Once Kang Chan had returned to the office, he called Lanok and explained the situation to him.

- Have the South Korean government request an investigation from the UN. In the meantime, I'll call Sherman and get his cooperation.

“Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.”

- Our enemies are acting bolder than expected.

“I agree. I didn’t expect them to act like this. As soon as the UN finishes its investigation, we plan on sending peacekeeping forces to Malawi to show our enemies our resolve.”

- I never thought the day would come when France would have to share Africa with South Korea.

“I haven’t thought of it that way. If this causes trouble for you, then I’ll stop South Korea from sending their soldiers to Malawi.”

Kang Chan didn’t want to put Lanok in a predicament, so he immediately told him his intentions.

- You don’t have to do that. However, you should begin to consider how to balance things when you're deciding your next move. While we trust and follow you, if it seems like South Korea is getting everything it wants, then the intelligence agents and representatives of other countries will be put in a difficult position.

“Yes, sir.”

- Alright. I’ll contact you again after talking with Sherman.

After hanging up, Kang Chan looked outside the window.

Since France was very powerful and already controlled many countries, he thought that it wouldn’t be a problem for South Korea to take control of Malawi.

I do understand why Lanok said that, though. South Korea is basically just taking the credit for France’s work.

France definitely wouldn’t be happy that he was suddenly sending South Korean soldiers to one of their territories.

Kang Chan stared at the cars that filled the roads below him.

What’s going to happen now? What am I missing?

The uneasy feeling that took up a part of his thoughts still hadn’t gone away.

Kang Chan suddenly thought of Seok Kang-Ho, causing him to smirk. That man definitely wouldn’t be attacked so easily.

***

“You should head home now.”

Despite saying that he should go, Um Ji-Hwan’s old mother couldn’t let go of Seok Kang-Ho’s hand.

“You wrote the correct address, right?”

“Yes, I did, but you better not get injured over something silly or useless. If you do, I’m never going to see you again,” Seok Kang-Ho said.

“Don’t say that. I’m just going to send you my harvest once I go down to Jangseong,” she said. Soon after, she suddenly burst into tears.

“No, don't cry. Ji-Hwan won’t be able to rest in peace if you keep holding onto him.”

Seok Kang-Ho wiped her tears away with his rough hands.

“Thank you. I will never forget you staying with my Ji-Hwan until the very end so that he wouldn’t be lonely. I’ll keep that act of kindness in my mind for the rest of my life.”

“You’re saying nonsense,” Seok Kang-Ho responded.

Now that it was time for her to go, he walked the old woman to the bus.

Once in front of it, he held out an envelope to her. “Here. Get whatever you want to eat on your way home. Use it to support your expenses and buy everything you’ll need in Jangseong, too.”

Startled, Um Ji-Hwan’s mother waved her hand in refusal. “No! I can’t accept this!”

“Take it. Didn’t you agree to be my mother? Unless you take this, you don’t truly consider me your son.”

The old woman had barely calmed down when she burst into tears again. Sniffling, she accepted the envelope. She then raised her dress and placed the envelope into a pocket near her thigh.

“I wish you good health, sir,” the mother said.

“Don’t overdo it, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, get on the bus.”

Overwhelmed by how scary Seok Kang-Ho looked, the bus driver gauged Seok Kang-Ho’s mood.

“Then I’ll get going,” Um Ji-Hwan’s old mother said.

Seok Kang-Ho hugged her. “Please cheer up. I’ll visit you there once I’m done with work.”

“Don’t worry about me. You should head back now.”

The old mother stepped away from Seok Kang-Ho and then headed toward the entrance of the bus. However, before she could board it, she turned around again.

Does she have something to say?

Seok Kang-Ho looked at her as if to ask, “What’s wrong?”

The old mother respectfully bowed.

“I won’t forget about what you’ve done for me.”

Her words and actions conveyed everything that she wanted to tell Seok Kang-Ho but couldn't.

Holding onto the railing, the old woman struggled up the bus, taking one step at a time. She then walked down its aisle.

She was so small that Seok Kang-Ho could only see half of her face through the windows.

Chkk.

Soon, the bus closed its doors and drove away from the boarding area.

***

Vasili got out of the car, looking extremely uncomfortable.

He always felt displeased whenever he had to go to the President’s palace, especially after what happened with Shevchenko last time.

Holding onto the rear passenger’s door, he sharply glared at the palace’s entrance.

No agents or attendants had come out to greet him yet. Since he had come at Alexei's request, his staff should have been informed that he was coming. At the very least, they would have known that he had arrived.

Why hadn’t any of the security guards and attendants from the KGB under his command come over to greet him?

‘Is this a trap?’

Vasili’s heart sank.

Whoosh!

He quickly went back inside the car.

Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow!

However, at the same time, gunshots rang out. Blood splattered roughly from Vasili’s back.

Screech!

He couldn’t even close the back door. Nevertheless, the car quickly drove off.

Pew! Bam! Pew! Pow! Pew! Bam! Pew! Bam!

The bulletproof glass and doors were riddled with bullets.

Screech! Screech! Screech!

As Vasili collapsed on the back seat, his navy blue suit drenched in blood, a black van drove into view from the back of the President’s palace and followed Vasili’s car. Unable to hold himself up, he was helplessly tossed around as the car sharply and roughly swerved and turned through the roads.

Vroom! Rattle! Screech!

Soon, the car left the premises of the President’s palace and closed in on an intersection. Nevertheless, the driver just kept driving straight ahead.

Screech! Beep! Beep beep!

As they crossed the intersection as if they were crossing a sidewalk, another car that had also been crossing the intersection roughly changed directions to avoid crashing into Vasili's car. Right after, it slammed into a building and the van that had been following Vasili.

Crunch! Crack!

***

Yang Bum sat at a circular table in the octagonal pavilion of a closed airport. He had met Kang Chan here some time ago.

Soon, he lit up a cigarette.

Chk chk.

“

Hoo

.”

Behind him stood more than ten agents from China’s intelligence bureau, guarding him.

“I can’t believe so many people are more interested in their personal gain than the growth and development of the People’s Republic of China,” Yang Bum muttered to himself. He then sharply looked at the agents that were lined up behind him. “Tell me right now if any of you need to kill me.”

Agents with square chins, sharp eyes, and stocky builds looked back at Yang Bum. They kept quiet.

These agents were considered veterans even among the White Wolves. Yang Bum had basically taught and led them himself, so they wouldn’t think about betraying him. However, humans could be quite unpredictable.

“What weapons do we have?” Yang Bum asked.

“Machine guns, pistols, and live ammo,” one of the agents answered.

“We’ll head to South Korea’s base in Mongolia.”

“We’ll accompany you there.”

After exhaling cigarette smoke, Yang Bum crushed the cigarette into the ashtray. “I understand that the Star of David acting for their personal interests—they’re our enemies, after all. Still, we have to do whatever it takes to eliminate those who sympathized with them and sold our nation out.”

It was unclear who Yang Bum was speaking to.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

As he stepped down from the octagonal pavilion, he saw a car kicking up dust in the distance.

The agent who had been standing right behind Yang Bum turned to the two agents at the very left of their formation. “Stop that vehicle!”

“Wait. How will those two escape?” Yang Bum asked.

“We don’t have time for this, sir! We need to get you out of here!”

“You’re sending them to their deaths!”

“Get revenge for them later.”

Three agents rushed toward Yang Bum and dragged him away as if they were kidnapping him.

“They're going to die!” Yang Bum shouted.

The two agents looked back at Yang Bum. While being taken away, he desperately yelled for them. Honored by how important they seemed to him, the two agents held up their machine guns.

Click! Click!

The cloud of dust was getting closer.

“Let go! I said let go! They shouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves like—!” Yang Bum’s shout was cut off by the sound of a car door closing.

Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!

Behind the octagonal pavilion, they heard a car driving off.

“We met a wonderful superior, didn’t we?” one of the agents who stayed behind asked the other agent.

“He’s the reason I won’t have any regrets even if I die.”

The cloud of dust continued to approach until it was right in front of them. The car then came into view.

“Baekrang!”

Click!

Yelling the name of their special forces like a chant, one of the agents held up his gun.

“For our people!”

Click.

The agent beside him yelled their chant and held up his machine gun as well.

Pow pow pow pow pow pow ! Pow pow pow pow! Pow pow pow pow pow!

Screech! Screech!

Without any hesitation, the two agents shot the car in front of them as it changed directions.

***

Ding.

The elevator in the basement parking lot opened, and Vant got out of it with the agents, They walked toward the car that was waiting for him.

The agents examined their surroundings as Vant got in the backseat. The agent holding the backdoor then closed it and nodded. At the same time, a car that had been parked facing the left side of Vant’s vehicle rushed toward them.

Vroom! Screech!

It was too close for them to avoid it. Hence, by the time they had noticed the car, it was already too late. It sped up and slammed into the driver’s seat.

Crash!

Right after the collision, the car exploded.

BOOM!

Fragments of the car dropped around the area. Soon, another explosion occurred, causing even more fragments to shoot out and drop all over the place.

***

Jeong Won-Min and the 606 knew Kang Chan very well.

Hence, when Kang Chan called him and told him to be on high alert, Jeong Won-Min immediately tightened the security of the embassy. Moreover, when they heard about the attempt to assassinate the President, they bolstered their defenses even further.

Click.

Just before the night fell, the doors opened, and more than ten French agents rushed outside.

Clank. Clunk.

Jeong Won-Min guarded the front of a car with another soldier.

They didn’t speak the same language, but they easily understood what they were trying to do.

The 606’s training included executive protection. Hence, they knew how to act without disturbing the French agents.

The 606 wore a black beret, dark sunglasses, and the black uniform for the 606's counter-terrorism team, which had the taegukgi on their left arm. They were armed with an MP5 sub-machine gun slung over their back, pistols, bayonets, and magazines.

One agent nodded briefly at Jeong Won-Min, acknowledging the 606's service. He was silently thanking them for the reassurance they felt from being guarded by heavily armed soldiers.

While Jeong Won-Min was fiercely staring ahead, Lanok went outside the embassy with Anne.

The worst they could do was be distracted at times like this. While the French agents, who were in full uniform, surrounded Lanok and Anne as if to cover them from sight, someone had to examine the areas that their enemies could shoot them from.

As Jeong Won-Min instinctively scanned the buildings nearby, gunshots suddenly rang out.

Pew! Pow!

An agent’s nape exploded.

“

Bouge

![1]”

Yelling, the French agents pounced on Lanok and Anne.

“You three! Secure that building!” Jeong Won-Min yelled as he fired back.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

More French agents fell to the floor as the enemies continued shooting at them from the rooftop of a five-story building. Right now, only their muzzles were visible.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pow pow! Pew! Pow!

The soldiers and agents returned fire as their enemies shot them with seemingly no regard for their lives.

Pew! Pow pow! Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow!

Lanok and Anne had fallen to the ground as well. They couldn’t move, much less get back inside the embassy.

Bullets seemed to have pierced through an agent and hit them. At this rate, they would end up dying.

“Protect the VIPs!” Jeong Won-Min yelled.

Whoosh!

Jeong Won-Min then rushed toward Lanok and grabbed him by his upper body. Jeong Won-Min had positioned himself in a way that his bulletproof vest was blocking their enemies’ view of Lanok.

Lanok was unconscious, and his shoulder and chest were soaked in blood.

Pew! Pow! Pew! Bam! Pew! Pow!

‘Ugh!’

Jeong Won-Min was shot in the leg and the back of his bulletproof vest.

His leg hurt like crazy. Nevertheless, he still kept Lanok’s head and upper body hidden by his bulletproof vest as he dragged him to the door.

Another soldier held and dragged Anne toward the door in the same way.

Pew! Pow! Pew! Pow!

He felt horrible pain that felt as if he was being stabbed with a skewer at his back again.

“

Argh

!”

Yelling, Jeong Won-Min pushed Lanok inside. In response, the attendants inside the embassy dragged him in. Afterward, the soldier who had been dragging Anne handed her over to those inside the embassy. She was also soaked in blood and unconscious.

It was unclear if it was because they could no longer see their targets or the soldiers that Jeong Won-Min had sent over to their position had subdued them, but the enemies soon stopped shooting.

Thud.

Jeong Won-Min sat next to the door of the embassy, his back against the wall. Looking out the yard, he found more than ten French agents on the floor, unmoving.

He then looked down, finding two holes in his thigh, which was soaked with blood.

“

Cough

.”

Jeong Won-Min was out of breath. For some strange reason, he felt like the air wasn’t going into his lungs.

“Captain!” one soldier yelled.

Cough! Cough!

A soldier ran toward him and put pressure on Jeong Won-Min’s neck. “An ambulance is on its way! Just stay with me!”

“Hey—

cough!”

“Don’t talk! Just hold on, okay?” the soldier then turned to his colleague. “Hey! Where’s the fucking ambulance!”

“We’re…

cough! kegh!”

Blood spurted out of Jeong Won-Min’s mouth.

“I said don’t talk!”

“The 606 is…

ugh

…”

“I know! Stay with me! You still have to train us and make us suffer!” the soldier yelled desperately.

Weeeooo! Weeeooo! Weeeooo! Weeeooo!

Finally, they heard the sirens of an ambulance.

“The 606 is South… Korea’s… bastion...”

With his vision already blurry, the only thing Jeong Won-Min could make out was the taegukgi on the arm of the soldier who was putting pressure on his neck.

I don’t think I was very close with him, but…

Strangely, even though he should be missing his wife and kids, Jeong Won-Min missed Kang Chan instead.

‘South Korea will get stronger, right?’

Jeong Won-Min really wanted to hear the answer to that question.

***

When Kang Chan arrived at the hospital, he found Kang Myung-Gu of the counter-terrorism team guarding the hallway with other agents.

“This way, sir.”

Kang Myung-Gu led Kang Chan down the hallway. The rifle slung around his shoulders clunked as they walked.

Rattle.

They soon stopped in front of a room. Yoo Hun-Woo exited it soon after, his expression grave.

“Mr. Kang Chan,” Yoo Hun-Woo greeted.

“How are they doing?”

Yoo Hun-Woo glanced at the room, then answered, “They’re both in a coma, but the female patient is in a more serious condition.”

“Director,” Kang Chan called but didn’t say anything else. The look in his eyes should be enough for Yoo Hun-Woo to know what he wanted.

“Alright. Please come this way.”

He led Kang Chan to the treatment room on the fifth floor.

“Lie down here,” Yoo Hun-Woo said afterward.

Without complaints, Kang Chan rolled up his sleeve and sat on the bed.

Instead of insisting that Kang Chan should lie down, Yoo Hun-Woo just silently inserted a needle into Kang Chan’s arm. He then gently shook the bag that was being filled with Kang Chan’s blood.

After three minutes, he pressed a cotton ball against Kang Chan’s skin and pulled out the needle. He then hurriedly left the treatment room, which only evidenced how critical Lanok and Anne’s conditions were.

Kang Chan rolled down his sleeve and headed to the room that Yoo Hun-Woo entered.

1. French for Move, according to the author ?