Chapter 32
Chapter 32
“Guh?!”
Gu Jeong-hyeok snapped awake and sat bolt upright. He was no longer on the container ship—he was in the Pungyang Trade office at the harbor. Looking out the window, he saw the belatedly arrived support unit collecting the guards' corpses. The deck was a total mess. Staring at it with a dumbstruck look, Gu Jeong-hyeok finally managed to force out a voice after a long moment.
“I... survived?”
He had survived. But at the same time, Gu Jeong-hyeok couldn't comprehend the fact that he was alive. How? He'd clearly passed out while clutched in that massive pirate's grip. Did the bastard just knock him out and let him go? Why would that pirate do that? No, before that... what the hell happened while I was out?
As Gu Jeong-hyeok got to his feet, trying to sort out his jumbled thoughts—
“Awake?”
A calm, sunken voice cut off his frantic outburst. Turning his gaze, there stood the guest dispatched from the main house: Kim Chang-un. Unlike Gu Jeong-hyeok, who was covered in wounds, not a single scratch marked Chang-un's body.
“What happened?”
A single question encompassing countless others—what went down, why am I alive. Chang-un replied in a low voice.
“I talked with that big brute leading the pirates. Told him they picked the wrong ship to plunder.”
With that, Chang-un shook the jade-green command token in his hand. Proof of his membership in the Andong Kim Clan. No matter the pirates—even if Japanese scum or prestige clan heirs—they couldn't touch him recklessly. No one who harmed a prestige clan's bloodline survived.
Having grasped the rough situation, Gu Jeong-hyeok started to exhale in relief—but only for a moment.
“...The cargo! What about the cargo?!”
At his desperate shout, Chang-un silently nodded toward one side of the window with his chin. Pungyang Jo Clan cargo being transported to the harbor by crane. Seeing the serial numbers displayed on his visual interface, Gu Jeong-hyeok finally released the breath he'd held.
The mission ordered by the main house, teetering on the brink of death, was a success. But now, he had another problem.
“Hey, suit bastard.”
Kim Chang-un addressed him rudely, without even minimal respect. Gu Jeong-hyeok's expression hardened, but Chang-un continued in a cold voice.
“You made the final decision on the rendezvous point, right?”
“Yes.”
“And yet those pirate bastards charged straight at our exact position in the dead of night? Plus, your security team that you boasted about got turned into minced meat in under ten minutes. Right?”
“Y-Yes...”
“Hey, you fucking dog bastard.”
The cold voice gradually heated up, erupting into full fury at the end.
“You said security was especially tight? I believed that crap and came out to the open ocean without escorts—and you let pirate scum steal our location info? Are all the guys working for Pungyang Jo Clan useless shits like you?”
“Security procedures were carried out normally, and I supervised personally. The possibility of a leak from our side is...!”
“I almost died because the info got leaked, you fucking retard—! You think I have to buy your 'possibility' bullshit after it all went down?! Huh?!”
Gu Jeong-hyeok couldn't muster a proper reply amid Chang-un's relentless verbal assault. It was only natural. Even as a fallen bastard from the clan ranks, he was still a prestige clan member and a guest here on Jo Seong-hwan's orders. Exposing such an important figure to a pirate raid, then fleeing alone to the panic room without proper escort—that was a clear blunder. Thanks to that, Gu Jeong-hyeok had no position to defend himself against Chang-un's abuse.
Gotcha.
Of course, the head-to-toe fury and scolding were all an act. In reality, Chang-un inwardly smirked with satisfaction as he watched Gu Jeong-hyeok bow his head.
Now all that's left is to exploit this chaos to the max.
Finishing his thoughts, Chang-un spoke to the still-shocked Gu Jeong-hyeok.
“The pirates attacked right at the moment we were loading cargo, and only a few dozen people knew the rendezvous spot—including you and me. Meaning, one of them leaked it outside.”
“...!”
The true culprit who sold info to the pirates and orchestrated the raid was Chang-un himself, fuming right now—but oblivious Gu Jeong-hyeok accepted it without suspicion.
Desk-jockey's limits when he's never seen the field. No way that smug brain's working right after brushing the gates of hell.
If Gu Jeong-hyeok had time to cool his head, he'd have suspected Chang-un first—finding it fishy that the kid emerged unscathed from that insane chaos. But unfortunately, he had no such leeway. His mind was still spinning from the near-death ordeal, his body on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, and this prestige clan bastard was grilling him nonstop. Even a seasoned main-house exec had mental limits.
Right now, Gu Jeong-hyeok's sole concern was soothing Chang-un's rage and shipping the cargo to Jo Seong-hwan.
In other words...
Exactly as I intended.
“A trading company directly managed by the main house colluding with pirates... The more I think about it, the more absurd it is.”
Sighing as if in lament, Chang-un scowled at Gu Jeong-hyeok.
“If this raid reaches Young Master Jo Seong-hwan's ears, what do you think happens to you, the on-site head?”
“...!”
At the near-threat, Gu Jeong-hyeok's face turned ashen.
If Chang-un reported the raid to Jo Seong-hwan, he—as site lead—could lose his head over responsibility for the incident.
“I...”
As Chang-un averted his gaze after finishing, Gu Jeong-hyeok dropped to his knees on his battered body and opened his mouth.
“What... what do I need to do for you?”
Straight to the point, no flowery words like their first meeting. Stifling his emerging laugh at Gu Jeong-hyeok's trembling eyes, Chang-un replied.
“Handle it yourself.”
Doubt showed on Gu Jeong-hyeok's bowed face.
“Handle... what?”
“As long as the cargo ships on time, the main house won't nitpick the process. So keep quiet about the raid, ship the goods, and bury it so no one knows.”
Gu Jeong-hyeok's eyes went distant at Chang-un's words.
Bury the incident. In other words, track down and eliminate everyone who knew the shipping plan.
Employees who'd viewed the manifests, dock laborers. Even his own informants monitoring Chang-un with him—all of them.
“What, impossible?”
“No. I can do it.”
After brief hesitation, Gu Jeong-hyeok decided quickly. He was destined to return to the main house and rise in the Pungyang Jo Clan. He couldn't be purged here. Staff, subordinates, informants—replacements were easy.
“Pungyang Trade is a company I manage directly, and the undercover informants are ones I trained myself. If I issue a summons, they'll gather without suspicion...”
“Kill them all, and no one knows about the raid?”
“Yes.”
Jackpot.
Chang-un nodded, suppressing his rising smirk.
“Then do it flawlessly. Handle it without loose ends, and I'll overlook you ditching me to save your skin.”
“...Pardon?”
A reaction of not expecting such leniency.
“R-Really?”
“Dokgo-seong's death already delayed shipping by a month. No research results, researchers clamoring for the cargo... Young Master Jo Seong-hwan's sensitive about it.”
Chang-un shrugged toward him before continuing.
“Reporting a pirate raid causing shipment delays now... Not good for my position either.”
Gu Jeong-hyeok nodded deeply, seemingly convinced by the explanation. Was the improvised excuse that convincing?
No. Truth was, Gu Jeong-hyeok wouldn't have cared what Chang-un said. What mattered was finding a way out of the purge crisis—and he had.
“Understood. I'll prepare it as quickly and flawlessly as possible.”
“Do it right. I'm not watching, but I won't forget you abandoning me and running.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
With talks concluded, Gu Jeong-hyeok's shoulders slumped as if sinking into the earth, relieved. After the night's ordeal, he looked a decade older than at their first meeting. Seeing his state, Chang-un struggled even harder to hold back laughter.
“Young Master Kim Chang-un.”
At that opportune moment, an unfamiliar voice came from outside. Chang-un said to enter, and two men in red robes stepped in, bowing politely.
“We heard things wrapped up, so we came to escort you.”
“Vehicle's prepared. This way, please.”
Seamless top-grade full-body cybernetic enhancements, white embroidery on their robe sashes. Pungyang Jo Clan escorts.
“You'll keep watch until Hanseong, then.”
Shaking his head with a fed-up look, Chang-un slowly rose.
“Tied things up neatly enough. Time to return to our posts. Me to Hanseong, you to the Pungyang Jo Clan main house.”
In his blue robe, just before leaving the office under the escorts' guidance, Chang-un glanced back at Gu Jeong-hyeok and added,
“Once we're on our separate paths, let's never show our faces to each other again.”
“...Yes. As you wish.”
Gu Jeong-hyeok bowed in response to Chang-un's meaningful words. Brushing off the greeting indifferently, Chang-un boarded the Pungyang Jo Clan vehicle led by the escorts.
“Puhahaha—!”
Only then did he unleash the laughter he'd held back, bursting into side-splitting guffaws right there.
How many minutes of nonstop laughter?
—Mu-young here, young master.
Mu-young, who had infiltrated the container, sent a voice transmission to Chang-un.
“Yeah, coming in clear. All good there?”
—Yes. The guest says he's heading back to his rural home. He mentioned goods to pick up midway, so we'll take them to Hanseong together.
“Roger. Stay safe. See you back home.”
—Understood. Hanging up first.
It sounded like everyday conversation, but it was the script Chang-un had prepped for Mu-young. Summarizing the signal: infiltration complete.
Thus, phase one of toying with the Pungyang Jo Clan was fully complete.
“Alright, my tasks are about wrapped up.”
Gazing at Busan, shining radiantly in the rising morning sun's glow, Chang-un thought.
Successfully used the pirate raid's chaos to infiltrate Mu-young into the cargo container. Gu Jeong-hyeok's suspicions were completely dispelled, and he'd personally bury the raid, making it as if it never happened.
Now, it was time to watch his shadow-prepared partners' handiwork.
The Joseon Zero traitor, Hwae's craftsmanship.