Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The Feelings of One Who Was Robbed (2)
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*Whoosh!*
Kanghyeok rolled down the window and blew out a cloud of smoke.
He couldn’t quite bring himself to say it looked like a millionaire’s mansion.
But the wide yard visible through the barred gate, and the three cars parked inside, suggested the owner was no ordinary man.
“He’s not some local bigwig, is he?”
“It’s a shame we can’t get any support.”
Leila said, mindful of Aiden listening in.
“Yeah, it is.”
Kanghyeok understood, his voice laced with regret.
The company’s database.
That’s what Leila was talking about.
If this man, Rashid, had any connection to the Taliban or other terrorist groups, he would undoubtedly be listed in the company’s database.
Then, they could find not only Rashid’s personal information but also the number of men under his command.
“Heh.”
Kanghyeok suddenly laughed, as if he found the situation amusing.
Leila furrowed her brow, her gaze asking, *In a situation like this?* but Kanghyeok simply brought the cigarette to his lips without a word.
‘Since when did I start relying on things like that?’
Was it because Leila was with him?
The company database, something he hadn’t given a second thought to while hunting Iron Mask, now felt like a missed opportunity.
The company's resources and support were convenient and powerful.
That was an undeniable fact.
But relying solely on them made it impossible to handle unexpected situations.
Especially now, when they couldn't receive any company support.
“I’ll go check it out myself.”
“Are you serious?”
Kanghyeok grabbed the driver’s side door with one hand and held out his other to Leila.
“The pistol.”
Seeing that Kanghyeok was serious, Leila reluctantly handed the gun back.
*Click.*
After checking the remaining rounds, Kanghyeok stuffed spare magazines into his various pockets.
He then looked at Aiden, who was preparing to get out and follow him.
“Aiden, get treated first.”
“No, I’m going too…”
Before Aiden could finish, Kanghyeok added.
“Look at your arm. To be honest, you’ll just be in the way.”
Kanghyeok looked Aiden straight in the eye, and Aiden hung his head in shame.
“Dammit.”
“So go get it treated. Leila will go with you.”
Kanghyeok could see right through Aiden.
He was determined to follow one way or another. To reassure him, it was better to have Leila accompany him, leaving open the possibility of joining up later.
“What?”
As if struck by the truth, Aiden’s eyes widened. Leila waited for Kanghyeok’s instructions.
“Once Aiden’s treated, we’ll rendezvous here.”
“I don’t mind, but will you be alright with just one pistol?”
“I’ll call if anything happens.”
Kanghyeok got out of the car as if it were no big deal. As a flustered Aiden tried to follow him,
“Stay put.”
Leila stopped Aiden in a firm tone and moved to the driver’s seat.
Taking the wheel, Leila drove away from Rashid’s mansion.
“It’s a courtesy. You should gladly accept it.”
She said this to calm Aiden, but he still looked bewildered.
“Aren’t you… worried at all?”
“About what?”
*Vrooom.*
Inside the moving car, Aiden pointed behind them.
“He went in alone! He could be walking into a death trap. And with just a single pistol.”
It was a reckless act that flew in the face of Aiden’s common sense.
What if, like the apple not falling far from the tree, Dive’s cousin Rashid was also involved in violence and illegal activities?
Kanghyeok’s actions were no different from a suicide mission.
“Don’t worry. Your arm is in far more danger.”
“So you’re okay with a colleague dying!”
Aiden raised his voice, feeling as though he were talking to a brick wall.
“There are things in this world that you cannot understand.”
Aiden glanced at Leila’s face in the rearview mirror and was left speechless.
If her expression had been calm or her eyes cold, he might have said something more.
‘Why does she look like that?’
But the face he saw in the mirror looked somewhat bitter, and he didn’t know how to react.
*Thud.*
Leaning her head against the headrest, Leila exhaled slowly, the bitterness on her face deepening.
‘I think it’s about time I told them…’
Leila considered herself to have grown quite close.
With Kanghyeok.
And yet, there was one thing Kanghyeok was still hiding.
From her, and even from William.
Leila knew very well that Kanghyeok possessed something superhuman, something that allowed him to survive even after being caught in an explosion and suffering a fatal blow.
Rashid’s mansion.
(I’m telling you this just in case. Listen to me carefully.)
“I heard you, brother.”
Rashid, holding the phone to his ear, had a look of contempt that contradicted his polite tone.
He was in his room, decorated with the finest things available in the area, and the subtle scent of perfumed oil filled the space.
‘Fucking idiot.’
The call had come early in the morning.
But he’d answered it because the caller was Dive.
(What about the guards?)
“I saw your text from this morning. I told them to come, so don’t worry.”
(Call for more, just in case.)
Rashid pulled the phone away from his face and silently muttered a curse.
(Rashid?)
“I’ll handle it. You know me, right? I always handle things.”
Unlike some people.
Rashid had become more successful than Dive at a younger age.
In this land where blood ties were important, he was related to Dive by blood, but Rashid had never once respected him.
He just played along because he was his older cousin.
“What are you so worried about, anyway?”
(I have a bad feeling.)
“Ah, a feeling. Right, that’s important.”
It was a sarcastic remark, but Dive’s voice was cautious.
(Anyway, be careful. If things go south, run immediately.)
At that, Rashid’s thick eyebrows twitched fiercely.
“I don’t run.”
His cousin, whom he considered beneath him, was daring to tell him to run.
His pride wounded, Rashid slumped back in his chair and placed his thumb on the end-call button.
“If you have nothing else to say, let’s hang up. I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”
(Rashid.)
“What now?”
(Call me if anything happens. You can at least do that, right?)
Rashid chuckled and replied.
“Yeah, yeah, of course.”
(I’m counting on you.)
The moment he said that, Rashid hung up.
Then, pocketing his phone, he ran his tongue over his teeth.
He was displeased.
Everything from the fact that someone dared to attack him to hearing about it from Dive annoyed him.
“Whoever’s coming is probably some fucking idiot.”
Rashid muttered, his eyes glaring.
In this region, Rashid reigned like a king.
Maybe a guy like Dive would have problems, but he was different.
Unless they brought a tank, he was confident he could stop even a god.
*Thud, thud.*
Kanghyeok walked along the outer wall of Rashid’s mansion.
As a foreigner in a black suit, he stood out starkly from the village.
Yet, no one watched him closely.
‘Outskirts of the village. Not many people around, and they fear this place.’
A little kid stared intently at Kanghyeok as if he were a curious sight. But soon, a woman who appeared to be the child’s mother showed up, covered the kid’s eyes, and hid.
Don’t get involved.
That was the feeling. From their actions, he could grasp what kind of person Rashid was.
‘A guy just like Dive.’
What do you call it?
Birds of a feather? Cut from the same cloth?
He felt like there should be a more fitting phrase, but having been away from Korea for so long, nothing perfect came to mind.
What did it matter, anyway?
Judging by the villagers’ reactions, it seemed he could go on a rampage without any consequences.
Kanghyeok pressed the pistol through his pocket.
The magazines stored in his suit pockets weren’t very noticeable at a glance.
It was then.
*Creak.*
A door on the second floor opened, and armed men poured out.
Kanghyeok pressed himself against the wall and checked their numbers and armaments.
‘Was he warned?’
The men didn't look like they were about to go get breakfast.
It was a clear move to enter a state of high alert.
It would have been better if he could see inside the building through the windows.
But the windows, with their drawn curtains and iron bars, didn’t readily reveal the interior.
*Thud, thud.*
Kanghyeok waited until the men were fully in position.
By observing their formation, he could tell what they were trying to protect.
‘Two on the stairs, one at the entrance.’
The others moved near the main gate and the wall to prepare for an intruder.
Which meant?
‘Rashid is on the second floor.’
Fifteen men.
Armed with rifles and shotguns, they took up positions appropriate for their weapons’ range.
Kanghyeok took a deep breath through his nose, filling his chest, then slowly exhaled through his mouth.
Then, he moved toward the main gate, which was made of iron bars.
The men who spotted him glared warily. When Kanghyeok stopped in front of the iron gate, one of them told him to get lost in a gruff voice.
*Click.*
He then raised his gun threateningly, but Kanghyeok slowly raised both his hands.
*Thwack!*
Then he thrust his hand through the bars and grabbed the man’s rifle.
“Wh-what!”
*Click!*
The man pulled the trigger in a panic, but the safety was on, so the gun didn’t fire.
“H-here! Over here! Quick!”
Another man shouted, drawing the attention of the others nearby. Kanghyeok yanked the rifle and pulled the pistol from his coat.
*Bang!*
The explosion from the man’s head told everyone that the fight had begun.
“You crazy bastard!”
The other man guarding the main gate from inside froze, his face looking like it might crack.
He probably hadn’t expected a situation like this, where his colleague’s head would be blown off the moment they took their positions.
He scrambled to readjust his grip on his gun and moved away from the bars.
Then he aimed at Kanghyeok’s head,
*Thump!*
But Kanghyeok grabbed the collar of the man whose head had just exploded and used him as a shield.
“Die! Die!”
*Bang! Bang!*
Not just him, but the others who had come as backup also rained bullets on Kanghyeok.
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
The iron gate between the men and Kanghyeok.
And the corpse pressed tightly against it.
Every time a bullet hit the body, blood and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
As the hail of bullets threatened to tear through the corpse, Kanghyeok checked the lock on the inside of the gate.
An iron bar was latched onto a catch, with a padlock holding it firmly in place.
Kanghyeok immediately stuck his hand holding the pistol through the bars and shot the padlock.
*Bang! Bang!*
“This son of a bitch is trying to open the gate! Contact Lord Rashid!”
The man shouted as he pulled the trigger, but not a single bullet reached Kanghyeok because of the body.
*Thump!*
Holding the collar of the corpse with its tattered head, Kanghyeok aimed precisely at the catch.
One more shot.
Just one more shot would break the lock.
Kanghyeok threw a sharp glance at the men clustered behind the corpse and pulled the trigger on the lock.
*Crack!*
With a spark and a sharp crack, the padlock broke off.
And Kanghyeok stepped into Rashid’s mansion, where the men were waiting.