Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: May Fortune Be With You (1)
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“Haaah, hoo… Dammit.”
Kanghyeok, too, groaned in agony, his intense gaze fixed on the fallen men.
They were desperate.
*But you’re not the only ones who are desperate.*
He was putting his life on the line here, too.
If he let them win, the future would unfold just as he had experienced it before.
He had come all this way because he couldn’t stand to see that happen again, because he refused to go through it a second time.
Gasping for breath, Kanghyeok grabbed the rifle lying on the floor, aimed it at the men trying to get up, and squeezed the trigger.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Blood and flesh burst from the heads, ankles, shoulders, and forearms of the men on the floor.
“Gaaah!”
“Aaargh!”
“He’s… he’s still alive!”
*Click.*
Once the bullets ran out, Kanghyeok used the rifle as a cane to push himself up. He then grabbed his shotgun, and the terrified eyes of the fallen men were fixed on him as he reloaded it.
“What.”
With a look that said *what do you expect*, Kanghyeok fired the shotgun at the fallen men.
BOOM! BOOM!
Shrapnel flew from the floor, and the men who were trying to stand were knocked back down as if stomped on by a giant.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It felt less like a battle and more like a cleanup.
After feeding a bullet to the last man alive, Kanghyeok placed a hand on the wall and doubled over.
“Hsss, hooo.”
It was brutally exhausting.
The smell of blood tainted his every breath, and the places where he’d been shot throbbed with pain.
The one thing he desperately needed right now?
Strangely enough, it was sugar.
His blood sugar must have dropped to the point of exhaustion.
Still, thinking it wasn't the kind of craving one should have in a situation like this, Kanghyeok let out a hollow laugh.
*Tap, tap, tap.*
Kanghyeok turned only his head toward the sound of footsteps and exchanged glances with Amos and Gabriel.
They couldn’t bring themselves to speak, stunned by the signs of battle and Kanghyeok’s condition.
“Are you okay?”
To Gabriel’s pained question, Kanghyeok nodded and leaned his back against the wall.
Then, after confirming that all the CCTVs were destroyed, he reloaded his weapon with blood-stained hands.
“Sorry. We couldn’t provide proper backup.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Kanghyeok meant it, but Gabriel’s eyes, visible above his mask, contorted.
Whether from guilt or something else.
“Take this.”
Kanghyeok caught what Gabriel threw, smirked, and tossed it back.
“Don’t need it.”
Gabriel had thrown him morphine.
It would give him a boost, but he didn’t need it.
“Your wounds are severe.”
“I’ll be fine after a short rest.”
Anyone else would have thought he was bluffing, but he was serious.
The current Kanghyeok had no need for things like morphine.
He just needed a little time.
Kanghyeok pressed down on his bullet wounds. A horrific pain flared from the compressed muscle before rapidly subsiding.
“Anything else you need?”
Amos asked, his eyes suggesting he was ready to share bullets, a knife, or even grenades, but Kanghyeok gave an unexpected answer.
“Got anything sweet?”
“…Are you serious?”
“I didn’t get to eat dinner.”
Amos gave him a look of disbelief, while Gabriel rummaged through his pockets and approached Kanghyeok.
“I have some candy. Will two be enough?”
Kanghyeok took the candy, which he hadn’t actually expected to receive, and looked at Gabriel.
His eyes were still youthful.
He was at an age where it was understandable if he hadn’t given up candy yet.
Kanghyeok unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth.
His salivary glands tingled so much his jaw ached, causing him to grimace. Gabriel looked alarmed.
“If the pain is too much…”
“It’s not that.”
Kanghyeok rolled the candy around in his mouth before crushing it between his molars.
It had a strong, artificial strawberry flavor, like the ones he used to buy from the corner store as a kid.
It wasn’t high-quality stuff, but his body was craving it like crazy.
*Crunch.*
Kanghyeok crushed and swallowed the other piece of candy, then exhaled, his expression noticeably more relaxed.
Damn strawberry flavor!
“What’s the plan now?”
Kanghyeok shifted his gaze to Amos.
“Why.”
“Their resistance is getting stronger. If we break through their defensive line and reach the target…”
Amos glanced at the piles of corpses around them and continued in a low voice.
“I feel like we’ll be caught in their trap.”
Even now, the cruise ship was moving forward.
Toward deeper waters.
The port would already be out of sight or as small as a pinky nail.
Thinking from their perspective, he had an idea of what they were trying to do.
“It seems they’re trying to bury us at sea.”
At Amos’s words, Gabriel nodded, his eyes somber.
These two were prepared for death.
They wouldn’t mind being buried at sea along with the chemicals capable of mass murder, but Kanghyeok’s presence here weighed on their minds.
“You’ve helped enough. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”
“There are lifeboats upstairs. Use one.”
Kanghyeok furrowed his brow at the two of them, then, with his body now fully recovered, let out a silent laugh.
“I don’t need that kind of consideration.”
“But…”
“I know what you want to say, and I know what you’re worried about.”
Kanghyeok checked for any nearby CCTVs just in case, then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
*Click, fwoosh.*
“Hah! We’re getting out of here alive. All of us.”
The word ‘all’ carried so much weight that it struck a chord with them.
Gabriel and Amos felt both apologetic and grateful to Kanghyeok for staying with them to the end, and they spoke with a quiet sigh.
“Do you have another plan?”
“The same one these guys have.”
Kanghyeok exhaled smoke and gestured with his chin toward the corpses.
Confusion spread across Gabriel’s and Amos’s faces, and Kanghyeok spoke along with another puff of smoke.
“We’re going to sink this cruise ship. Along with their chemicals.”
Sinking the ship—their greatest fear.
When those words came from Kanghyeok’s mouth, Gabriel and Amos could only fall silent.
If the chemicals sank with the cruise ship, nothing could be better.
But something still bothered them.
“Our equipment doesn’t have enough firepower.”
“We can blow up the fuel tank.”
“Is that possible?”
Kanghyeok answered with a nod.
This cruise ship was a model that brazenly used eco-friendly fuel.
If they filled the fuel area with vapor and triggered an explosion with a grenade, they could blow a huge hole in this ship.
And if that happened?
The seawater rushing through the hole would sweep everything away and drag the ship down into the depths of the ocean.
“The risk of getting caught in the explosion is too high.”
“You guys just clear a path and get out. I’ll handle the rest.”
Amos looked at Kanghyeok with narrowed eyes.
“You could die.”
“Not today.”
Kanghyeok gripped Amos’s shoulder and started moving deeper into the cruise ship.
Amos glanced at his shoulder where he’d been grabbed, then shifted his gaze to Kanghyeok’s back and followed with heavy steps.
*Will this work?*
If it did, they could minimize the enemy’s interference and maximize their results.
But would things really go that smoothly?
Even if they managed to avoid the worst-case scenario—total annihilation—the thought that Kanghyeok could be in danger wouldn’t leave his mind.
It was that reckless of a plan.
*If everything goes your way, and you survive…*
After a moment of thought, Amos closed the distance with Kanghyeok.
There was a definite new strength in his steps.
Three branching paths.
Two long corridors.
And two more flights of stairs.
As they passed through all this, they didn’t encounter a single soul, not even an ant.
“Don’t destroy the CCTVs.”
Kanghyeok said to Gabriel, who was aiming at a CCTV monitoring the corridor from an awkward position. Gabriel gave him a questioning look.
“Why?”
“A dead CCTV is more noticeable.”
When a CCTV goes out, the screen turns black with a “No Signal” message.
It was better to hide and pass through quickly.
Gabriel lowered his gun in understanding, and Kanghyeok moved deeper into the ship, staying out of the CCTV’s line of sight by weaving between cover.
He was definitely moving between cover.
Having descended quite a way, the scenery had changed so much that it was hard to believe they were still on a cruise ship.
It was as if they had entered the enemy’s dark heart; the area was dim with limited lighting, and places to take cover were everywhere.
Pallets stacked high and secured with ropes.
Carts for moving supplies, and trash.
Even ashtrays fixed to the walls.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary cruise ship, but deep inside, it was clear that it was far from ordinary.
It wasn’t because of the supplies or the filth.
*It’s been modified.*
This cruise ship had been used to transport goods for a very long time.
Everything here told that story.
The scrapes on the walls, the drag marks on the floor, the black dust caked onto the cart wheels.
*Thud, thud.*
Reaching a spacious area, they stopped.
This was near the destination.
The heart of the cruise ship, the place where the supplies and the fuel tank were located.
The layout was such that even someone unfamiliar with cruise ships would come to that conclusion.
The fire extinguishers placed everywhere and the safety devices installed on the walls showed just how precious and important this place was to them.
Kanghyeok quickly scanned the abundant cover all around and placed his index finger on the trigger.
“This is the end of the line.”
Just after Gabriel acknowledged him in a low voice.
“When you see an opening, get out immediately.”
“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
Amos said.
Kanghyeok replied with a faint, bitter smile.
*Flick!*
As if to say they would delay no longer, the lights flickered on, brightly illuminating the interior.
And from behind the cover, the hidden men poured out.
Roughly forty of them.
*Were there still this many of them left?*
Well, this was near the storage area, so they were probably lying in wait.
It seemed they also knew this was their last chance.
Their eyes showed it.
Their gazes gleamed more intensely than any of the others they had faced, and their tightly sealed lips showed a grim resolve.
These men would neither retreat nor spare their own lives.
This was their final chance to protect the supplies, including the chemicals, and to eliminate the intruders.
*In that case, bring it on.*
*Click, rat-tat-tat!*
The battle began with Kanghyeok pulling the trigger first.
It was a battle where the intense emotions and desires of many were entangled.
From the men on deck preparing to evacuate, to Lento watching the monitors, to the men on the ground risking their lives, and to Kanghyeok, Gabriel, and Amos who faced them.
It was a battle where the reasons neither side could back down were clear.
*Clink.*
Amos pulled the pin on a grenade, while Gabriel gritted his teeth and plunged his last dose of morphine into his thigh.
BOOOOM!
A massive explosion roared, and a spray of blood was accompanied by black soot staining the walls and floor.
“Uwaaah! Aaargh!”
Men clutching their severed arms, screaming in agony.
Men whose eardrums had burst, unable to hear their own screams.
Men washing the blood splattered on their faces with tears.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Kanghyeok fired at them while reconfirming the positions of the cover, then switched to his shotgun and closed in on the nearest enemies.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Brrrrrrt!
Bullets tangled in mid-air, occasionally colliding with a flash and creating a brief spark.
And right after that,
Brrrrrrt!
Bullets flying from all directions slammed into Kanghyeok’s body.