Scarlett was used to Korean food.
Jessica and the two bodyguards sat at another table. Jessica had picked two company security guys who spoke Korean, so they dug into the snack bar fare well.
Na Gang-in asked Scarlett,
"Bringing bodyguards these days, I see."
"Korea's threat level's gone up a bit, so they came along. Jessica wouldn't let me come otherwise."
Jessica raised her chopsticks slightly from the next table.
"Better safe than sorry, right?"
Scarlett's words carried info. Na Gang-in asked,
"What do you mean Korea's threat level is up?"
"Mm... company secret?"
"Add an egg and fritter to that tteokbokki, and spill."
"Mm... Jessica?"
The snack bar was empty except for them. Jessica dragged her chair over to their table.
"Not confirmed intel. We just heard some recon."
"I'll take that into account."
"You know Jackal, right? Of course you do—you nabbed him at that Gangnam restaurant."
Jackal's target back then had been Scarlett Kelly.
"Jackal's remnants show up?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Plenty of mercs out there doing that kinda work—not just Jackal. And among the international ones, there's a guy who's teamed up with him multiple times."
"Name?"
"Codename Cougar. Real name? Nobody knows."
"Cougar?"
"Another name for puma. A beast."
"What does he look like?"
"No clue. Master of disguise—never exposed his real face to any agency."
"Threat level?"
Jessica's eyes narrowed.
"Cougar's crueler and more dangerous than Jackal."
"He enter the country?"
"Not confirmed, but possible he's here now. So Scarlett's threat level got bumped up. Last time Jackal targeted her, and Cougar's got a similar vibe—might try too."
"Timeline's off, though? Wouldn't Cougar have arrived before Scarlett?"
"True, but better safe."
Lee Yeon-ji, slurping her jjolmyeon next to them, asked,
"This isn't some movie plot, is it?"
Na Gang-in replied,
"It is. New movie scenario."
"Feels real."
"Want more food?"
"Pork cutlet!"
International merc Cougar opened a box at his temporary hideout.
Silver cylinder inside.
Cougar scowled at it.
"Man, smells like fish here."
His underling explained.
"Hid it in a fish transport truck to get in. Can't avoid the smell."
"Hey, soap it up and rinse the outside at least. We'll get busted before we start from the stench."
"Got it."
The underling grabbed the canister with gloved hands. Cougar warned,
"Don't slip while washing and twist the lid. Even a leak kills you."
"Yes, sir!"
Na Gang-in and the group finished dinner at the neighborhood snack bar.
Scarlett complained,
"What is this? Stomach full, but feels like a loss? This wasn't the dinner I had in mind."
Na Gang-in said,
"Got work. I'm out."
High schooler Lee Yeon-ji shot her hand up.
"I wanna chat more with Scarlett unnie!"
"Don't get too chummy. She's a bit off her rocker."
"Genius types are always a little eccentric."
Scarlett told Lee Yeon-ji,
"Oh? Nicely shading me now?"
"Ah! Your Korean's flawless. No, no—joke. Total joke."
Scarlett suggested,
"Curious what you're up to this late. Mind if I tag...?"
Shin Eun-ha cut in quick.
"Send Gang-in oppa off to work, and us girls go for dessert. I'll show you the best coffee and cake spot around here."
Na Gang-in stood right away.
"Cool. Enjoy the cake, ladies."
Na Gang-in returned to his fabrication base alone.
He'd caught the hacker targeting Yulmyeong Bio. But the one who hired him? Still out there.
Only clue left: the enemy wanted Yulmyeong Bio's antidote in development.
"When would they need that antidote? Obviously when XVE gas gets used. So where are they planning to deploy it?"
"If someone's pulling a chemical attack, where'd they hit? Symbolic spot? Or crowded place?"
Someone else was looking into the same thing.
"Any progress?"
"Wish I could."
Shin Eun-ha led the group to a cafe in the neighborhood. The wide second-floor terrace was empty, so they claimed it.
Lee Yeon-ji sipped cola and dug into cake.
"This cake is so good."
Shin Eun-ha said,
"High schoolers really pack it away. Want more?"
"Aw, I have some pride."
"Nah, you don't."
Lee Yeon-ji slurped her iced cola through a straw, looking around.
"These light strings look like jewels."
Scarlett had been waiting for an opening. At the jewel mention, she boasted,
"I've got a jewel exhibit schedule tomorrow."
Shin Eun-ha asked,
"The one in Jongno?"
"Oh, you know it?"
"I'm going tomorrow too."
Scarlett subtly poked at her.
"Price tags are pretty steep, though?"
Shin Eun-ha brushed it off lightly, resting her chin on her hand.
"I'm the jewel. Gotta go shine up the exhibit. Hohoho."
"I see. I'm not just looking—planning to buy what I like."
"Me too."
Lee Yeon-ji jumped in.
"I'll come too. Wanna see pretty jewels."
Scarlett asked,
"Gonna buy one?"
"Where's a student get money? Not everyone at a gallery buys a painting. I'll just grab souvenirs."
Shin Eun-ha proposed,
"Then ride with me tomorrow. Scarlett's going separately anyway."
"Ah, should we invite ajusshi too?"
Shin Eun-ha glanced at Scarlett. Bringing Na Gang-in would mean Scarlett tagging along too.
She deflected,
"No way. Gang-in oppa goes to precision machining exhibits, not jewel shows."
"Wow, ajusshi knows how to save."
"You saying I'm a spendthrift?"
Lee Yeon-ji waved it off laughing.
"Aw, no. Joke. Joke."
"You got school tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow's Saturday."
"Right. Been off filming, slacking—lost track of days."
Na Gang-in investigated potential chemical attack sites at the fabrication base until dawn. Too many candidates—couldn't narrow it down.
He crashed on the cot there.
Na Gang-in woke past 10 a.m. Saturday, still groggy, and asked,
"Uh... Ji-in. My body's got military-grade enhancements, right? It's stronger, so why do I need so much sleep?"
"But you assist my limbs."
"You taste food like me."
Na Gang-in snapped to a bit.
"Right, yeah. That's why I have to voice commands for you to hear. Telepathy between us would be nice. Any in 2082...?"
Na Gang-in pulled yesterday's burger from the fridge, nuked it, and brewed coffee.
"Breakfast's gotta be coffee and burger."
"Tomorrow, coffee and donuts. Coffee's what wakes me up."
He sat with coffee and burger. Computer had run all night.
"Ji-in. You sleep when I do?"
"You sleep. Do electric sheep show up in your dreams?"