Chapter 173
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Crow
Team Leader Yang Yong-jun of Eight Star Tech ground his teeth while tied to a chair.
"You bastards. Do you even know what this place is? The cops are gonna show up any minute and drag you all away!"
Anderson dangled Yang Yong-jun's security card in front of him.
"That's only if the security system here is working normally. But you personally shut it all down for us, didn't you?"
"Th-that was just to show you around..."
To let an outsider into this warehouse facility without authorization, they first had to disable the security system.
Yang Yong-jun had used his authority to halt the security system and let Anderson in.
But the moment Anderson entered the security room under the pretense of touring it, he subdued the staff there and crippled every security system.
Right after that, his men stormed the facility.
One of Anderson's subordinates approached.
"Boss. We've got all the employees."
"How many?"
"Seven."
His subordinate was armed with a pistol.
"What about the woman who went to the bathroom?"
"Gamma went to grab her."
Gamma wasn't his real name. They used nicknames during operations.
Yang Yong-jun shook his body furiously, his face flushed red as he shouted.
"You bastard! Soo-yeon has nothing to do with this!"
"The punk's just yelling but not charging. Scared of the gun?"
"Of course I'm scared! Who wouldn't be?!"
"Stop shaking like that. I tied you up nice and gentle on purpose. You'll hurt yourself. And you're the one who dragged that innocent woman into this. We couldn't care less about your solar panels, but you insisted we meet her."
"Th-that was... I was just trying to help and make things go well..."
"That woman got caught up in this because of you."
Anderson's other subordinate, Gamma, approached.
"Boss. We've got a problem. The woman's not in the bathroom."
Anderson's expression hardened.
"Did she catch on? She's smarter than this idiot, at least. Signal jamming?"
"Already in place. Every cell phone in the facility is out of range."
"Landlines?"
Delta, who handled the security systems, spoke up.
"All cut off."
"Then head to the control room, turn the surveillance cameras back on, and find that woman. She's somewhere inside. And locate our package too."
"That idiot probably knows where the package is."
Anderson sneered at Yang Yong-jun.
"Nah. This moron doesn't even know it's here. Search manually."
"Got it!"
Na Gang-in drove toward Gapyeong while talking on the phone with Kwon Dong-jin.
"You confirmed it?"
Kwon Dong-jin replied urgently.
- I'll text you the last location where Soo-yeon's phone pinged.
Kwon Soo-yeon's smartphone was set up so her family member, Kwon Dong-jin, could track her location.
She'd added that setting on purpose after collapsing in an empty lot behind a building while fleeing a laptop thief last time. In exchange, they'd agreed to disable it once she got healthier.
- But why are you asking about Soo-yeon's location? Is something wrong? You told me not to call her, and it's driving me crazy worrying.
"It might be nothing. I'll check it out and get back to you."
- Please do.
Na Gang-in hung up. This time, Scarlett from Omega Tech called internationally.
"Results?"
- Our company has never officially pursued any dealings with Eight Star Tech.
"What about unofficial channels by individual staff?"
- Possible at the initial contact stage. But nothing through official procedures.
"Understood."
- Hold on. What's going on? Is it dangerous?
"Not sure yet."
- Let me know if you need help. I owe you one.
"Will do if it comes to that."
He ended the call with Scarlett too.
Na Gang-in was currently passing through Namyangju. Continuing in that direction would take him to Gapyeong.
The address from Kwon Dong-jin arrived via text. It was exactly where he was headed.
Na Gang-in had been gunning for that warehouse from the start. Kwon Soo-yeon had said "Gapyeong warehouse" before the call cut off.
"Knew it."
Na Gang-in's car was already flying at high speed. The engine roared fiercely.
Shin Eun-ha hummed a tune as she drove leisurely. A soft ballad flowed from the speakers.
Her destination was the restaurant Penelope.
"Gang-in oppa cooking for me personally is great, but eating delicious food at a nice place like Penelope is good too. Hehe. I wonder why he wants to meet today?"
She felt excited for no reason.
"Does he have something special to tell me? Is that it? That's why he called just me?"
She checked her mirror when she hit a red light.
"Should've dolled up more."
Na Gang-in sped past the road in front of Eight Star Tech's Gapyeong warehouse in his car.
"That place doesn't look like your average warehouse even at a glance."
"Security level?"
"If I break one or two of those?"
"If you're saying that, then the enemy can't easily climb that fence either."
The high fence blocked any view inside from outside. The only opening was beyond the main gate.
The moment Na Gang-in's car passed the main gate road, he glanced in the side mirror.
"Armed guards at a civilian warehouse? Check what that guy's doing right now."
The car had already passed the gate. The guard was eyeing it intently as it drove away.
And that scene reflected perfectly in the rearview and side mirrors.
AI Jeon Ji-in projected a holographic video into the air.
The footage was a real-time composite of the guard's reflection in the mirrors. It showed the guard confirming Na Gang-in's car was leaving while reporting via radio to someone.
"Probably reporting an old sedan just passed by. Normal guards don't report every little thing like that. What kind of weapon?"
The pistol's outline appeared over his clothes. The gun itself was compact, but the front was longer than normal.
"A special security facility might have armed private cops, but a suppressor doesn't add up. That guy's a fake."
Na Gang-in pulled the car over somewhere out of sight from the main gate.
"Hard to infiltrate there only applies when the security system's active."
"The enemy infiltrated with the security down. Probably Yang Yong-jun who shut it off. Would the ones occupying it now turn the full alarm system back on? Nah. At most, just the CCTV."
"Why break into a warehouse? To grab something stored inside. To do that without interruption, they'd keep external-linked security offline."
Na Gang-in hid the car and pulled a folding mountain bike from the trunk.
This bike had been modified by AI Jeon Ji-in in several areas, like the one used chasing kidnappers before. Especially the drivetrain and folding joints had been reinforced to withstand high-speed mountain maneuvers.
There was a mountain near the Eight Star Tech warehouse facility.
He rode the mountain bike into the mountain, weaving through the forest to recon the warehouse. The mountain's elevation allowed a view over the fence inside.
"Soo-yeon, Yang Yong-jun, or other employees?"
"Then the other armed forces must be inside the warehouse or buildings..."
Inside the fence were four warehouses and one auxiliary building.
"They've got guns. Can't storm in without knowing Soo-yeon's situation. Might get her shot."
"No blind spot? Then we'll make one."
One of the monitors in the security control room suddenly spun around, facing a different direction. A mercenary inside yelled quickly.
"What the hell? Check the 3 o'clock camera!"
Two mercenaries searching inside rushed over and reported.
- The camera moved!
The control room mercenary tensed.
"Intruder?"
- No. A crow just dropped right in front of the camera on the ground. Looks like it flew into it. Huh? The crow's coming to and flying off.
"Unbelievable. I'll fix the camera. You two keep looking for that woman. She's gotta be somewhere in here."
No one could command a crow to turn the camera. They didn't suspect it.
"Threw it just right so it wouldn't die."
Na Gang-in had caught a live crow on the mountain, knocked it out lightly, then thrown it as close as possible to the warehouse fence. The stunned crow hit the CCTV and fell inside.
It took guards 10 seconds to reach the spot after the camera swiveled. That created a 10-second blind spot.
10 seconds was plenty for Na Gang-in to vault the fence and slip inside. The guards arrived after, checking out the crow on the ground.
Na Gang-in moved deeper inside. AI Jeon Ji-in reported.
Na Gang-in peeked that way.
"He took Soo-yeon out, so why's he tied up there? Not with them?"
"You always assume collusion first?"
"Need more intel. What's he yapping about?"
Na Gang-in approached Warehouse 2. Only after taking cover behind its wall could he hear the conversation inside through a window.
A mercenary reported to Anderson.
"Warehouse 4 is locked."
"Security card?"
"Tried all the subdued employees' cards. Won't open."
"Did you scan this idiot's too?"
"Checked. Digital lock disengages, but the door won't budge."
"Why?"
"Employees say it happens if locked from inside."
Anderson frowned slightly and asked.
"Found the escaped woman?"
"Not yet."
"Then she must've gone into Warehouse 4 and locked it from inside. Definitely smarter than this fool."
Yang Yong-jun cackled.
"You idiots. Warehouse 4 is a special facility—vault-level tough. Even ramming it with the forklift here won't open it."
Anderson asked.
"So how do you open it?"
"Why would I tell you..."
A nearby mercenary pressed a pistol to Yang Yong-jun's forehead.
Yang Yong-jun quickly explained.
"If locked from inside, you need a key that slots in and turns from outside. But that key's not here. It's at HQ."
Anderson glanced at his subordinate. The man replied.
"The captives said the same."
"Then it's true."
Yang Yong-jun sneaked a glance and said.
"Anderson. You can't open that door anyway. Why not call it quits and leave? No one's hurt yet. We can let this slide quietly. We're not exactly eager to advertise the facility getting robbed either."
Anderson ordered his subordinate.
"Go to the car and get the gear. If Warehouse 4 is special, our package is probably there."
Yang Yong-jun asked hurriedly.
"W-wait. What gear?"
"Didn't prep for cracking a safe? A few holes in the door and it'll pop open."
Na Gang-in muttered softly.
"Ji-in. Ditch that shithead for now."
That wasn't why Na Gang-in wanted to rescue Kwon Soo-yeon first.
"Her breathing sounded off on the call. That's bothering me. Check if she's in Warehouse 4 first."