Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Whistle
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Police sirens wailed all around, red and blue lights flashing throughout the alley.
A dimly lit alleyway.
Jason and Shin-ju were looking down at a body sprawled in a corner of the alley.
It was the child predator Duros had thrown earlier.
It seemed this was where he had ended up after flying through Shin-ju's gate.
*Zzzzip—*
Soon, as the scene was being cleared, the body disappeared into a large body bag.
“Four prior convictions. Released a week ago.”
“Jason… did you know about this?”
“About what?”
“What do you mean, ‘about what’?”
Shin-ju jutted his chin toward a corner of the alley.
“That this whole show was going on.”
Jason paused for a moment before answering.
“Even if I had known, they’re untouchable.”
Shin-ju crossed his arms and looked at Jason with disapproval.
“Still, you have to investigate, right?”
Jason looked troubled and didn't answer.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Did you not hear a word I just said? I told you, they’re untouchable!”
Jason snapped, his frustration boiling over.
As Shin-ju continued to stare at him, Jason scratched his head vigorously and let out a deep sigh.
“It’s not like there’s *no* way.”
Jason spoke while watching the police officers bustling in the distance.
“The only way is to go around this case, arrest them for something else, and then connect the dots.”
Shin-ju looked unimpressed.
“Isn’t it a bit late to be taking the scenic route?”
Jason held up a finger in front of Shin-ju.
“Listen carefully. We absolutely cannot go after them for this case.”
Shin-ju thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers in realization.
“Public opinion would be swayed to one side.”
Jason nodded.
“Exactly. Right now, the situation is that a massive criminal organization has executed a heinous criminal.”
He shrugged, looking at Shin-ju as if it were obvious.
“What do you think public opinion will be?”
Shin-ju stroked his beard, his hand on his chin.
“So you’re saying they might get positive press for judging a vicious criminal.”
“Right. Bio Vanguard did what the police and the law couldn’t dare to do.”
Shin-ju gave a slight nod.
“Then there’s no need to draw attention that would only benefit them.”
“Exactly.”
Shin-ju wore a bitter expression.
“It’s a similar situation to Korea.”
“That’s because it started in the U.S. Kim Cha-yoon is just playing that role in Korea.”
“Slowly dismantle U.C.I.D., then appoint themselves as vigilantes to execute criminals…”
Jason snorted.
“They’re all the same criminal bastards anyway.”
“But… is there really a reason to go to such lengths?”
Shin-ju crossed his arms and turned to Jason.
“I get that they want to win over public opinion and the masses.”
Jason stroked his chin, listening to Shin-ju.
“But I don’t understand what they’re trying to gain by manipulating public opinion to this extent.”
“This time, they’re even dragging in the Bluerobic people, trying to expose Earth to the Planet Destroyer again.”
“Unless their goal is to destroy Earth, there’s no reason for such a suicidal act…”
“Well, we’ll find out once we investigate. That’s why we need to keep digging for leads.”
Jason turned his head.
“By the way, is Enri okay?”
“Yeah, she’s in the hospital now. I was shocked at first, thought her face had caved in.”
“I heard she was badly hurt.”
“But the check-up showed it was just a bruise.”
“Wow… She’s tough, alright. A fight with a Dragonkin ending in just a bruise…”
Jason, who had been chuckling while looking off into the distance, turned back to Shin-ju.
“So, what’s the plan now?”
“I don’t know… I’ll have to keep tracking them, even if it’s on my own.”
“You sure you’ll be okay? I can assign an investigator to you if you need one. Oh, right, didn’t I say I’d get you a guide?”
Shin-ju looked at Jason with an exhausted expression.
“Who is it, anyway?”
“Hold on. Let me check if they’re available.”
Jason raised his phone.
Meanwhile, Shin-ju frowned and covered his face with his hands.
“Haaah… If I just had the performer list for Goodfellas, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble…”
Jason glanced at his phone and casually remarked.
“Yeah. It’d be great if we could hack some department at Bio Vanguard…”
Shin-ju looked up as if he’d realized something. He stared intently at Jason.
“Hey!!”
Shin-ju pulled out his phone and tapped Jason on the shoulder.
“Hey! Thanks! That’s it!”
Soon, an unwelcome voice came from the phone.
- What is it…?
“I have a favor to ask.”
- ….
Shin-ju spoke urgently.
“I’ve located Goodfellas, a secret club run by Bio Vanguard in the U.S.”
- Wait a minute, Mr. Shin-ju!
Hyde cut Shin-ju off.
“…What is it?”
- Haaah… Look, Mr. Shin-ju… Do you think I’m some kind of vending machine?
Ignoring Hyde’s sigh, Shin-ju continued.
“Didn’t we make a deal? The second condition: to thoroughly uncover the mastermind behind the music piracy.”
Hyde listened quietly.
“As I recall, besides finding out about the music distributor Canyon Fonuel, you haven’t done much else.”
Shin-ju paced near Jason as he continued the call.
Jason watched him with a ‘Who’s he talking to?’ expression.
“And even that information wasn’t particularly useful, was it?”
Hyde’s sigh could be heard over the phone.
- Haaah… Not useful…?
“Until we get a satisfactory result. No, until all information related to the music piracy is thoroughly exposed, you, Mr. Hyde, must patiently continue to dig up information.”
Shin-ju, who had been looking at the ground while on the phone, raised his head.
“Isn’t that the only way to get what you want? The Old Book is right around the corner, Mr. Hyde.”
- Hooo… Fine. Alright. It hurts my pride, but I have no choice.
Hyde’s tone changed as if he’d steeled himself.
- So… what information is it you want?
“I need you to extract the performer information for the secret shows hosted by Bio Vanguard at Goodfellas.”
Shin-ju spoke quickly, as if he’d been waiting for this.
“And since today is Monday… I need all of it for this week, day by day, including today’s.”
- You mean the U.S. branch of Bio Vanguard?
“Yes. Don’t tell me it’s too difficult?”
- No, I’ll give it a shot.
“When can you have it by?”
- I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon.
“Excellent. I’m counting on you.”
*Click.*
“Who was that?”
Jason approached Shin-ju, tilting his head curiously.
“Oh, a hacker from the pirate crew.”
“You mean the executive from the Shark Tooth Pirates you caught?”
“Yeah, I recruited him.”
“Hah, you son of a gun. You’re good at that kind of thing.”
“Well, now all we have to do is wait.”
“Yeah, get some rest for today. And come see me tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, you got in touch with them?”
“Yeah, one of them happens to be free. I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”
Shin-ju felt a vague sense of unease.
U.C.I.D. Los Angeles Headquarters.
It was another busy, bustling morning.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.”
Shin-ju squeezed through the crowd of alien police officers, big and small, making his way to Jason’s desk.
“Hey, over here!”
Jason called out, waving a document in his hand.
*Tweet-tweet-tweet—*
“Huh??”
Before Shin-ju stood a short, stout female alien with a whistle in her mouth.
She had a short bob and remarkably large eyes, and she wore a retinal shield as if to protect them from Earth’s sunlight.
An alien with white pupils inside black sclera.
*Tweet— Tweet—*
The female alien extended her hand to Shin-ju with a crisp gesture.
Beside them, Jason provided an interpretation that was obvious to anyone.
“She says it’s a pleasure to meet you. Ah, this is Speeder. She’s an officer from the Traffic Safety Division, a very competent friend who keeps the traffic in this congested city of LA flowing smoothly.”
Shin-ju stood awkwardly for a moment, looking hesitant, before extending his own hand as if nothing was wrong.
“Uh… Ah, yes! A pleasure to meet you. I’m Park Shin-ju, a Negoti-alien from the Republic of Korea.”
*Tweet— Tweet—*
Speeder smiled brightly and blew her whistle as if to say it was nice to meet him.
She looked like a child playing dress-up as a police officer.
Shin-ju smiled back and tilted his head slightly.
*What the heck. He acted like he was going to introduce me to someone strange, but she seems alright.*
Jason, as if reading Shin-ju’s thoughts, spoke up.
“I was originally planning to mess with you, but I changed my mind after seeing how much trouble you went through yesterday, you punk.”
After shaking hands, Shin-ju turned to Jason.
“Haha, but is she really free?”
“Yeah, she happens to be off duty today, so she’s available.”
“Oh my, I’m sorry to bother you on your day off.”
*Tweet-tweet-tweet—*
Speeder blew her whistle and nodded as if to say it was no problem.
Looking at the small alien before him, Shin-ju thought she was quite a unique individual.
*From the looks of it, she can’t speak…*
It seemed she used the whistle to communicate due to some incident or circumstance.
And as they shook hands, Shin-ju noticed an arrow-shaped pattern on her white gloves.
*She must have some kind of special ability.*
While Shin-ju was lost in thought, Jason interjected.
“Yeah, you seem to have figured it out. As you can see, she can’t speak. So she communicates using Morse code with her whistle or through sign language.”
“Ah, I see.”
Jason narrowed his eyes and grinned.
“You know Morse code and sign language, right?”
Shin-ju laughed in disbelief.
“Pfft, that’s nothing.”
“Good. Speeder here knows the geography of LA like the back of her hand, so she’ll be a great help. For your information, she also knows the locations of Bio Vanguard’s mercenary dens and secret headquarters.”
Speeder proudly puffed out her chest and placed her hands on her hips, as if to say, ‘How about that?’
“Oho…”
Jason smiled at Speeder as if she were cute, then turned his head to look at Shin-ju.
“So, what are you going to do until you get the information from that hacker?”
“Hmm…”
Shin-ju crossed his arms and looked down at Speeder for a moment.
Speeder looked up at Shin-ju with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Let’s go, anywhere, quickly.’
She jerked her thumb toward the exit with a nod.
Just then, Shin-ju raised his head as if he’d made a decision.
“First, I think I need to go see an old criminal friend of ours.”