Chapter 179: Bacterial War (1)

Yoon Bo-Hyun’s name rose to prominence as he targeted Young-Joon. Now, he was standing in the eye of the storm of the merger between A-Gen and A-Bio. At this point, it was also reported that Yoon Bo-Hyun was the son of Yoon Dae-Sung, the CEO of A-Gen. Although he never publicly confirmed it, many people knew that silence was a sign of affirmation.

—What a disappointment, Ryu Young-Joon. Developing a bioweapon is a violation of the international convention.

—Honestly, does it make sense that a research ethics fanatic like Ryu Young-joon would develop a bioweapon and commit murder? Ryu Young-Joon said that it wasn’t true, and all these allegations seem fake.

—All he has to do is just open the records from Lab Six, right?

—But can we be sure that Ryu Young-Joon didn’t meddle with those records? He’s already one of the best scientists in the world, and the research foundation is probably trying to stay on his good side.

—People, please. The anthracis fence and the anthrax outbreak in Africa aren’t related at all. Anthrax can’t spread from that fence. Please do some research before you criticize...

—I knew Ryu Young-Joon was going to cause trouble soon enough. Someone who succeeded that much in such a short amount of time is bound to be dirty.

—I think Yoon Dae-Sung will take the A-Bio-A-Gen merger. Money is more important to the shareholders than truth. Even if they believe Ryu Young-Joon, to give him the CEO position with his current image... They’ll merge under Yoon Dae-Sung, and then change to Ryu Young-Joon when the allegations are all cleared up.

—This is ridiculous. Because of these garbage rumors? Look what Ryu Young-Joon has shown us thus far.

—Don’t trust Ryu Young-Joon too much. I think he’s dangerous. The things he has done are senseless, right? All geniuses have a flaw in their personality. Professors and GSC members are all eccentric, too.

—Breaking news! Ryu Young-Joon confesses >>>Click Here<<<

—Don’t clickbait, you bastard.

—But why isn’t Ryu Young-Joon doing anything after the last press conference? He’s so quiet.

—Doctor Ryu only does big things. He doesn’t have time to fight with Yoon Bo-Hyun or whatever.

—Here comes the Ryu Young-Joon cult believer.

Click.

Yoon Bo-Hyun turned off his phone. All the posts that were being posted on the community page of A-Gen and A-Bio’s website were something like that. The public was reacting similarly as well.

‘But it’s strange.’

Young-Joon was a perfectionist. Considering his personality, he should get on TV and do some sort of weird experiment again; he should be demonstrating that there was nothing wrong with the anthracis fence. Or, he should have released the records of A-Gen’s anthrax weapons and buried Yoon Dae-Sung and Yoon Bo-Hyun. That was what Yoon Bo-Hyun had predicted Young-Joon would do, but he still hadn’t responded.

What about the government? The government did not detain Young-Joon, nor did they rush to release the research foundation’s records to exonerate him. All the prosecution said was that they would investigate this thoroughly, and in reality, it was being ignored as if Young-Joon should be doing something else.

‘What is going on?’

Yoon Bo-Hyun, who was a little anxious, remembered what Yoon Dae-Sung had said to him

—You don’t stand a chance against him. The reason he is not destroying you right now is because his priority is the anthrax epidemic in Africa. To him, you’re nothing but a small fruit fly.

Yoon Bo-Hyun clenched his fists.

‘That’s not true, Father.’

Yoon Bo-Hyun pulled a company document on his computer. It was the data on A-Gen’s anthrax weapon obtained through Ji Kwang-Man’s account. He wasn’t allowed to carry it out, but he took photos of it on his phone. It was a lot of data, about two hundred pages.

“Um... Manager Yoon,” said Kim Chun-Yeol, the team manager of the Business Development Division.

“Yes, sir.”

“Haha, there’s a proposal that was sent to me right now, and I approved it. But I want you to take a look.”

“A proposal?”

The team manager position was way higher than Yoon Bo-Hyun, and he didn’t have to show him things that had been approved by him.

“You’re going to be the head of our company, so you should see my work.”

Patting him on the shoulder, Kim Chun-Yeol gave Yoon Bo-Hyun the documents.

‘He’s probably trying to be on both my side and Ryu Young-Joon’s.’

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Yoon Bo-Hyun didn’t trust him, but he trusted the favor for now.

“Thank you.”

Yoon Bo-Hyun’s eyes narrowed as he read the document carefully. The proposal was from A-Bio.

[Mass production of anthrax drug AL0074]

[This product has not yet completed preclinical studies, but based on the urgency of the situation and safety observed in cell experiments, production has been proposed. This has been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.]

Yoon Bo-Hyun read through the document. There was no information about the composition of the drug itself. It was secured because the drug was still in development and A-Bio was still separate from A-Gen. However, there was information that it was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and an explanation that A-Bio would supply the raw materials needed for mass production.

“Did Ryu Young-Joon propose this himself?” Yoon Bo-Hyun asked.

“Yeah.”

“There’s nothing about the composition of the new drug?”

“That’s why I’m showing it to you, Manager Yoon. It’s before the merger and approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, so there’s nothing wrong with it, but...”

The team manager frowned at him with a suspicious gaze. Yoon Bo-Hyun smirked.

‘Did you think I would interfere if you told me the composition?’

No matter how reckless Yoon Bo-Hyun would be to take down Young-Joon, he wouldn’t stop him from selling drugs to patients in Africa and increasing the company’s revenue.

Yoon Bo-Hyun gave the document back to Kim Chun-Yeol.

“It looks good. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Are you okay with not knowing the composition?”

“It’s fine,” Yoon Bo-Hyun said.

Yoon Bo-Hyun smiled as he watched Kim Chun-Yeol return to his seat.

‘It’s probably a drug that prevents the male and female anthracis from combining, or something like that. I know enough about the anthrax epidemic in Africa, Ryu Young-Joon.’

* * *

At the same time, the team searching for anthrax terrorists in Africa was moving at a fast speed.

“Doctor Ryu is mass-producing the cure right now. He’ll send it to Africa soon,” Messelson said. “You are the defense, and we are the offense. Let’s aim to finish them off here, if possible, before they hit the GSC conference in Korea.”

“Then, let’s check it over,” Robert, the CIA agent, said.

“We have a record of a shipment of research-grade superbugs from the Ghiblium Institute of Technology in Saudi Arabia. The person in charge is Doctor Jihadim,” Michelle said.

“The Arab League traced this person, and he’s in the Republic of Congo. Not the Democratic Republic of Congo, but an independent country right next to ours. They’ve also found forty-two genes that have been shipped out here and there.”

“I’ve been tracking the order in which these foreign genes were inserted into anthracis based on the degree of methylation,” Messelson said. “The seven hydropumps went in first, then three genes from Ebola, then the individual antibiotic pumps... but there’s a lot. First, the puromycin pump, then the kanamycin pump, ampicillin pump... And then four chitin synthesis genes to maintain the cell membrane of anthracis. Then, the carbenicillin pump...”

“There’s a lot of them,” Michelle said. “Anyway, let’s try to piece together the information of where each gene came from in each country based on the order of insertion.”

“Leave it to us,” Robert said, picking up the documents. “This is our specialty.”

* * *

In the secret hideout at the Palestinian Liberation Front, Abrahim, a young man who was standing guard, saw a small truck approaching. The driver was like a brother to Abrahim; they were just some lowly soldiers.

However, the person who was sitting in the passenger’s seat was one of the military officers of the Palestinian Liberation Front.

“Major Aziz!”

Abrahim saw him and saluted.

“Everything’s been okay?” Aziz said after he got out of the truck.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good work, Doctor Ref. You can come down now,” Aziz said.

Then, to his surprise, an exotic-looking woman stepped out from the back of the truck. She had soft skin like she hadn’t seen hardship in her life, intelligent eyes, and a gracious smile. She looked so out of place here.

“For a prisoner, you look a little too...” Abrahim said.

She looked too relaxed for a prisoner.

“Who is she?”

“You don’t need to know. Be polite as she is an important guest,” Aziz said. “Over here, Doctor.”

“

Shukran

,” Doctor Ref said as he passed by Abrahim.

It was Arabic for “thank you.”

Abrahim blanked as he watched Doctor Ref and Major Aziz walk inside.

“That person...” Abrahim said to the driver. “Who is she?”

“She’s a biologist. I don’t know the details, either. Apparently, she’s been very helpful in helping us wipe out the rebels in the area and settling down here.”

“How old is she?”

“She looks like she’s in her twenties, right?”

“Yes.”

“But apparently, she’s over fifty.”

“What?!”

Abrahim was shocked.

Doctor Ref, who went into the hideout, sat down in the work chair in the small makeshift lab.

“Phew. It’s so nice to be here after sitting in a truck. My behind was killing me earlier. The last hideout I was in was more comfortable, but I didn’t realize you would move so far away while I was gone.”

“We moved because there was a high chance it would be discovered by international intelligence agents.”

“You cleaned up well, right?”

“Yes, I covered up almost every trace.”

“There are some papers there with my signature, and there are sketches of a plan to attack the GSC. If those fall into the CIA’s hands, this operation could be doomed.”

“Don’t worry, I had Abraham and a few others burn most of it to the ground. There will be some research facilities left, but no materials.”

“Hm.”

Doctor Ref chuckled and stared at Aziz. Aziz felt a little overwhelmed.

“I checked as well,” he said.

“Well, alright. But it doesn’t matter if you fail.”

“It doesn’t matter?”

“Because there are endless ways and opportunities to attack. And we’re just trying to destroy the GSC for symbolic reasons, there are other important targets, too,” Doctor Ref said. “Of course, it would be better if we succeeded. But for now, let’s assess the situation. Can we look at our weapon?”

“Here it is,” Aziz said.

One of the scientists in the hideout lab handed her a vial that was the size of their finger. Their hands trembled.

“Even if we’re growing a monster without safety measures, at least don’t touch them with your bare hands.”

Doctor Ref took the vial with anthracis with a cloth. At a glance, it looked like one of those lotion samples from cosmetics stores.

“Aziz, I’ve had someone in Korea make some gas cylinders already.”

Doctor Ref held out a note.

“I left it in a storage locker at Seoul Station, and this is the address. All you have to do is take the cylinder out, open the lid, put the bacteria inside, and lock the cylinder.”

Doctor Ref took out a small needle from her bag.

“I’ll give this injection to the carrier.”

“What is it?” Aziz asked.

“A vaccine. It’s respiratory, so you never know.”

“Thank you.”

Aziz took the syringe from her.

“But Doctor Ref, there’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you use anthracis in a few African countries? Isn’t it our goal to show our will and strength to the West?”

“There are a few reasons. The first is to test out its toxicity; we can’t sacrifice our own, right? Second is to keep the attention of the international community to Africa so that they miss the GSC, which is the real target. And lastly...” she said. “It’s to keep Ryu Young-Joon there. I honestly don’t think it will work. It’s good if it does, and it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”