Chapter 296.1: The National Flag They’re Proud Of (2)

Swoosh! Crack!

With a swift jerk, Kang Chul-Gyu twisted his target’s head to the side, breaking their neck. When they fell low enough for him to see the top of their head, he slit their neck with his bayonet.

Slice!

He then grabbed onto his enemy’s lifeless body and silently laid them on the floor.

Executing the same tactics that they used at the DMZ, Chang Chul-Gyu and his men scattered after relentlessly launching attacks on their opponents. Once they went past their defenses, they snuck around like cats in the night, cutting open their enemies’ throats.

Chang Chul-Gyu didn’t know how many enemies they had collectively killed. If they were in a forest like the battlefields back at the DMZ, they would have had far fewer casualties. Unfortunately, despite how weak their enemies were, the light-gray buildings around them made it hard to conduct guerilla warfare, which would have allowed them to take out their targets undetected.

Kang Chul-Gyu lowered his rifle. Using his gaze, he gestured to the window on the other side.

Rustle. Rustle.

Oh Gwang-Taek's movements made a lot of noises, but Kang Chul-Gyu didn’t seem to mind.

During his days as a gangster, Oh Gwang-Taek used to live in dorms with his colleagues. He had also experienced being the youngest member of a gang and participating in small and large armed fights. Later on, he took over and ruled over half of Gangnam, the most important part of Seoul.

In other words, he had lived completely prepared to die at any moment. However, that mindset began to crack in Mongolia, then finally broke into pieces here in Al-Aziziyah, Libya.

Every time Oh Gwang-Taek looked at Kang Chul-Gyu and the others, he always got a feeling of what life was like for those who were truly prepared to die. He was not merely among such courageous people. They also respected him and called him ‘President Oh’ even though Kang Chul-Gyu could easily twist and break Oh Gwang-Taek’s neck if he really wanted to.

If these people suddenly decided to turn into gangsters, it wouldn’t take long for them to secure a territory and live in luxury for the rest of their lives. Instead, they were out here feeling moved by the national flag on their forearms and spending their final breaths asking others to look after their juniors.

Based on distance alone, Kang Chul-Gyu’s DMZ team should reach their target location before Kang Chan’s National Intelligence Team would since the latter was headed to the other end of Al-Aziziyah. The special forces team that was running to the Tripoli district would be the last to arrive.

That was why the DMZ team fought with no regard for their lives. They didn’t even have to explain themselves. Their eyes and actions were all that were needed to show their determination to eliminate their opponents and help their juniors.

They were fighting against an army that numbered around a hundred and fifty. Nevertheless, only four of the DMZ team had been attacking them and paving the way for the others. When everyone else joined in, their enemies’ counterfire dramatically weakened.

Kang Chul-Gyu flinched.

Like a stray cat caught trying to steal a fish, Oh Gwang-Taek stopped moving when he noticed Kang Chul-Gyu had crouched down a little.

They didn’t even hear or see anything, yet Kang Chul-Gyu stopped walking right in front of the back door, preventing them from going outside. He then reached his left arm forward.

As Oh Gwang-Taek briefly exhaled, seemingly trying to be quiet, a man wearing Islamic clothes suddenly walked through the door.

Swish! Crack!

The enemy had their gun at the ready, its muzzle pointed in the direction of Kang Chul-Gyu and the others. Nevertheless, although they certainly had their guard up when they entered, Kang Chul-Gyu still managed to break their neck before they could react. Oh Gwang-Taek didn’t even notice him move his left hand.

The enemy did see Kang Chul-Gyu, but he didn’t give them the chance to pull the trigger.

After pulling their corpse toward him and laying them down against the wall, he slit their neck deep enough for about half of it to open. Dark-red blood gushed out from the long cut.

Kang Chul-Gyu stood up and headed toward the door once more. However, before he could enter, another person walked out. When he instinctively unsheathed his bayonet and swung it toward their neck, his target also drew the weapon attached to their shoulder.

The blade of Kang Chul-Gyu’s bayonet was already pressing against the man’s neck by the time they both stopped. Fortunately, they didn’t hurt each other.

Right in front of him was the soldier who had said it was painful to watch their juniors chanting their motto. With a look from Kang Chul-Gyu, he quickly came inside.

“We’re almost done clearing the area,” the man explained.

Oh Gwang-Taek was stunned. Their team of only fifteen men had already killed most of their enemies.

The soldier continued, “Dong-Sik’s team has already surrounded our target building, sir.”

‘Considering Kang Chul-Gyu alone has killed more than forty soldiers, I shouldn’t be so surprised that we’re almost done here,’

Oh Gwang-Taek thought.

Kang Chul-Gyu nodded at his subordinate, then turned to Oh Gwang-Taek. “Let’s remove the safety pins on the grenades and then toss them over.”

Rustle. Rustle.

Even though they were all walking to the same destination and in the same manner, only Oh Gwang-Taek was making noises.

Once they had gone past the back door of the building, the soldiers hiding behind the light-gray walls greeted Kang Chul-Gyu with respect.

“Our enemies seem to have assigned all of their men to defense. Since they don’t appear to be here anymore, why don’t we just head straight in?” one of the soldiers asked.

“I want you and Il-Gyu to head inside with me. We’ll blast our way through with grenades.” How are things upstairs?” Kang Chul-Gyu asked Dong-Sik.

“We have already sent two men over. They are standing by right now,” Nam Il-Gyu quickly answered.

Click.

Kang Chul-Gyu held up his rifle.

The two other soldiers with him removed the pins on their grenades and then quickly approached the building.

Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow!

Kang Chul-Gyu swiftly shot down the two enemies who had stuck their heads out of the windows on the second floor. They then threw their grenades into the windows and crouched behind a wall.

BANG!

Along with a powerful explosion, intense vibrations coursed through the building. Debris were blasted out the windows.

Whoosh!

Before the debris even hit the ground, the two held onto the window frame and jumped inside. Kang Chul-Gyu then kicked open the door and ran inside the building.

Terrifying gunshots from their rifles rang out. After a while, silence fell on the area.

Pew! Du du! Pew! Pew! Du du! Pew!

The sparks from their rifles flashed through the windows.

Holding his breath, Oh Gwang-Taek wondered,

‘What happened?’

Screech.

The door soon opened, and Kang Chul-Gyu walked out. Four soldiers followed right behind him, holding a man in Islamic clothes.

They had come in with only three people but somehow came out with five. It took Oh Gwang-Taek a moment to finally realize that the two soldiers that they had said were standing by upstairs had actually been on the roof of the building.

Thud!

The four soldiers made their captive kneel on the ground. Kang Chul-Gyu then took out some documents and quickly flipped through them, searching for a picture of the man.

The man, sporting a curly beard and a turban, glared at Kang Chul-Gyu as if to say that he would never surrender to them or divulge any crucial information that could lead to the downfall of their organization.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“He’s one of the targets. Get rid of him,” Kang Chul-Gyu ordered.

Following his order, Nam Il-Gyu obediently unsheathed his bayonet.

Stab!

“

Urgh

!”

Slice! Thud!

Oh Gwang-Taek tried hard not to frown.

Nam Il-Gyu stabbed the man in the neck. With the blade still inside, he swung his bayonet around thrice before finally cutting through to the side. By the time he was done, more than half of the man’s neck had been split open, and the muscles inside it had been brutally ripped apart.

Rustle.

Kang Chul-Gyu folded the photo of the dead man in half, then slipped the documents back into his chest pocket.

“What’s next?” Kang Chul-Gyu asked.

“The men are already standing by inside the building,” one of the soldiers responded.

“Let’s go.”

The soldiers did as instructed.

Oh Gwang-Taek watched them climb up the roof. He wondered if they should be moving so carelessly. However, he soon shook his head, dismissing the thought.

With their rifles at the ready, the soldiers on the roof constantly changed positions, watching out for potential danger. Standing guard below them was Kang Chul-Gyu, who boasted superhuman shooting skills.

Oh Gwang-Taek was scared. Never in his life did he expect to meet individuals whose skills revolved around killing people who were trained to fight.

***

“Hey! Yoon Sang-Ki!” someone yelled.

“Fuck!”

Du du! Du du du!

After Lee Seok-Jae radioed in what was happening, Yoon Sang-Ki quickly ran over and pulled away the electrical wires wrapped around Kwak Cheol-Ho, tearing them off the explosives.

Pew! Du du du! Pew! Du du du! Pew!

Despite the gunshots that were endlessly ringing around them, Yoon Sang-Ki just kept glaring at Kwak Cheol-Ho.

“I don’t care if you shoot me in the head for not following your orders or send me before a court-martial after this! I need you to remember that we’re South Korea’s best special forces team!” Yoon Sang-Ki yelled. “We are more than skilled enough to kill all of those sons of bitches and blow up the factory without having to resort to something like this!”

“Did you really just say that to my face, motherfucker?”

“What do you think the captain and the lieutenant would say if they saw you acting like this? What would you do if I was the one planning to sacrifice myself? What about our sunbaes, huh? Have you already forgotten what they said back on the plane? They said they’re proud of us, man! Do you really think this stunt of yours would do their feelings justice?! You’re the commander of this team, for fuck’s sake! How are we supposed to act when our leader is acting like this?! You didn’t fight so hard for your life in Africa just to do this!” Yoon Sang-Ki exclaimed.