Chapter 33
Beep.
A short mechanical chime rang out, and text scrolled across the device in his hand. An old-school PDA hooked into the legacy comms network. Bunetal, who was driving the truck, let out a low whistle as he scanned the readout.
"To send details this thorough... There's nothing left for me to do."
Gaksital, sitting in the passenger seat, checked the PDA after hearing Bunetal's words. The battered screen was crammed with intel on the truck heading to the Pungyang Jo Clan's lab—and its cargo. Container shipping history and auth codes. Chassis numbers and vehicle registration for the unmanned hauler. Even the product serial on the AI unit in the truck's black box. It was every scrap of data you could pull on the transport vehicle.
"This makes the job a hell of a lot easier. Target location?"
"Just passed Daejeon Third Tollgate. Entering in ten minutes."
"Right on schedule. Time to get ready."
Gaksital's voice brimmed with excitement as he fired up the truck he'd parked in advance. Same make and model as the Pungyang Jo Clan's rig, down to the size of the loaded container. The only difference? Their cargo was covered with a tarp.
[Vehicle Entry Serial Query: 5444768]
[Identification Complete]
[Target vehicle is a special unit registered by the Pungyang Jo Clan. All quarantine procedures waived.]
[Cargo Status: Nominal]
[Opening barrier.]
The barrier lifted before the cargo truck even arrived. A stark contrast to civilian company haulers or personal vehicles enduring their three-minute quarantine scans. No stopping, just barreling through—the truck was topped by an attack chopper dispatched directly from the Pungyang Jo Clan main house. Flanking it on both sides: unmanned drones armed with rifles.
Precautions against potential ambushes or hijackings en route. Destroy the chopper or drones, and a signal shoots straight to clan HQ. Ironclad security.
[Escort target passed Relay Point 3. Route clear. Entering tunnel shortly.]
[Copy. Weapons free. Shoot on sight for any suspicious vehicles—no warning needed. Intel blackout handled by the bureau.]
The cargo truck plunged into the tunnel under this airtight escort.
But right then—
"It's in! You ready, Bune?"
"Yeah. Let's go!"
Gaksital barked the signal. In response, a low buzz erupted from the trailer on the cargo truck.
Beeeep—!
Mu-young, already snuck inside the truck, activated the RF jammer. Exposed to the electromagnetic pulse from the cargo, the surveillance on the escort drones glitched out.
Three minutes until the truck cleared the tunnel. In that window, the drones' sensors would register nothing.
Groooowl—!
An emergency side exit yawned open in the tunnel wall. The truck carrying the two men gunned it, matching speeds with the Pungyang Jo hauler. Bunetal flung open the door, prepped to leap across.
"Two minutes till it exits the tunnel! If we don't wrap this up, we're both Swiss cheese!"
"I know!"
Bunetal vaulted onto the adjacent truck with a shout, ripping open the access panel in seconds.
"Here we go."
A silver needle extended from Bunetal's fingertip. He jabbed it into the black box under the dash. Weird symbols flickered on the dashboard.
Bunetal grinned wickedly. Moments later, symbols and numbers flooded the screen as the two vehicles' chassis IDs and recognition codes began to swap.
"How's it looking? Think we can make it?"
"Tight. But..."
Grimacing as he hacked the truck's systems, Bunetal let out a short chuckle.
"Way easier than mind-wiping those Audit Bureau agents."
With that, a smug smile spread across his face as his fingers danced.
Beep.
[Central Database Registration Complete. Vehicle info updated.]
[Vehicle Reg: 5444768]
[Above vehicle certified for special use by the nobility...]
Chassis number, registration, black box recognition code—all swapped. They'd successfully turned their fake truck into the Pungyang Jo unmanned hauler.
Flutter—
While Bunetal hacked the internals, Hwae agents from the fake truck swarmed the real one, slapping on camouflage. They yanked off their tarp, swapped in the AI unit Bunetal fed them, and set the destination to the Pungyang Jo lab.
Finally, Gaksital—the last guard on the fake—hopped over to the real truck.
Beep.
The drones flanking the Pungyang Jo truck reacted to the flipped codes, drifting back to escort the Hwae fake as if it belonged.
That was why Mu-young had snuck into the container during the pirate raid: to ID the right truck, relay the intel to Hwae, and jam the drones on signal—buying them the swap window.
"Now! Stop the truck!"
Screeech—!
The "real" truck—now bound for the Pungyang Jo lab—slammed brakes and halted just shy of the tunnel exit.
Vroooom—!
The "fake" blasted out amid a roar of wind. The attack choppers waiting at the entrance scanned it without pause.
-Tunnel exit confirmed. Scan clean.
-Lane change—what's the deal?
-Probably ran over a stray cat in there. Keep escorting. Match speed.
The two choppers exchanged brief chatter, rotors thumping as they peeled away down the road.
"Whew...!"
Gaksital watched them go, exhaling in relief only after a long beat.
One minute to jam the drones. Two to swap systems and tarps. A second later on the stop, and they'd be minced meat at the tunnel mouth.
But—
"Ha, haha...! Hahaha...!"
Bunetal, drained and giggling limply. He flashed a thumbs-up. Gaksital could only laugh in disbelief.
"We actually pulled off this insane stunt."
The Pungyang Jo cargo now in their grasp. As Gaksital scanned the container, he replayed Chang-un's blueprint for the op.
'Op core: Kim Chang-un handles smuggling legit under Pungyang Jo watch, luring the cargo to a set spot.'
Then Chang-un returns to Hanseong without ever slipping their gaze—off the suspect list. From Busan arrival to Hanseong departure, he never left their sight.
'Escort Mu-young siccs Busan-based pirates on the ship, slips into the cargo amid the raid.'
Mu-young's no official guard—just Chang-un's personal pick. Hard to link them. Plus, the raiders were wako pirates. Pungyang Jo never clocked Mu-young's existence, let alone him hiding in the cargo.
Once the infiltration team wrapped prep—
'Hwae's turn. Warp the cargo data off Mu-young's feed, swap real and fake, then bail. They'll...'
"...deliver the bomb straight to their lab none the wiser."
Bune finished Gaksital's line and headed straight for the trailer in the truck bed.
Groooan—
Security code punched in; the doors creaked open. Peering inside, Bunetal ground his teeth behind the mask.
"You bastards..."
Inside: emaciated people, skin and bones. Eyes empty—no clinging hope, just livestock bound for slaughter.
"These the ones from Hwae?"
The voice echoed from the container depths. A moment later, a black-haired young man emerged from the gloom: Mu-young, the escort Chang-un had planted.
"Take care of them. Left abandoned the whole trip from Japan—their condition's..."
"Support vehicle's inbound soon. Don't sweat it."
Mu-young's tense face eased at Bunetal's words. Looked like they'd chatted while he hid in there.
"Oh, and the young master said to check something. The item for Jo Seong-hwan..."
"Don't worry about that."
Gaksital fielded it while Bunetal herded the people.
"Caught it fresh in season."
Mask hid his face, but Mu-young could guess the grin beneath. Gaksital was beaming with delight.
"Cargo arrived. Handing off to Sector 3."
"Final approval. Docs are waiting. Get it in quick."
The unmanned truck rolled into central Hanseong, pulling up to the underground lab entrance. Armed guards swarmed in sequence.
Human samples for monster research. First solid batch in a month—any delay, and HQ would rain hell.
"How many this time?"
"Four-seventy. All under thirty, handpicked. Mixed nationalities for assays."
"Finally, real research. Dosing junkies or terminal cases with monster samples? Useless data."
"Tell me about it."
Chattering mid-level researchers—these nobles rarely showed. They were starving for this.
Groooan—
As Security Chief Jeong Seung-gyeom mulled that, the guards finished checks and threw open the container doors.
Shluck—
"...Huh?"
The guard stared dumbly at his gut, impaled by a tentacle.
Squirming mollusk limb. Crimson-black mucus oozing from hundreds of suckers. His wound blackened on contact.
The agony hit after he'd seen it all.
"Aaagh—!"
"Grraaaawr—!"
The monster's roar drowned his scream. Restraints snapped off its body; the abomination lunged out.
"Monster! One busted out the container! Open fire!"
"Monster?! What bullshit—cargo's people...!"
"Teams 1 and 2, fire wall! Grab anti-tank from the armory! Move!"
Guards unloaded, but it was futile. Their man-killer SMGs just stalled it—couldn't pierce the carapace.
"...Hold up."
Amid the gunfire and roars, as staff fled the sublevels, one researcher stared at the rampaging beast.
Black chitin shell, laced with sticky membrane. Revolting fangs, twisted body. And its ant-like abdomen, clustered with hundreds of eggs.
...Eggs?
"A monster... brooding eggs?"
Blood drained from his head.
A brooding monster.
Meaning...
They'd brought a spawning female here?
"No."
Too late—he grasped the disaster after it unfolded. As the limp researcher muttered—
SKREEEEE—!
The spawning female bellowed from below. The building resonated, monster cries echoing everywhere.
"Urgh?!"
"What the—sound...!"
Eardrums shredded by the piercing ultrahigh frequency; researchers and guards crumpled.
But that wasn't the real issue.
The researcher scrambled to the wall schematic.
"Ah, aaah...!"
Thirty-story research wing. Green structure flushing red.
WEE-OO-WEE-OO—!
Sirens blared from all sides.
No need to explain.
The spawning female's threat cry: summoning aid, awakening dormant fighters, rousing bloodlust.
Experiment monsters resonated, going berserk in unison.
"Grk?!"
"Grrraaawr...!"
"Gruk?! GRRAAAWR—!"
Caged beasts stirred building-wide. Drug-weakened bodies regenerated; severed limbs regrew.
Echoing the basement monster's call, like answering its horrific shriek. Locked horrors smashed through lab doors, bursting free.
"Damn, what the hell?!"
"Building 3 labs berserk! Primary and secondary bulkheads down! Heading straight here...!"
"Lab 11! Dissection subject regenerating! What is this?!"
"What's happening?! Monsters in residential! It's killing staff righ—argh, aaagh?!"
"Someone, save—!"
Alarms, screams, roars. The spotless Pungyang Jo lab became hell in under five minutes.