Chapter 113.2: Absurd Events Unfold (2)

Hating Yang Jin-Woo and killing kids were completely different things.

This wasn’t a war between African tribes. Beheading innocent children wasn’t something that Kang Chan could accept, regardless of what the purpose was.

Kang Chan held up a cigarette. The situation strangely kept becoming messier and messier.

“What’s going on? What got you so mad?” Oh Gwang-Taek asked.

“Don’t even get me started—all kinds of thugs butted into the Eurasian Rail. Phew! Let’s leave it at that.”

Oh Gwang-Taek took out and bit on another cigarette, deciding not to pry further.

Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—.?

Kang Chan quickly held up his phone.

- It’s Xavier. I heard that they have already finished beheading them.

“They beheaded all of Yang Jin-Woo’s family members that are in the United States?”

- They started with his two sons, followed by his daughter and her husband and three children. They killed seven people in total.

Crazy sons of bitches.

Kang Chan was well aware of the Serpent Venimeux’s cruelty, but this was his first time actually witnessing it for himself.

He was so dumbfounded that all he could do was smirk.

- That’s all for now. I’ll let you know immediately once we’ve figured out Yang Jin-Woo’s plans.

“Phew!”

Something so nonsensical just happened.

Kang Chan had stiffened, and he felt grim.

After flatly refusing the people who called him to request an interview, Kang Chan held up his phone and passed on what he had talked about with the Serpent Venimeux a moment ago to Lanok.

- Things are getting so messed up and complicated.

Did this sly and wily fox really not expect this to happen?

- For now, let’s see what will happen.

“Okay. However, I don’t want to arbitrate this issue anymore.”

- Alright. I’ll take care of this myself.

Kang Chan put down his phone and leaned back against the sofa.

Messing with family left him with no other choice but to become needlessly cruel. Now that things had come to this, killing Yang Jin-Woo as soon as possible and ending this fight was the wise thing to do.

***

Nothing unusual happened since Kang Chan had parted ways with Oh Gwang-Taek and headed home. However, his phone was a problem.

Not only Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook’s phones but even Kang Chan’s phone unexpectedly rang nonstop, making it difficult for them to talk on the phone to other people.

All of the phone calls were from people requesting an interview or asking Kang Chan to appear on TV, but he obviously had no reason to accept those requests.

Yoo Hye-Sook in particular received a lot of phone calls from her friends, who knew a reporter, asking for an interview just this once for their sake.

The next day, Kang Chan started doing his morning workouts.

For the past two days, the National Intelligence Service had been trying hard to figure out the identities of the terrorists by directing all of their strengths into it. They also made a complaint and requested cooperation from China but didn’t achieve anything special.

Diplomacy was funny.

China prepared the North Korean military in secret only for all of them to die, and, pretending not to know anything about it, South Korea made a complaint and requested cooperation.

“Phew.”

Kang Chan soon felt refreshed and more comfortable.

Since then, he hadn't received a phone call from Xavier.

Kang Chan had no reason to insist on contacting someone who kills children, so he decided to just forget about him.

If Xavier suddenly appeared in front of Kang Chan again, Kang Chan might just twist his neck.

“Wash up quickly, Channy. Let’s eat,” Yoo Hye-Sook said.

“Is it okay for you to be working out already?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked.

“Yes. I’m feeling better now.” Kang Chan answered. He then had a refreshing shower and went out to the kitchen.

As the three ate, they all put their phones on silent.

Kang Chan was about to become curious about what the people requesting an interview with him since before they even had breakfast looked like.

After their meal, Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook went to work, and Kang Chan got a text message.

[Is something going on? Answer the phone.]

When did this fucker call me?

Kang Chan called Seok Kang-Ho.

- Hello? Is everything alright?

“I just put my phone on silent because so many people are calling me to request an interview. Why did you call?”

- Let’s have a cup of coffee if you don’t have something special going on. I feel strangely frustrated as well.

“Alright. How long will it take you to get here?”

- Let’s see each other in an hour.

“Got it.”

Kang Chan slowly got ready to meet Seok Kang-Ho.

His phone continued to light up because of incoming calls. Every time he checked who was calling, he just found an unknown number.

This was nuts. Unfortunately, he couldn’t change his phone number right now.

***

Kang Chan met Seok Kang-Ho in front of the apartment, then headed to Misari together. Since it was still early in the morning, it seemed they were the coffee shop’s first customers today.

While looking at the river that stretched as far as the eye could see, Kang Chan had a sip of the coffee he had ordered. He felt relieved.

Kang Chan first told Seok Kang-Ho that the Serpent Venimeux had murdered Yang Jin-Woo’s sons and daughter.

“Damn it. The kids didn’t do anything wrong. Aren't you going to get implicated in vain?” Seok Kang-Ho asked afterward.

“I’m not sure. Considering what that fucker Yang Jin-Woo is capable of, it wouldn’t take long for him to find out who did it, so wouldn’t he try to look for an opportunity to kill the Serpent Venimeux?”

“I know he has a lot of money, but do you think it’ll be easy for him to fight them? Lanok can go against the Serpent Venimeux because he’s Lanok. If Yang Jin-Woo tries to fight the Serpent Venimeux with money, my neck would be slit first before he could win.”

“That’s true.”

Still drinking coffee, Kang Chan then told Seok Kang-Ho about his meeting with Oh Gwang-Taek and lunch with Lanok.

“What will you do now?” Seok Kang-Ho asked again.

“Tsk! I do feel uncomfortable because innocent kids got swept into this mess, but I’m still determined to end Yang Jin-Woo once and for all.”

“Why are innocent kids the ones dying when Yang Jin-Woo is the one who did something wrong? Damn it!”

“Tell me about it. However, if we just leave Yang Jin-Woo alone, that fucker will likely look for opportunities again to try and kill my parents. That makes it difficult to just leave him be. Not to mention there are also those women who died pitifully.”

“Will Yang Jin-Woo even return to the country?” Seok Kang-Ho took out and bit on a cigarette. He then draped both of his arms across the table as if to wrap himself around it.

“We should see how things go. According to Xavier, they think Yang Jin-Woo will return to the country if they kill his family, and manager Kim also said that he’s looking for ways to bring him back here, so there will probably be a way.”

“Whoo. So I heard Lanok say that Xavier is an agent of the United States’ Intelligence Bureau.”

“Exactly. It seems like there’s an organization similar to France's DGSE in the United States.”

Frowning, Kang Chan stroked his head. Instead of complicatedly getting entangled, it was a hundred times better to just meet up and duke it out.

“What will you do starting tomorrow?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“I don’t have anything special to do. Going to school isn’t a good idea either, so I’ll just look for somewhere I can work out nearby.”

“Look at this—we should’ve just bought that land last time.”

Kang Chan couldn’t help but smirk. It seemed Seok Kang-Ho still couldn’t give up that land.

Kang Chan’s phone continued to ring as they drank coffee. Every time it did, he checked the called ID just in case it was someone he knew.

“Just seeing that makes me feel like I’m going to go crazy,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.

“How do you think I would feel as the one actually getting these calls?” After Kang Chan grumbled, he got a call again. This time, it was Kim Hyung-Jung.

“Look at this,” Kang Chan quickly held up his phone and answered.

“Hello?”

- Mr. Kang Chan, it’s Kim Hyung-Jung. Where are you?

“I’m at Misari with Seok Kang-Ho.”

- I heard that Yang Jin-Woo is returning to South Korea. If you two are planning to stay at Misari for a bit longer, I’ll come over.

“Sounds good. We were thinking of having lunch here, so please join us.”

When Kang Chan put down his phone, Seok Kang-Ho asked, “Did he say that he’s coming here?”

“He said that Yang Jin-Woo is returning to South Korea.”

“What?”

Kang Chan wordlessly took out a cigarette.

Why did he feel so uncomfortable despite having heard that Yang Jin-Woo was returning to South Korea? Was it because Kang Chan gained sympathy for him now that he had lost his children and grandchildren?

Kang Chan looked at the river as he exhaled cigarette smoke.

I have to do this. I’ll take care of this one step at a time.

He had to take care of Yang Jin-Woo and the espionage war.

Kang Chan worked on this issue just to help South Korea get connected to the Eurasian Rail. Since then, he had come so far.

He had already accomplished so much and had even made the Eurasian Rail announcement event happen ahead of schedule. Now, all he had to do to live in comfort was put an end to this by taking down Yang Jin-Woo.

“Son of a bitch. Once he returns to South Korea, then let’s do whatever it takes to end him. We’ll live in comfort afterward,” Seok Kang-Ho said.

Seok Kang-Ho’s husky voice woke Kang Chan up from his thoughts.

Kim Hyung-Jung arrived just as the coffee shop employees served them the second order of coffee they had placed.

“That gentleman seems so busy that his feet almost never touch the ground,,” Kang Chan commented.

Kim Hyung-Jung ordered coffee first before going to their table.

“How are you feeling?” Kim Hyung-Jung asked.

“We’re okay—we both got discharged. Please sit,” Kang Chan said.

With all three of them now seated, Kim Hyung-Jung looked around their surroundings. “Let’s wait for the coffee to be served before we start.”

“I don’t see why not,” Kang Chan replied.

In the last several days, Kim Hyung-Jung lost more weight.

“You must be very tired,” Kang Chan said.

“Honestly, I’m dying because I’m up to my neck in reports. We have to figure out the identities of the dead terrorists, how the weapons used in the terrorist attack got into South Korea, and a bunch of other things like their port of entry into the country. I also have to organize the data we’ve gathered according to the information that you’ve given me. Phew! This is crazy.”

Kim Hyung-Jung opened his hand and stroked his face as if he was washing it. He took a sip of the coffee when it arrived. After examining their surroundings again, he continued, “Yang Jin-Woo is returning to the country. The flight he booked will land in South Korea tomorrow afternoon, but we have intel that he’s accompanied by an agent from Japan’s Intelligence Bureau.”

“That fucker is still doing all sorts of things to survive despite all of the bullshit he has done. He’s an American citizen, and he’s also involved with Japan’s National Intelligence Service? Give me a break,” Seok Kang-Ho complained.

“We still don’t have evidence that Yang Jin-Woo directly intervened in the attack. Are you aware that Yang Jin-Woo’s children in France and the United States have been murdered?” Kim Hyung-Jung asked.

“I heard that even his grandchildren were murdered.”

“That’s correct. If Yang Jin-Woo is still planning to come into the country with Japan’s Intelligence Bureau despite everything that has happened, then that means someone is backing him up or that he has a failproof plan.”

Kang Chan just listened to Kim Hyung-Jung. Regardless of what he said and believed, the fact that he was going to die didn’t change.

Kang Chan decided to think of that and that alone.