116: Moving to the A Workshop
An alley near the D Workshop.
A man sprinted through the narrow passage, his entire body drenched in blood.
He glanced back over his shoulder.
Seeing no one behind him, he slowed to a stop and took a deep breath.
'Is he no longer chasing me...?'
[Han Jae-shin. Subordinate of Park Min-hyeok]
After catching his breath, Jae-shin pulled out his phone and dialed someone.
"Team Leader. This is Han Jae-shin."
Receiving the call, Gyu-hak asked,
"What happened to the D Workshop?"
"Due to the support personnel sent by Gangryonghoe, the operation failed. I'm sorry."
"Who sent the support?"
"Ju Tae-yeol came with his direct subordinates."
At this, Gyu-hak bit his lip lightly.
'He sent quite the troublesome guy.'
"Were there any casualties on our side?"
"Yes. There were some injured, but everyone escaped safely."
"Did you hear about anyone sent to the A Workshop?"
"It seems Ryu Sang-tae went there."
"Ryu Sang-tae..."
'He's not as bad as Ju Tae-yeol, but he's still dangerous enough.'
'It might still be difficult for Park Jae-hyeok to handle right now.'
"Even so, it seems the other side was stopped by Senior So and Senior Baek."
"That doesn't mean we can relax."
"We didn't kill them directly; we just slowed them down."
"If we killed them directly, the risk would be too high."
Indeed, Gangryonghoe was a massive organization with significant power and deep ties to domestic power figures.
Therefore, the Bukduchilseong team, a private vigilante group without state support, couldn't easily deal with them.
Moreover, if they failed while trying to kill them directly, the disadvantage to the Bukduchilseong team would be substantial.
"I'll move to the A Workshop myself, so tell Senior So and Senior Baek."
"And you all should return to headquarters."
"Understood."
After ending the call with Jae-shin, Gyu-hak opened his desk drawer, grabbed a knife and a pistol, and went outside.
Inside the D Workshop.
Ju Tae-yeol's subordinates and the D Workshop personnel were cleaning up the interior.
They were gathering the bodies of the dead and feeding the victims whose organs had been removed into a grinder to process them.
During this, Jong-seok sat on a nearby chair with a displeased expression.
"Ah... I'm still dizzy..."
[Jong-seok. Workshop Manager of D Workshop]
While directing the cleanup, Tae-yeol asked Jong-seok,
"Manager. Who is the person who came here?"
"Executive Director Ju Tae-yeol from Crown Capital."
"From what I heard, he's a former special forces mercenary who was active in Southeast Asia,"
"I heard that Representative Choi Gyeong-su scouted him because of his skills."
"I guess I can guess why he was scouted."
"Yeah. I haven't seen his skills up close either."
"It seems there are only about five people in Gangryonghoe who can handle that monster."
While directing the cleanup, Tae-yeol called someone on his phone.
"It's me. How's the A Workshop?"
Ryu Sang-tae in the passenger seat of the taxi answered,
"I'm on my way. On the way, the tire got a flat."
"A flat tire?"
"Yeah. The whole van they were riding in got a flat while driving. So I had a few guys take the taxi to the workshop first. I told the others to take taxis too."
"Did you get any reports on the A Workshop?"
"None. It's strange; no one contacted me. I wonder if they're all done for..."
'If the escort is already broken with that escort in place... It might be more serious than I thought.'
Thinking this, Tae-yeol told Sang-tae,
"Since the D Workshop is cleaned up, I'll move to the A Workshop too."
"Already cleaned up? As expected, you're fast."
"While moving, keep contacting the A Workshop side. If you get a call, tell me right away."
"Got it."
And Sang-tae hung up, took two 50,000 won bills from his wallet, and put them in the console box on the left.
"Driver, please hurry as much as possible."
"You can skip the signal, go as fast as you can."
"Understood!!"
And the taxi sped up, racing down the road faster than before.
On the rooftop of a building in Seoul.
Min-jeong and Jung-hwan were preparing the sniper position.
Jung-hwan rolled up the mat where the casings had fallen, and Min-jeong disassembled the scope and put it in his bag.
After rolling the mat, Jung-hwan put the sniper rifle in a guitar case and asked Min-jeong,
"But really, is it okay?"
"What?"
"Ryu Sang-tae. He took a taxi to the workshop earlier."
"It's fine. There's time to move."
"And since Park Jae-hyeok said he'll retreat immediately, the A Workshop should be finished by now."
"That would be good..."
"The team leader has the personality to finish the job once started, no matter what."
"Who knows if Park Jae-hyeok will just say he'll retreat and continue his work?"
At this, Min-jeong smiled wryly and asked,
"Are you worried about the inevitable?"
"Just in case."
"Contact the personnel dispatched to the A Workshop."
"No harm in contacting, right?"
"Yeah."
With that, Min-jeong called someone on his phone.
After a while, someone answered Min-jeong's call.
"Yes, Senior."
"How's the VVIP status? Did they retreat?"
"That's..."
Instantly, Min-jeong felt something was wrong.
"What?"
"They haven't retreated yet and managed to capture Hwangdu-cheol."
"What?! Then the situation is over?"
"Yes."
'This bastard...! Ryu Sang-tae left about 6 minutes ago... There's only 1-2 minutes left. We don't have much time!!'
Thinking this, Min-jeong instructed the other,
"Ryu Sang-tae and his three subordinates are heading there now."
"Wait around with the other personnel and stop them immediately if you see Gangryonghoe support arriving."
"Understood."
"If it's unavoidable, you can use firearms."
"Don't hesitate, stop them."
"Yes."
And Min-jeong hung up and sighed.
"This fucking bastard... It seems it's the inevitable."
"They didn't retreat?"
"Yeah. They captured Hwangdu-cheol."
At that moment, Min-jeong's phone rang again.
"This time it's Jae-shin?"
"Han Jae-shin employee? He should be heading to the D Workshop."
Min-jeong answered the call.
"Han Jae-shin employee. What's the matter?"
"I called because I have something to report. First, the mission in the D Workshop failed."
"What? Why?"
"Ju Tae-yeol from Crown Capital came with his direct subordinates."
"Ju Tae-yeol came with his subordinates?"
Hearing this, Jung-hwan spat out,
"These bastards are using an elephant gun to kill a chicken?"
"So, what about our casualties?"
"Fortunately, everyone escaped safely. And Team Leader Seo Gyu-hak is moving to the A Workshop to help Park Jae-hyeok."
"We'll be going to the A Workshop soon too. Since Park Jae-hyeok finished the mission later than expected, we might accidentally encounter Ryu Sang-tae."
"Yes. Understood. I'll pass on that the seniors are coming to the team leader."
"Yeah. Got it."
And Min-jeong ended the call and went down the stairs with Jung-hwan.
After a while, the taxi carrying Ryu Sang-tae and his group stopped near the A Workshop.
Ryu Sang-tae and his subordinates got out of the car and walked down the dimly lit night street.
'I've been trying to contact the A Workshop all this time, but no one answered. This doesn't feel good.'
Thinking this, Sang-tae asked one of his subordinates,
"Weapons?"
"I have a tanto and a knife with me."
And they entered the alley.
How far did they walk in the sparsely populated alley.
Some suspicious shadow appeared in front of Sang-tae.
"What the hell is that?"
The man standing in front of them had black earphones in his ears, wearing a black jacket and black pants.
He was wearing a black cap and combat boots.
Sang-tae tried to pass the man blocking their way.
Then he moved his body to the side to block Sang-tae's path.
"What? Move aside, old man. We're busy people."
Then he stared blankly at Sang-tae.
Seeing the faint killing intent in his eyes, Sang-tae instinctively felt he wasn't an ordinary person.
'What? Why does his gaze seem so intense...!!!'
Instantly, the man moved his hand quickly and punched Sang-tae's solar plexus.
"Gah!!"
But Sang-tae suppressed the pain and tried to grab the man's collar.
The man stepped back.
Sang-tae glared at him while clutching his throbbing solar plexus and asked,
"You bastard... Who sent you?"
The man just tilted his head and looked at Sang-tae without saying a word.
'He didn't hit that hard... Since he's a judoka, his body is tough.'
[Lloyd Choi. One of Alina Kim's bodyguards]
His subordinates pulled out the tanto or knife they had hidden.
'A knife... I guess they don't plan to end it easily, thinking we're Korean mafia.'
And Lloyd pulled out the Gerber MK2 knife from his side holster and confronted Sang-tae's group, recalling Robert Han's instructions.
'If the opponent doesn't have a gun, refrain from using it.'
'This is not America. This is Korea.'
One of Sang-tae's subordinates said in a low voice,
"Executive. Leave this to us and move to the A Workshop. We'll follow soon."
"Yeah. Thanks."
So Sang-tae and his subordinates rushed at Lloyd.
Lloyd extended his blade toward Sang-tae's neck to take him out first.
But two of Sang-tae's subordinates charged at Lloyd, swinging their blades.
Lloyd parried their attacks with his blade and stepped back to dodge.
In the meantime, Sang-tae ran past Lloyd.
'Damn... I have to kill these little guys first and then chase after him.'
Thinking this, Lloyd glared at the subordinates rushing at him and tightened his grip on the knife.
Meanwhile, in some villa in Seoul.
Alina Kim, Jae-hyeok's girlfriend, sat in a garden chair wearing pajamas, gazing at the dawn sky.
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At that moment, her special bodyguard Robert Han approached Alina in a suit and asked in English,
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With that, Robert sat next to Alina.
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And she asked Robert,
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Aegis is a team composed of the elite only from Golden Magnum, the world's top private military company.
Therefore, the skills of Aegis team members are considered top-tier among mercenaries belonging to private military companies worldwide.
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'If Mr. Han says it like that, I can believe it.'
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And she got up from the chair and entered the villa, and Robert followed behind her.
An alley near the A Workshop.
"Gah...!!"
One of Sang-tae's subordinates was dying from a knife wound to his lung by Lloyd's blade.
And around Lloyd, the remaining subordinates of Sang-tae were bleeding from their necks and chests and dying.
'What?! We couldn't take all of them... It took less than 2 minutes...!!'
'This... Is this the power of a human...?'
Shocked by Lloyd's combat prowess, he breathed his last.
So Lloyd pulled the blade out of his lung, changed direction toward where Sang-tae had fled, and walked.
Walking down the alley, he spoke to his colleagues in English through the earphone in his ear.
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So Lloyd went deeper into the alley, tracking Ryu Sang-tae.