Chapter 295.2: The National Flag They’re Proud Of (1)

Chk.

“Gather ‘round,” Kang Chan radioed in.

As ordered, the agents quickly made their way to him.

Click!

Holding his rifle in his right hand, he fiercely turned to the area ahead of them.

This was the border on the outskirts.

Sherman, you son of a bitch!

CIA Director Sherman had told him that the United States was working with the anti-Gaddafi regime. However, in reality, they seemed to have failed to stop the Gadaffi regime’s military.

Since there was no way the CIA would’ve been unaware of this, it was likely that while the CIA was going to help Kang Chan and his team, it would still be better for them if all of the South Korean soldiers died here.

The agents stood behind Kang Chan.

“There’s the steel tower,” he said.

Light-gray buildings flanked the road at the foot of the hill. The steel tower he mentioned was on the rooftop of a building that was behind three or four other establishments.

As Kang Chan unmovingly glared at the steel tower, his subordinates silently examined their surroundings, cautiously ensuring that there were no other threats around them.

The DGSE doesn’t know about this?

Could Romaine, the Director-General of the DGSE, really be unaware that the soldiers of the Gaddafi regime would be waiting for them even though he had photos of Mohammad Zrif and had even figured out how many would be guarding him?

Romaine likely wants us to die here too, just like Sherman does. They probably find it distasteful that South Korea, which hadn’t really done much until now, is suddenly acting cocky just because it found a treasure.

Keeping his glare fixed on the darkness, Kang Chan called, “Um Ji-Hwan.”

Only when Choi Jong-Il and Woo Hee-Seung looked at him did Um Ji-Hwan barely managed to respond with a “Sir?”

Kang Chan turned his head toward him. “Do you think you can move here the same way you did when we played jokgu?”

That’s not fair!

In this situation, no one would be able to immediately get what Kang Chan was getting at and answer such a question accordingly. Hence, Um Ji-Hwan only blinked in response.

“You and I are going to go into that steel tower. The border on the outskirts is broken, but those fuckers are choosing to hold their position anyway because they’re waiting for us to go inside. We’ll circle around the back while Choi Jong-Il and the agents draw their attention,” Kang Chan explained, pointing to the right side of the downhill road with his right index finger.

‘Does that mean I have to run again?’

Um Ji-Hwan thought.

“The problem is that we have to go up to the rooftop of that building at the back before we can reach it. You’re the only person I know who can do that.”

“I’ll do it,” Um Ji-Hwan immediately answered. He then gritted his teeth, preparing himself for the arduous challenges ahead of him.

“Alright. Choi Jong-Il, I need you to stall and draw as much of the enemy’s attention as possible. At least for now, it would be safer to assume that we’re up against the regular army. You are to prepare and fight accordingly. The UIS doesn’t know how to wait. If we were up against those fuckers, they would have already run over here in groups, and they wouldn’t have even bothered being quiet about it,” Kang Chan said.

“Yes, sir,” Choi Jong-Il firmly answered.

“I’ll radio you when we reach our destination. While waiting, I want you to keep pushing forward until you get close enough for our enemies to respond.”

“Please leave it to me.”

Clank. Click.

Kang Chan changed the magazine loaded in his rifle.

Clunk. Click.

Realizing why Kang Chan was reloading his gun a little later, Um Ji-Hwan swiftly copied him.

“Let’s go,” Kang Chan said afterward.

He began making his way to their target location. Um Ji-Hwan followed right behind him.

***

The sniper in Yoon Sang-Ki’s team made quick work of the enemies near them. Right after, he took out the person manning the 20mm machine gun, allowing them to breathe much more easily.

Du du du! Du du! Pew! Pew! Du du du! Pow pow pow!

However, they were still yet to make any significant dent on the number of their enemies.

“

Ugh

.”

Kwak Cheol-Ho looked down at the sunken wound on his left shoulder. Due to the skin around it falling off, its size had grown to that of a fist.

Even in the darkness, he could see blood rushing out of his shoulder seemingly in clumps. He could also see the blood seeping into the national flag on his forearm, staining it red.

Those motherfuckers! They think the South Korean Special Forces team is not even worth the dick of some dog, huh?

He couldn’t be any gladder for having sent Yoon Sang-Ki away from their position.

“Lee Seok-Jae,” Kwak Cheol-Ho called.

Lee Seok-Jae, who was shooting at the enemies from right beside him, quickly looked at him.

“Give me a C-4.”

That was an order from his superior officer. Hence, it didn’t even occur to him to ask Kwak Cheol-Ho what he needed it for or tell him that it would be dangerous to use it now.

Lee Seok-Jae quickly held out the bag, which he had placed beside him earlier, to Kwak Cheol-Ho.

Du du du! Pow pow pow! Pew! Pew! Du du du! Pew!

Another gunfight soon broke out. Their enemies were beginning to resort to desperate measures to take their 20mm machine gun back, which certainly gave whoever had it a huge edge over the battle.

“

Ugh

.”

Kwak Cheol-Ho opened the bag, took out a C-4, and secured it into his vest and around his waist. He then inserted electric wires into the explosive and connected them all together. Now, all that was left for him to do was connect the wires to an ignition device.

Lee Seok-Jae glanced at Kwak Cheol-Ho. In what almost seemed like a snarl, he hastily asked, “What are you doing?!”

However, Kwak Cheol-Ho just laughed. “

Phuhu

.”

Ever since he had become a part of the special forces team, he had done nothing but fight to his heart’s content. During his service to his country, they had blown up one of China’s airports and fought against the seemingly endless waves of Quds that had ambushed them in Africa. In both of those missions, they had found themselves in a situation so horrible he thought they would never get out of alive.

Click. Click.

Kwak Cheol-Ho carefully inserted the ends of the electrical wires into an ignition device.

He could set a timer for the C-4’s explosion or simply press the red button strong enough to damage the plastic cover at the bottom. Either way, he would be putting on a fiery show that would start with a

BANG.

Du du du! Du du! Du du du!

Lee Seok-Jae furiously glared at Kwak Cheol-Ho. However, he soon returned his attention to their enemies, who were still raining down bullets upon them.

Meanwhile, Kwak Cheol-Ho looked to his left, finding the corpse of one of his men. He then turned his gaze to the dark skies above him.

For his plan to succeed, he would have to crawl.

Kwak Cheol-Ho and his subordinates were in an area that Yoon Sang-Ki’s team could easily envelop in cover fire. With their help, Kwak Cheol-Ho should be able to crawl all the way to the front of the enemy lines without being shot down.

After setting the timer, he would hold the button and get as close to their enemies as possible. If he could get inside their ranks, he would be able to deal a heavy blow on them.

He just had to make his way through the defenses right up front. Although their opponents still had a lot of men, Kwak Cheol-Ho realized that all of them were positioned right in front of them. After all, if there had been more, they wouldn’t have taken such a passive approach to this fight. Rather, they would have already surrounded him and his team and unleashed a hail of bullets on them.

With that thought in mind, he decided to proceed with his plan.

Kwak Cheol-Ho laughed again. “

Phuhuhuhu

!”

He wanted to see Cha Dong-Gyun one last time. He also missed Seok Kang-Ho and Kang Chan.

Although only a part of his shoulder had been blown off, he still found himself in unbelievably horrible pain. It made him wonder how Kang Chan managed to hold onto him and Cha Dong-Gyun and rescue them from falling into the pit in Africa.

***

Whoosh! Slit! Whoosh! Stab!

Kang Chul-Gyu and four of his men unsheathed their knives and ran until they finally got past the enemy lines.

Du du du! Pow pow pow! Pew! Thud! Du du! Pew!

While Kang Chul-Gyu prevented their enemies from shooting them, Kwon Yong-Hee immediately rushed toward his next target. He then stabbed their neck, used his strength to pull the knife out, and then slit the necks of anyone else who were standing in their way.

You motherfuckers! You killed half of our juniors! They were just starting to shine brightly like the stars above! Those amazing people even called me and my fellow has-been DMZ soldiers their sunbaes and yelled that they were proud of us at the aisle of the plane!

Their enemies seemed to have caught wind of their operation, considering they had been waiting for them. That was precisely why Kwon Yong-Hee was doing his best to clear the area as fast as he could. A situation like this wasn’t a problem for the DMZ team. After all, they would never back down from such a predicament. However, considering the hostiles in front of them seemed to have been anticipating their sudden attack, Kwon Yong-Hee concluded that their juniors were in danger.

It made him impatient.

Du du du! Du du! Pow! Pew!

‘Why are you working so hard to take us down, you sons of bitches?!’

Kwon Yong-Hee thought.

Whoosh! Slit!

Kwon Yong-Hee slit another neck open, causing his target’s blood to spill all over the ground. Afterward, with his eyes still glinting, he took a few moments to examine their surroundings and keep track of their situation. However, as he did, he spotted an enemy to his left, their rifle aimed at one of the people who were following him.

Swoosh! Bam!

Out of sheer reflex, Kwon Yong-Hee ran over and tackled his colleague away from the line of fire.

Du du! Pow!

Feeling a stiff and burning pain course through him, he looked down at his chest, finding blood gushing out of a gunshot wound.

Whoosh! Stab!

Kwon Yong-Hee heard one of his colleagues stabbing the enemy who had just shot him. At the same time, the man he had just saved rushed toward another opponent.

Thud.

Kwon Yong-Hee fell forward. However, before he could hit the ground, he bent down and knelt instead, pushing past the pain through sheer force of will.

‘He said his name was Kwak Cheol-Ho, right?’

He was a really amazing junior. Kwon Yong-Hee found it unfortunate that such a man had to call him ‘sunbae.’ On the other hand, he couldn’t help but be grateful that his junior was proud of him.

Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow!

Kwon Yong-Hee could hear Kang Chul-Gyu unloading his magazine at their enemies as he made his way toward him. Despite all the years that had gone by, his shooting skills had not changed at all.

Using every last bit of strength left in him, Kwon Yong-Hee turned his head to the left. He gazed at the national flag that they were so proud of—the flag of the nation they would sin against their family to protect—one last time before his head lifelessly drooped down.