Negotiation (2)
The radio crackled. “Visibility secured. I see five people moving.”
When Yubin’s group reached the negotiation table on the third floor, Jinwoo’s voice came through the receiver. Yubin nodded.
“Yeah. I see them too. Even if things turn ugly, do not engage until I give the signal.”
If an army lieutenant general died trying to secure an immune’s serum, all future deals with the other generals would collapse. They would lose their supply line of live ammunition and fuel to Chungju, and Second Lieutenant Kang, currently embedded in Busan, would almost certainly be executed.
The receiver hissed again. “Copy that—! Just make damn sure you ID the boss. Worst case, we keep that one alive. Over—!”
Jinwoo’s reply was blunt and confident.
“Will do. I’m counting on you.”
Yubin gave his lifeline a short acknowledgment and killed the transmission. The five soldiers had already reached the pontoon bridge; from this point forward, the negotiation demanded his complete focus.
“There’s a woman with them?”
Sheriff muttered, sounding genuinely surprised. Just as he said, one of the five wore a skirt uniform. It was an oddity that immediately drew the eye. They had never encountered a female officer in these meetings before.
“There are plenty of female officers these days. Sheriff, hang back.”
Yubin answered distractedly and waved the big man toward the rear. A hulking figure like Sheriff standing right behind him might provoke an overreaction from the other side.
“Coming up! We’re unarmed!”
The lead soldier shouted from the bottom of the stairs. Yubin leaned on the railing, looked down, and called back.
“Come on up. There’s no need to worry. Your safety is guaranteed.”
Heavy combat boots thudded up the stairs. Moments later, the group—whether they were truly Lieutenant General Park or someone pretending—appeared at the third-floor entrance.
“Welcome, Lieutenant General. Please, take a seat right here. You know the rules, yes? Both hands on the table at all times.”
Yubin indicated the chair opposite the bulletproof table.
The visitors glanced at Sheriff and Mingu, frowned, and sat. They seemed to have decided the two bodyguards were manageable.
“Ahem!”
The man seated at the head of the table made a show of stripping off his jumper and puffing out his chest. The embroidered name on his uniform became clearly visible.
So it really is Lieutenant General Park…
Yubin touched the corner of his mouth. He needed to identify the real one and signal Jinwoo, but he still couldn’t be certain. In both previous negotiations the military had sent body doubles as if it were standard procedure. The man currently wearing Park Dooman’s name tag was almost certainly not the genuine article.
“Place seems awfully quiet. No zombies around. You claimed to have the immune serum, correct?”
The man tagged ‘Park Dooman’ asked while scanning the area. Yubin nodded.
“That’s right. We’ll handle the transaction step by step, but you must be thirsty after such a long journey. Would you like a can of beer each?”
Yubin opened the cooler and lined up beer cans and plastic bottles in the designated spots. The man wearing Park Dooman’s tag raised a hand in refusal.
“Skip the refreshments. I didn’t rush out here before dawn for a damn drink. Show me the serum first. Though looking at the state of you people, I’m not sure I believe a word of it. Is that really immune blood?”
“Of course it is. We wouldn’t dare joke with someone in your position. The parties we’ve already dealt with left completely satisfied. …Since you’re not drinking, I suppose I’ll have one myself.”
Yubin put on an oily smile, twisted open a juice bottle, and took a deliberate sip. Buying time was an essential negotiation skill. He had to keep the rhythm from falling into the opponent’s hands.
Still can’t tell.
Yubin swallowed and studied the group again. Usually a body double was accompanied by an older man who was the real superior, but the other three men here were all relatively young. And they looked physically formidable.
Could it be that the real Lieutenant General Park hadn’t come at all? Or had this man simply decided against using a double?
Yubin rested his prosthetic hand over his mouth, thinking hard. No matter how closely he examined them, the only person who could possibly be the real Park was the one sitting at the head with the name tag.
This is troublesome.
He let out a tiny internal sigh. He needed to identify the genuine article quickly and signal Jinwoo so that, even if gunfire erupted, they could keep the real target alive. Right now, however, he had nothing.
“Huuu… Fine. Let’s see it.”
The man tagged Park Dooman tapped the table impatiently.
“This is the blood you requested.”
Yubin opened the cooler, pulled out one of the blood bags, and gave it a shake. The transaction had to move forward regardless.
“It’s enough to cure one person. One hundred percent success rate. Convert it to serum and inject it into anyone bitten by a zombie—they’ll recover immediately. I assume you already know how to prepare and store it.”
“Let me have a look. Hand it over.”
The lieutenant general extended his hand arrogantly.
“Heh heh heh. That’s an odd request. What exactly is there to look at? It’s just an ordinary blood bag. Were you expecting it to come with a hologram label saying ‘immune blood’? Besides—”
Yubin shook his head with theatrical exasperation.
“Once you’ve paid, you can stare at it all you like, Lieutenant General Park.”
“That’s Terra’s blood, isn’t it? Be honest.”
The lieutenant general’s eyes glittered as he pointed at the bag in Yubin’s hand. Yubin kept smiling and answered calmly.
“What difference does that make, Lieutenant General? The important fact is that it works. Whose blood it is seems rather trivial by comparison.”
“Where is Terra?”
The lieutenant general pressed again, ignoring everything Yubin said and repeating only the questions he cared about. Yubin shrugged.
“I’m not a private investigator, Lieutenant General. If you want someone found, you should contact a different service. The man who came here to buy serum keeps asking irrelevant questions.”
“I’ll take that as confirmation that you’re protecting her. Somewhere in Chungju, I presume.”
Yet another person linking Terra to Chungju. It seemed the rumor that she was under Brigadier General Kim’s protection had spread among the army’s top brass.
“You’re free to believe whatever you like. I won’t try to stop you.”
Yubin gave a noncommittal answer, knowing that with these stubborn, self-important men, any direct response would be pointless.
“But why are civilians like you acting as negotiation representatives instead of actual soldiers? You look like the kind of punk who’d sell phones at best. Who the hell are you, anyway? With that long hair, you don’t even look like military.”
Lieutenant General Park leaned forward, eyes filled with open contempt. He was trying to establish dominance, but Yubin wasn’t the sort to flinch. He had never expected this meeting to end with smiles anyway.
“I’m the man who sells immune blood. If you didn’t even know that much before showing up, we have a problem.”
Yubin leaned back in his chair with a cheeky grin. Lieutenant General Park’s face twisted with even greater fury.
“How long do you think you can keep hiding something this important? Keep acting cocky and you might die in a single mistake. In times as harsh as these, you dare monopolize such a critical asset? How can you be so selfish? Huh?”
The lieutenant general lowered his voice into a heavy, threatening register. The three male officers around him mirrored the scowl, glaring at Yubin. But Yubin’s bodyguards were Sheriff and Mingu.
“Lieutenant General Park… are you going to keep talking about unrelated matters? Or shall we conduct the actual transaction?”
Yubin pretended to yawn and glanced at the watch on his right wrist. The provocation made blood vessels bulge on the lieutenant general’s and his aides’ foreheads.
“This little shit—how dare you get smart with me!”
“You want to die? Huh? You worthless blood-bag bastard!”
Their savage voices suggested they were ready to leap across the table and grab him by the collar. Until then Sheriff had remained silent, but now he slammed a massive hand down on the bulletproof table.
BOOM—!
The light-looking strike made the entire heavy wooden table shudder. The soldiers flinched and shut their mouths. Sheriff spoke in a low, calm voice.
“Let’s finish this with smiles. No need to piss each other off for no reason.”
“This son of a…”
The aide to Lieutenant General Park’s right muttered a curse, but his voice was far quieter than when he had been yelling at Yubin.
Hm? Interesting.
Yubin’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. When Sheriff had asserted control, the two aides on the lieutenant general’s left had instinctively moved to shield the female soldier. Not their superior—the woman. That was definitely strange.
“Lieutenant General Park…”
Yubin kept his smile in place as he addressed the man.
“As you know, this is our third meeting. Lieutenant General Jeong came first, followed by Lieutenant General Shin. Both of them seemed to have rather fiery tempers. Though I’m sure you’d know that better than I would.”
“Why bring them up all of a sudden?”
Lieutenant General Park frowned. Yubin shrugged and continued.
“If we were the type to fold under threats of that caliber, we wouldn’t have shown up again. No matter how loudly you shout, I’m not the least bit afraid. The reason I permitted five of you is that I’m fully confident I can subdue that number. So please stop wasting your energy.”
“Khm…!”
Lieutenant General Park made a displeased noise, glanced left, then nodded.
“Fine. As you said, let’s handle the transaction first. That’s why we’re here. But we will discuss Terra later. Remember that.”
“You really are persistent. Do you honestly think another meeting with you will come so quickly, Lieutenant General?”
“We’ll see. How much blood did you bring?”
“Three packs.”
Yubin gave the same answer he had given at the previous two meetings.
“Only three packs? That’s far too little! You made us travel all this way for three measly packs?”
Lieutenant General Park raised his voice in dissatisfaction. Yubin smiled thinly.
“You don’t even know the price yet, but you’re already complaining about quantity. Are you that confident in your ability to pay?”
“What?”
“Exactly. Even if the flyer said negotiation was possible, you should still ask the price first. How else would I know what to charge you?”
“You arrogant little—”
Lieutenant General Park narrowed his eyes in fury. Yet he still kept glancing to the left.
What is going on?
Yubin stared at the man’s face, trying to piece the situation together.
The real boss is definitely on the left… but none of them look like a commanding officer. They all seem like subordinates. Except the woman…
Could the woman actually be Lieutenant General Park? But it seemed highly unlikely that the Korean army had a female officer with three stars. Besides, she looked younger than the rest. Though the thick horn-rimmed glasses and heavy stage-like makeup hid her real features, her hands revealed her age.
“Huu… All right. What’s the price?”
Lieutenant General Park asked. Yubin answered evenly.
“Forty thousand rounds of 5.56mm NATO ammunition per pack. It’s practically a steal.”
Since Lieutenant General Jeong and Lieutenant General Shin had happily paid thirty thousand per pack, a modest increase should not cause problems. These men would not share their transaction details with rival generals, so the price adjustment would never be discovered.
“Forty thousand?”
Lieutenant General Park’s eyes widened in disbelief. He then repeated almost verbatim the lines the other generals must have fed him.
“You’re insane! Heh heh heh, the balls on this brat. You clearly don’t understand how valuable forty thousand rounds are in times like these.”
“If you value ammunition so highly, I won’t force the sale. You can keep your precious bullets, Lieutenant General. We’ll simply do business with the next customer.”
“You think you’ll walk out of here alive after speaking to me like that? Do you even know who you’re dealing with? I am Army Lieutenant General Park Dooman! Name a reasonable price before you get hurt!”
Lieutenant General Park half-rose from his seat as if ready to lunge, shouting furiously.
“I already named a reasonable price—forty thousand. If you lay a hand on me, it doubles.”
Yubin gave an irritating smile and waved his gloved prosthetic hand.
“Besides, as you can see, I’ve lived a rather rough life myself. Threats like that don’t scare me, Lieutenant General.”
Of course, cold sweat was soaking his back. Yubin knew perfectly well that a single small mistake could trigger a catastrophe.
“This brainless bastard doesn’t know his place…”
Lieutenant General Park ground his teeth. Yubin gave a bitter chuckle.
“Oh dear, the price just went up again. For the personal insult, shall we say forty-five thousand?”
“I’m not joking, you little shit!”
As Lieutenant General Park tried to escalate the menacing atmosphere further, a deliberate cough came from the left.
“Ahem! Ahem!”
The female officer covered her mouth and coughed theatrically twice. Lieutenant General Park turned, met her eyes, then let out a frustrated sigh.
“That… flyer you people distributed. What exactly was it? It said negotiation was possible.”
“Of course it is. If you meet my conditions, I can even give you this for free.”
Yubin held up the blood bag and leaned forward.
“Search every building belonging to the Taeyang Group in the south. There are dozens of people kidnapped from Seoul imprisoned inside. Rescue them safely, and I’ll give you all of this at no cost, Lieutenant General.”
“…You crazy bastard!”
Lieutenant General Park’s face stiffened. He cursed, then shook his head violently.
“Stop spreading those ridiculous rumors. There’s no way the Taeyang Group would do something like that.”
“Then there will be no negotiation. Pay my full price or leave. Business only happens when conditions are met, doesn’t it?”
Yubin frowned in annoyance and pointed directly at the female officer as he spoke. He wasn’t actually interested in her answer. The gesture was meant to identify the real VIP for Jinwoo. No matter how many times he looked, that young woman was clearly the highest-ranking person present. Why that should be, he had no idea.
“Wait. I need to consult with my aide. Captain Yoo knows the current ammunition supply situation better than I do.”
Lieutenant General Park turned to the female officer on his left.
“What do you think, Captain Yoo? Can we meet the condition? Forty thousand rounds per pack, three packs.”
“Um… Yes, Lieutenant General. If additional information is provided alongside the product, the conditions appear sufficient for deal confirmation.”
The female officer pushed up her thick black glasses with a fingertip and spoke for the first time.
“Additional… information?”
The bizarre phrasing caught Yubin off guard. The female officer paid no attention to his reaction and continued.
“What is Terra’s current vital condition? Is she in a safe environment? Please also provide the ingredients of her daily food intake.”
“Why are you asking me? I don’t recall ever saying this blood belongs to Terra.”
Yubin answered brazenly. At that moment, Mingu, who had been standing silently behind them, stepped forward, snatched the female officer’s cap off her head, and asked bluntly.
“You… aren’t you Chairman Hwang of Taeyang’s daughter?”