An Unexpected Encounter with the Taiwanese
After leaving the Gangryonghoe’s human trafficking facility, Kang Hoon, Jaehyuk, and Sanggyu hailed a taxi and headed toward the address Changsik had given them. Kang Hoon, staring at the memo with the address written on it, muttered to himself.
“District 4 of Ho Chi Minh City. The most dangerous area in Vietnam for security.”
“Are there really gangsters walking around with AK-47s or something?” Sanggyu asked, his voice laced with unease.
Kang Hoon let out a short laugh. “It’s not that bad. Maybe it was like that a long time ago, but things have improved a lot now. It’s still safer than the Philippines. Have either of you been to the underworld scene there?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Me neither.”
“Sanggyu, you still seem pretty soft mentally. If you ever get sent on a job to the Philippines, I’ll look out for you. The security there is a complete mess. Those AK-47-wielding gangsters you mentioned? That’s basically their default setting. As for you, Jaehyuk… from what I’ve heard from the boss, you could head straight there without any issues.”
Jaehyuk turned to Kang Hoon. “Do we get a bonus if we go?”
“They’ll throw in hazard pay too, so you could pocket at least five hundred. But don’t go chasing the money. That place is no joke. I spent nearly ten years there, so I know what I’m talking about.”
Oh right. This guy was originally a Filipino gangster.
From the information Jaehyuk had gathered in both his past and present lives, Kang Hoon had been smuggled to the Philippines with his family as a child because of his parents’ crimes. He had lived in the shadows there until he was scouted by Seongjun and brought back to Korea.
A short while later, they arrived at their destination. The scene that greeted them was exactly what people pictured when they thought of a slum.
“Ho Chi Minh is an incredibly developed city, but the wealth gap is just as extreme. Totally different from around the hotels, right?”
“It looks even worse than the place we just left.”
“That was the second most dangerous district in Ho Chi Minh—District 8. This is the worst one, District 4.”
The three men walked down the alley, and with every step, the sights around them grew increasingly menacing.
The people’s eyes do look pretty fierce.
After walking for some time, Kang Hoon finally stopped.
“We’re here.”
It was a shabby little house. Kang Hoon knocked lightly on the door and asked in Vietnamese, “Excuse me. Is Ryu Byeongjun here?”
A moment later, the door opened and a Vietnamese woman greeted them.
“Who are you?”
“Are you Ryu Byeongjun’s wife?”
“Yes. Why?”
“We came to ask about your husband’s whereabouts.”
She quietly looked the three of them over, then asked Kang Hoon, “Are you police?”
“We’re not police. We’re your husband’s colleagues.”
At that moment, two rough-looking Vietnamese men appeared behind her, each holding a hand axe and a machete. The biggest of the two asked Byeongjun’s wife, “Sis, who are they? Those Taiwanese bastards?”
“No. They say they’re Byeongjun’s colleagues.”
She turned back to Kang Hoon. “These are my older brother and younger brother. It seems something has happened to Byeongjun, so they came to protect me.”
“What do you mean, something happened? And who are these Taiwanese?”
“Come inside first.”
The three men entered the house, and Byeongjun’s wife served them a cup of strong tea.
“Thank you.”
Sanggyu took a sip, then grimaced at the unexpected bitterness and barely managed to swallow.
“Ugh, it’s so bitter!”
“Vietnamese tea like this is supposed to taste bitter. The locals enjoy the natural astringency of the leaves,” Jaehyuk explained.
Byeongjun’s wife asked Sanggyu in clumsy Korean, “Juice… would you like…?”
“Uh…”
Sanggyu forced a smile and answered in Vietnamese, “No, it’s fine. It’s drinkable.”
Kang Hoon looked at him in surprise. “You’re pretty good at Vietnamese. But didn’t you learn anything about Vietnamese culture while studying the language?”
“There was a Vietnamese worker living next door to us. I only learned the language from him. He never mentioned that the tea was supposed to be bitter.”
After listening to Sanggyu, Kang Hoon turned back to Byeongjun’s wife. “Earlier, your brother asked if we were those Taiwanese guys. What’s going on?”
She hesitated for a moment, then answered with a trembling voice. “A few days ago, three Taiwanese men came to our house. They barged in and started making a scene, demanding to know where Byeongjun was.”
Her hands were shaking violently as she spoke. “They were even carrying guns. Luckily, my brothers called their friends and managed to drive them off. They’ve come back a few times since then.”
“How did you know they were Taiwanese?”
Her older brother answered, “I used to do business with a Taiwanese triad, so I know Taiwanese. Two of them were speaking Chinese, but one was definitely speaking Taiwanese.”
“I see. Have they come by recently?”
Suddenly, someone outside began banging on the door and shouting in Chinese. “Hey!! Open the door!! You know where Ryu Byeongjun is!!”
“Those bastards are back again.”
Her brother grabbed his machete and started to move, but she caught his arm and shook her head, urging him to stop.
“Speak of the devil…”
Kang Hoon stood up and said to Jaehyuk and Sanggyu, “You guys cooled your necks? Time to earn our keep.”
Sanggyu and Jaehyuk rose as well. When they opened the door, three Taiwanese men stood before them.
“Whoa, what a bunch of funny-looking island chinks.”
Kang Hoon grinned at them. One of the men immediately pressed a knife to his throat.
“What the hell? You Korean?”
Without flinching, Kang Hoon asked in Chinese, “You speak Korean?”
“Just answer me. Are you Korean…!!”
In an instant, Kang Hoon grabbed the man’s right hand, twisted it sharply, and wrenched it. The man dropped his knife in agony as his wrist bent at a horrible angle. Kang Hoon snatched the fallen knife, crouched low, closed the distance, and slashed the man’s right leg several times. At the same time, he swept the man’s good leg with a kick, sending him crashing to the ground.
“You son of a—!!”
As another Taiwanese man tried to rush Kang Hoon, Sanggyu’s low kick and middle kick slammed into his left knee and left ribs. The man collapsed without being able to do a thing.
The last Taiwanese man made the foolish choice of charging at Jaehyuk with a hand axe. Jaehyuk drew the Boker Applegate-Fairbairn knife from his side, gripped it in a reverse hold, dodged the axe swing aimed at his head, grabbed the man’s wrist with his left hand, and slashed the man’s right arm. He then drove the blade deep into the wound.
The Taiwanese man screamed as blood poured from his slashed arm with the knife still embedded in it. Jaehyuk smashed his right elbow into the man’s left jaw, followed by a knife-hand strike to the throat, knocking him unconscious.
The three men had neutralized the Taiwanese in seconds. Kang Hoon stepped on the slashed leg of the man who was trying to crawl away, pressing down firmly as he asked in Chinese, “Where do you think you’re going? We’ve got a shit-ton of questions for you.”
“P-please… spare me…”
“Who said I was going to kill you? Don’t worry, I won’t.”
He then gave instructions to Jaehyuk and Sanggyu behind him. “Get this guy up and bring him inside. I want to find out where these bastards came from.”
“Understood.”
Jaehyuk and Sanggyu dragged the fallen Taiwanese man into Byeongjun’s wife’s house, while her brothers carried the other two inside.
Meanwhile, Taehyun, Hajun, and the other Gangryonghoe members—including Jeonghan—were riding in a van headed somewhere. They had received a call from the subordinate of the informant Taehyun had met at dawn, saying he had found information on Jaeguk. They were now moving to the location he had given them.
Something feels off… The informant’s voice was shaking a little when he called earlier. And I thought I heard the faint sound of metal clinking…
Thinking that, Taehyun ordered the subordinate who was driving, “Head to the armory.”
“The armory?”
“Yeah. Something doesn’t feel right, so I want to be prepared.”
Hajun spoke with concern. “Is that okay? If we use weapons recklessly, the police might get involved and it’ll become a headache…”
“Don’t worry about that. I already tipped off the crooked cop I have on standby to call when we move out.”
“Then should we head straight to the armory?”
“Yes.”
The van changed direction. When they reached the armory hidden in the jungle, each man retrieved his weapon.
“Check your weapons and load them into the car.”
Taehyun, holding an AKM assault rifle fitted with optical equipment, pulled the charging handle to inspect the chamber and gave the gun a quick once-over. Jeonghan, having finished his inspection, placed his rifle in the trunk.
Once all the firearms were loaded, the group set off again. By the time they arrived at the meeting place, the area was completely dark.
“Let’s go in.”
Taehyun grabbed his weapon. Hajun stepped out holding a Micro Uzi submachine gun. The Gangryonghoe members entered the abandoned building that served as the meeting point, each carrying their firearms. Taehyun swept the area with his rifle, scanning their surroundings.
Some of the thugs looked uneasy in the darkness, but Jeonghan, Taehyun, and Hajun remained calm. They had experienced gunfights in pitch-black conditions without night vision before.
Then a voice reached their ears. It was coming from a space where faint light was leaking out.
“Please… save me… please…”
It was the exhausted voice of a man. Taehyun aimed his rifle in that direction and moved forward. Jeonghan, Hajun, and the rest of the members followed.
When they reached the spot, they found a naked, blood-covered man tied to a chair. It was the informant who had previously worked under Tran Bao.
Hajun, holding his submachine gun, started to move forward to rescue him, but Taehyun stopped him with a low voice.
“Wait.”
Taehyun scanned the interior of the space. It appeared to contain only the man. As he continued to observe, his eyes narrowed and he stepped back. He pulled a pair of nippers from his pocket and whispered to Jeonghan.
“It’s a trap. There are booby traps and ambush personnel. One SG at forty-nine degrees, two ARs at fifty-two degrees, two SMGs and one AR at thirteen degrees. When I cut the trap, you go in first.”
Jeonghan nodded. Taehyun then gave instructions to Hajun and the others.
“Executive Director Oh, once Jeonghan enters, you and the men lay down suppressing fire on both sides of the informant.”
At that moment, Jeonghan spoke to Taehyun. “Director. I’ll take the right side. Just cover the left for me.”
“Only the left? You’re saying you’ll handle all three on the right?”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
Taehyun remained silent, looking uneasy, but eventually nodded, deciding to trust Jeonghan. He crouched down carefully and used the nippers to cut the wire on the floor. The instant the wire was severed, Hajun opened fire with his submachine gun toward the left while Jeonghan charged inside.
“Stop him!!”
“One got in!!”
“Aaaargh!!”
Still feeling uneasy, Taehyun raised his assault rifle to support Jeonghan on the right the moment the trap was disabled. But Jeonghan had already shouldered his rifle, spun around, and put a bullet through the head of the man holding a Type 56-1 assault rifle. Before the man could even fall, Jeonghan put two rounds into the abdomen of the man on his left, one round each into the chest and head of the man on his right, and finally one round into the head of the man staggering on the left. All three were dead in the blink of an eye.
It had taken less than two seconds to kill all three.
Hajun, Taehyun, and the other members froze as they watched Jeonghan’s godlike marksmanship.
What the fuck…? He killed those three in less than two seconds??
Those guys probably died without even realizing why. That level of skill would put him at the very top even within the special forces…
At that moment, one of the men who had been shot in the shoulder and thigh by Hajun and the others drew a Type 213 pistol from his side and aimed it at Jeonghan. Jeonghan noticed immediately and shot the man’s hand, forcing him to drop the gun.
Jeonghan watched quietly as the man clutched his wounded hand and screamed, then said to Taehyun, “I think we should interrogate him first to find out what’s going on.”
Taehyun nodded and ordered two of the members, “Move him and treat his wounds properly. Do not let him die.”
“Understood.”
The two members carried away the disarmed man. Jeonghan used a karambit to cut the tape binding the informant to the chair.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“Ugh… Are you… Koreans…?”
“Yes, we are Korean. We are acquaintances of President Tran Bao.”
“Ah… thank you…”
Jeonghan helped the man up, supporting him as he asked, “Who were those Chinese men just now?”
“They weren’t Chinese… they were Taiwanese… remnants of the Honglyeonbang… those bastards.”
The Honglyeonbang had once been the most powerful triad organization in Taiwan. But after suffering a devastating defeat in the war against the Jawolbang in 2019, most of its forces had been absorbed by the Jawolbang and it had essentially vanished. It was those remnants who had kidnapped Tran Bao’s informant.
Hearing this, Taehyun frowned slightly and asked the man, “Why did the remnants of the Honglyeonbang kidnap you?”
“They were… looking for the same person you are… That man named Shin Jaeguk…”