Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: All-Out War
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“We need someone like you. Cooperate with us, and we'll give you anything you want.”
Money and women.
Even an executive position, if he wanted it.
These were the cards the man could offer Kanghyeok.
It was an incredible privilege.
Becoming an executive would make you a pillar of the community in no time.
You could live a life others would envy, walking around proudly with clean money.
“Let’s stop all this now. There’s an easier way. No reason to shed blood.”
The man spoke with desperation, but Kanghyeok wasn't listening.
There were two reasons for this.
He already had everything they could offer.
He had more than enough money in cryptocurrency, which was only set to rise. And as for honor, the company could provide that whenever he wanted.
The second reason?
Even if they offered him the world, he had no desire to take it.
So Kanghyeok simply kept his gaze fixed on the man.
But even that was just his eyes; he didn't give the man an ounce of his attention.
‘The remaining ones…’
Kanghyeok gauged their numbers and positions by the outlines he could see in his peripheral vision.
“Come on, tell me what you want.”
Perhaps it was the desperation in his voice.
Strangely, the man's words struck a chord.
Well, there was something he wanted.
Among the things they could give, there was just one thing he'd gladly take.
Kanghyeok raised the shotgun toward them.
“Ghk…!”
As the stunned men raised their guns, Kanghyeok activated the grenade launcher attached to his shotgun.
*Thump!*
With a burst of compressed air, the grenade flew out and landed right in the middle of them.
At the same time, Kanghyeok threw himself through a nearby door and immediately slammed the thick steel door shut.
*KRRRRRUMBLE!*
The force of the explosion slammed into the door.
Kanghyeok, who had been pressing against the door with his back, grimaced and doubled over from the shock that rattled his insides.
He pressed his ear to the door, but there was no sound.
He didn't need to see to know.
He knew what had become of them.
In the narrow hallway, they would have been caught in the blast with no time to escape.
Kanghyeok breathed out, smelling the overwhelming stench seeping through the crack in the door.
“Hoo—!”
It was silent.
As if he were the only one left in the world.
Kanghyeok, about to push himself up from the floor, paused for a thought and then sat back down.
He pushed his guns aside and leaned his back fully against the door.
Then he took a crumpled, sweat-dampened cigarette from his pocket and put it between his lips.
*Shhhk!*
*(Heard the explosion. Are you okay?)*
*Clank. Fshhh, Fwoosh!*
Kanghyeok lit it with a Zippo lighter and snapped the lid shut with a clank.
*Shhhk!*
“Yeah. And you?”
*Shhhk!*
*(They've pulled back for now. Seems like they're trying to drag this into a war of attrition. They're focused on you.)*
Kanghyeok took a drag from the filter.
“Hooo!”
The smoke seeped into his body.
The fatigue of battle and his frayed nerves began to settle, bringing a sense of calm to his mind.
*Shhhk!*
*(Should we join you?)*
He let out a puff of smoke.
*Crackle.*
Kanghyeok looked up at the ceiling and took another drag of his cigarette.
He had come down quite a way, toward the lower levels of the cruise ship.
He felt he would reach his objective soon, but the closer he got, the fiercer their resistance seemed to become.
*Shhhk!*
“Can you make it?”
*Shhhk!*
*(Gladly. Wait there.)*
Judging by the renewed sounds of gunfire, the reply that came a moment later was from Gabriel.
Kanghyeok said he understood and brought the cigarette back to his lips.
If it weren't for the bodies littering the area, it was a moment so peaceful it was hard to believe he'd just been in a fight for his life.
So he chain-smoked two cigarettes.
The sensation of his brain soaking in nicotine and his body sinking into relaxation wasn't bad.
“Hooooo.”
Holding the short cigarette butt in his mouth, Kanghyeok opened the door a crack.
The hallway, dark and assaulting him with the acrid smell of soot and gunpowder, lay ahead.
Kanghyeok watched the dark corridor for a moment before grinding out the short cigarette on the floor.
It was then.
*Grrrr.*
The floor shuddered, and his body lurched to one side.
It wasn't because of the chain-smoking; the floor, ceiling, and walls were actually moving.
*Shhhk!*
*(The ship is moving.)*
I know.
Kanghyeok's lips twisted as he gripped his rifle and shotgun.
Sons of bitches!
They must have set sail for a reason.
He didn't know the exact reason, but the cruise ship was moving according to their plan.
This cruise ship was scheduled to transfer supplies to another group out at sea.
He didn't know if they were planning to get reinforcements from them or just bury him at sea, but either way, heading out to the ocean was not good.
It felt like a time limit had just been imposed.
Still, he wasn't worried or anything of the sort.
He had no intention of letting things go their way.
*Shhhk!*
“I'm going on ahead.”
*Shhhk!*
*(Call out your position.)*
*Shhhk!*
“I'll be where the gunshots are.”
*Clack!*
After checking his weapons, Kanghyeok started walking toward the location of the supplies.
The acrid smell of the corridor and the hot, coppery scent of corpses followed him like a shadow.
At the same time, Lento was trembling as he stared at the blank monitor.
It was the monitor that had been showing Kanghyeok's location.
But the CCTV had been caught in the explosion, and now the monitor displayed only deep darkness.
Lento stared at his own reflection in the dark screen before letting his head fall.
This was war.
Against just three opponents.
And the most prominent among them was the Asian man in the suit.
Many subordinates had been deployed to deal with this man, but they couldn't stop him.
It felt like a war waged against a single person, but ironically, this war felt terribly one-sided.
It wasn't because of the weapons he carried.
It was because of his very existence.
Something that no human could stand against.
He felt a demonic, ghastly presence from that man, as if he'd crawled out of a nightmare or hell itself.
“Huu, huuu.”
Lento pressed his thumb and forefinger into his face and rubbed.
He rubbed his face compulsively, then unconsciously dug in his nails, scratching until his skin broke.
*Screetch.*
Lento was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the blood trickling down his face.
‘Think. Think.’
I have to think of a way to stop that man.
Just being in the same space as him was terrifying, and now he was getting closer to where Lento was.
His heart pounded so hard he felt like he would throw up.
*Screeetch.*
Bits of flesh collected under his fingernails. Lento, his eyes wide to their limit, finally regained some composure.
‘There is a way.’
He could ask for support from the people coming to get the supplies, or in the worst-case scenario, he could abandon the supplies and scuttle the ship.
The plan would be delayed, and he'd be punished by his father again, but all he could think about was eliminating that man as quickly as possible.
‘Abandoning the ship is the last resort. But as a last resort, it has to be decisive.’
Lento knew the layout of this cruise ship well.
The cargo hold of the cruise ship, which had been modified for transporting supplies, was even equipped with blast doors.
If Lento pressed just one button?
They would be trapped with the supplies. He could abandon them on the ship and escape using a lifeboat.
Let them become fish food in the middle of the vast ocean!
Lento's eyes gleamed with the hope of survival and the hope of finishing Kanghyeok as he picked up the radio.
*Drrrrrrk!*
Behind Amos, who was holding the enemy back with suppressive fire, Gabriel glanced down out the window.
White waves churned in the black sea as the port grew more distant.
‘Fast.’
The cruise ship was racing toward the deep sea, so fast it seemed to be at full throttle.
The enemy's offensive had intensified the exact moment the ship set sail.
It seemed like they were preparing for some final move.
Gabriel bit her lower lip and spoke from beside Amos.
“Make a path. I'll cover our rear.”
*Drrrk!*
At that, Amos squeezed the trigger while thrusting his other hand into his coat.
Gabriel aimed her gun at the enemy, and as if trading places with her, Amos pulled back his submachine gun and produced a grenade.
*D-d-drk! D-d-drk! D-d-drk!*
Beside Gabriel, who was laying down concentrated fire to keep the enemies from peeking out, Amos pulled the pin on the grenade.
At the same time, Gabriel took cover and ceased firing.
Immediately after, Amos threw the grenade at the enemy.
Before the grenade arcing through the air could reach its destination, a few of the men, thinking Gabriel and Amos were out of ammo, poked their heads and guns out from behind cover.
*KWAAAAANG!*
The air trembled.
A destructive force that could only be described as such erupted from the grenade.
Wind blowing in from a window swept away the smoke, and screams echoed from all directions.
Gabriel and Amos lunged for the stairs at the same time.
*Drrrk!*
Gabriel occasionally fired bursts from her submachine gun behind them, while Amos, having reached the stairs, aimed his gun through the railing at the men coming up from below.
*Drrrrrrk!*
The men collapsed, spraying blood from their heads and chests.
*Drrrrrk!*
The two of them moved as if they were veterans at this.
They looked as if they were born for this, as if they had lived their entire lives for this very moment.
*Drrrrrk!*
Amos forged a path forward while Gabriel sprayed bullets to their flanks and rear.
Just as they were making their way down into the cruise ship, Kanghyeok came face-to-face with another group of enemies.
“There he is! The son of a bitch!”
*Tududududu!*
The CCTVs installed throughout the ship's interior.
Having figured out his route with them, the bastards were waiting in a hellishly difficult place to fight.
It was what looked like a service corridor with rough, colorless walls. Aside from some pipes and pillars, there was nothing to use as cover—a location that favored the enemy.
*Tudududu! T-ding! Kaang!*
The bullets they fired indiscriminately hammered Kanghyeok's position. He ducked behind a pillar and readied his shotgun.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Several of them died.
Peeking from behind the pillar to see how many he'd killed, Kanghyeok silently clicked his tongue.
‘More of them have gathered.’
They were swarming in, seemingly determined to stop his advance at all costs.
‘Are all the guys from nearby coming here?’
Frankly, that would be better.
If so, once he dealt with this group, he wouldn't have to face anyone else for a while.
*Tudududududu!*
He was spraying bullets to keep them from advancing when it happened.
Feeling a ghastly presence from behind, he drew his pistol and spun around.
*Takang!*
And reflexively pulled the trigger on the man who had been approaching stealthily.
*Thwack!*
One man fell, and the others around him flinched in surprise before aiming their guns at Kanghyeok.
*Tududududu!*
Gunfire erupted from both front and back.
Kanghyeok threw himself to the floor.
In that brief moment, bullets struck his shoulder, thigh, and abdomen. Gritting his teeth, Kanghyeok twisted his body just before hitting the ground and aimed the grenade launcher at the men in front of him.
*Thump!*
“Aaaaargh!”
The man who spotted the grenade screamed, apparently not expecting him to fire it in such an enclosed space,
*KWAAAAANG!*
The shockwave from the explosion filled the corridor.
*Flicker! Flicker!*
The ceiling lights flickered like emergency lights.
No one was left standing.
The men behind him were knocked over by the shockwave and were groaning in pain, while the ones in front had been caught in the blast.