December 7th, 2023 00:25, (Macao time 23:25)

  The Sky Lounge of the Sands Cotai Venetian Hotel in Macau, Republic of China

  Chief Park Gi-oong, who rushed down to the sky lounge with only an electronic rod, checked the situation through the door with the help of a pair of special glasses.

  The sky lounge lights were already on, and manager Lee Ja-sung was confronting the surrounding security staff with one wall behind him.

  “Manager! This is Alpha One. Get out by using TCS mode. I’m waiting at the exit.”


  Jijik! Jijik! JiJiJjiK!

  Only noise was heard. Something was wrong with the silent communication device that had been used to communicate with Manager Lee Ja-sung without any problems until now. The communication transmitter seemed to have broken during the confrontation with the security staff.

  “But since you reacted to what I said, the receiver seems to be okay.”


  “Excuse me! I’ll divert their attention with the TCS mode, so go up to the rooftop within that time. It starts in five seconds.”


  As if responding to Chief Park Gi-oong’s silent communication, another noise was heard.

  “You heard it as I thought. Good! Shall we play the ghost game now and disappear?”


  Chief Park Gi-oong pushed his left sleeve up to his elbow and operated the X-K02 terminal. The space seemed to distort and soon Chief Park Gi-oong became invisible.

  “Whoa”


  Chief Park Gi-oong, who took a long exhale, pressed the button on the electronic rod. The rod extended out from the handle of the electronic rod 10 centimeters at a time. The fully-extended 70-centimeter electronic rod generates enough voltage to shock anyone who touches it.

  Chief Park Gi-oong, who counted to ten in his head, opened the door while still invisible and ran toward the security staff who were aiming their pistols at manager, Lee Ja-sung. No, it should be said that he flew. Chief Park Gi-oong soared into the air and hit the head of one of the security staff with the electronic rod.

  Whoops!

  With a dull sound, the security staff screamed briefly and curled up.

  “Did I hit too hard?”


  As Chief Park Gi-oong thought, even if it was not strong high-voltage electricity, he would faint from the shock of being hit hard.

  “What? What?”


  “Argh!”


  “Argh!”


  The security staff freaked out. They looked as if they had seen a ghost. In their eyes, a short silver rod less than a meter long was approaching them, moving as if dancing in the air.

  “Go, go away!”


  A few frightened security staff stepped back and ran away, but a few brave ones tried firing at the moving rod.

  bang! bang! Tatang! Taang!

  However, the silver rod evaded the bullets as if it were alive and dug into the middle of the security staff who had fired the gun. He then mercilessly hit the security staff’s heads and limbs.

  Several security staff were electrocuted by the high voltage just by touching it. One by one they passed out. Furthermore, everyone began to panic when they realised they couldn’t fire any shots as they were afraid of getting hurt.

  Meanwhile, manager, Lee Ja-sung flew toward the door while Chief Park Gi-oong was still pretending to be a ghost.

  Tata ta tata that!

  Chief Park Gi-oong, who rolled over the floor and struck the leg of a security staff with the electronic rod, confirmed that manager Lee Ja-sung had jumped over the table from the other side and escaped through the door.

  “He, he is running away. We need to catch him!”


  A security employee, who was hiding behind the wall because of the electronic rod, shot at the door and screamed.

  bang! bang!

  “Where is this guy shooting at?”


  Chief Park Gi-oong hit the torso of the two security staff in front of him with the electronic rod, jumped on several chairs, then reached out and hit the wrist of the security staff who was shooting at Lee Ja-sung.

  “Got it!”


  “Argh!”


  The security staff, who dropped the pistol, eventually hunched over, foaming in his mouth.

  “Don’t shoot recklessly!”


  Chief Park Gi-oong, landed on the floor and turned his head, wondering if Lee Ja-sung had reached the rooftop by then. Perhaps, he thought. He grunted and threw the electronic rod behind the security staff. As a result, all the security staff’s eyes turned and headed for the flying silver rod.

  “Ghost play is now over, kids”


  When the electronic rod, which had been flying in the air and hitting them recklessly until then, fell to the floor and stopped moving, the security staff stood there and watched as if they were possessed by something. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Chief Park Gi-oong ran through the open door and climbed up the stairs to the rooftop to activate it in TCS mode.

  “Good job!”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung, who was waiting at the rooftop entrance, tapped his shoulder and smiled brightly when Chief Park Gi-oong appeared.

  “Haha, let’s go now.”


  “Okay!”


  The two men boarded the sky bus, which was hovering 30 centimeters above the rooftop.

  “Alpha Zero! Let’s go!”


  “Yes, we’re leaving.”


  Whoasssh!

  The CMV-100 Sky bus activated its own TCS mode and swiftly soared high into the starlit sky.

  Only then did the security staff appear on the rooftop of the Venetian hotel. They looked around the rooftop but there was nothing to be seen.

  “You punks! You look like a dog chasing a chicken on the roof. Hahaha.”


  Chief Park Gi-oong, who watched the situation from the window, said with a smile.

  “Then, are we chickens?”


  “Haha, isn’t it a proverb? Oh, that’s right. Why did you not escape in TCS mode and make your subordinates suffer?”


  “Don’t talk! Look at this. Look at this!”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung took off his torn suit and raised his left arm. There were cracks everywhere with bullet impact marks on the center of the screen of the X-K02 terminal mounted on the left arm.

  “I wonder if I was shot here! The TCS mode is completely messed up!”


  “Oh, so you couldn’t even receive the voiceless communication?”


  “Fortunately, the receiver didn’t have a problem, so I was able to hear your voice, Chief Park.”


  “Haha, I’m glad to hear that.”


  “But why did you come down and not follow my orders?”


  “Wow! You’re asking for me to listen when I saved a drowning person?”


  “An order is an order.”


  “How can we leave without the manager? I won’t listen to such orders in the future, so please understand.”


  “Haha, I said that to make you laugh. Anyway, thank you. Oh, right. You ordered the other team to withdraw, right?”


  Oh Seok-jin, who was guarding Jjangcheon next to him, replied instead.

  “Yes, currently, Alpha One and Two! All the team members have been informed that they are moving out of the operational zone and into a new safe house.”


  “Okay! Great job, everyone. There was a commotion for a while, but this seems like a perfect mission.”


  “Manager! What should we do about this?”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung took a heavy pouch out of his suit and looked at the handful of dollar coins inside.

  “Chief Park! Did you fly around with that pouch on you?”


  “For some reason, even if I missed Jjangcheon, I thought I should take this pouch. Hahaha.”


  “Wow! How much is that?”


  He was surprised together with deputy manager, Oh Seok-jin, touching the dollar coins.

  “I don’t know. I think it’s about $130,000.”


  When all the coins were poured out, several types of dollar coins, ranging from $1,000 coins to $5,000 coins, piled up on the floor.

  “That should be decided after we report it to our superior.”


  “Why don’t we spend it on special expenses instead of reporting it? Didn’t we have a hard time?”


  Chief Park Gi-oong twitched his mouth.

  “All right. All right. Let’s use it for special expenses!”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung also nodded because he knew that his teammates had suffered from less than three hours of sleep a day since coming to Hong Kong.

  “As expected, Manager Lee you are a cool guy. Haha.”


  When Chief Park Gi-oong gave a thumbs up, manager Lee Ja-sung waved his hands as if to stop. When he saw Jjangcheon lying on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness, he sat in the chair next to him. As he relaxed, he closed his eyes to see if he could sleep. At this time, Oh Seok-jin asked a question.

  “Are we going to Korea right away?”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung replied with his eyes closed.

  “Of course!”


  “Yes, I see.”


  “I’m going to sleep until I arrive, too.”


  Chief Park Gi-oong also yawned to the point where his mouth ached and laid down on a long chair.

  In 11 days, Department 1 of Foreign Information had secured the first key to digging into the truth of Professor Woo Jin-gil’s confidential leakage case.

  December 7th, 2023 07:00

  Underground bunker of the Blue House National Crisis Center in Namju Jongno-gu, Seoul

  He had come to report the successful arrest of Jjangcheon, the leader of a criminal organization. The organization was also involved in kidnapping the family of Lee Young-jin and Professor Woo Jin-gil, and had visited the Blue House early in the morning and secretly stole confidential documents for two years.

  In the underground bunker of the Blue House, which had no proper business hours since the outbreak of the Korean-Russian War, Blue House officials as well as employees dispatched from various government departments, including the Ministry of National Defense, were working day and night.

  “Please wait for a moment. She is eating. By the way, your face has become very gaunt in the last few days.”


  Lim Jong-won, the chief of staff who had been working on accommodation and meals here in the underground bunker, was the first to finish breakfast and greeted Lee Young-jin in the presidential conference room.

  “Oh! Don’t even talk. After the confidentiality leak, you should be able to sleep with your feet stretched out.”


  “Is there any progress in the investigation?”


  “Fortunately, I came early in the morning because I had something to report.”


  Director Lee Young-jin smiled gently as he put the report on the table.

  “Oh! That’s a relief. The president was also paying a lot of attention to the leak.”


  “I’m sorry. I should have brought good news earlier…”


  “Is that as easy as it sounds? It’s great to bring an advanced investigation report in such a short time.”


  knock, knock

  “Manager! I brought some tea.”


  “Oh, come on in.”


  For a while, the two men drank warm tea and talked. About ten minutes later, President Choo Eun-hee hurriedly appeared in the conference room after finishing up her breakfast.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m late, right?”


  President Choo Eun-hee sat in a chair in the conference room with a bright smile. Lee Young-jin, who stood up and greeted the president, bowed his head politely and said while sitting down.

  “No, Mdm. President! I think I interrupted your breakfast.”


  “What do you mean interrupted? No, it’s alright. I’m afraid that there will be a rumor that I kept you waiting for me while I continued to have breakfast. Haha.”


  “Haha, is that so?”


  President Choo Eun-hee, who told a joke, looked very excited, and Director Lee Young-jin pointed to the report on the table and said.

  “This is an investigation report on Professor Woo Jin-gil’s confidential leak case.”


  “Is there any progress?”


  The president picked up the report and read it slowly from the first page.

  “Yes, as you can see from the report, we have uncovered the identity and arrested the general manager of the criminal group who kidnapped Professor Woo Jin-gil’s family and tortured them. We have even confirmed the forces behind it.”


  “Really? It’s more than I expected.”


  The president read the report, slightly surprised by the progress of the investigation, which was beyond her expectation.

  “Black Panther? Is the organization a new intelligence agency in New China?”


  “Yes, that’s right. It’s an intelligence agency directly under the President’s office.”


  “Then, does that mean that Professor Woo Jin-gil’s family was kidnapped through a spy agency in New China’s office, causing pain for two years, and stealing confidential data?”


  “Yes, that’s right.”


  Boom!

  “Oh, my. These guys are being not fair.”


  President Choo Eun-hee expressed her anger by hitting the table as if she was excited.

  “Currently, an agent, tentatively named Jjangcheon, who led the kidnapping case to the NIS, has been arrested and interrogated. The relevant information is on page four.”


  “Jjangcheon! Is this the person in charge of what was done to Professor Woo Jin-gil’s family in Hong Kong?”


  “Yes, Mdm. President!”


  “All right. Please reveal everything about the confidential case. It doesn’t matter what you do. Use this opportunity to take down New China’s President Office! No, I need to let President Wang Jing-wei know what a punishment is.”


  President Choo Eun-hee’s remarks just now meant that the National Intelligence Service would tolerate the use of illegal torture or drug administration against Jjangcheon. It could have been a very dangerous statement politically. However, President Choo Eun-hee was about to make more remarks, telling everyone just how angry she was.

  “Yes, I’ll do my best……”