December 18th, 2023, 18:00 (New China Time 17:00)

  Back alley, City Hall district, Beijing, New China

  Namgoong-won and his party, who parked their car in the alley behind a building west of the Forbidden City to communicate with the second team in TCS mode, were waiting anxiously when they could not contact the Alpha Two agents due to continued communication problems.

  It was the first time that the silent communication operated by the Turkion-X wireless communication system was disconnected due to a failure.

  Manager Namgoong-won, who was waiting in embarrassment and nervousness, received a welcome call from an unknown number.

  It reported that Director Yoo Ha-yeon’s USB that was plugged into the server worked normally. He contacted the server inside the president’s office through wireless communication.

  “It’s only a matter of time before they find the WCA. Select and download as much as you can of the Black Tiger’s leaked confidential data! Do you understand?”


  WCA was the official name of the USB that Director Yoo Ha-yeon had plugged into the server.

  “Yes, all right. Manager!”


  At this time, Manager Lee Ja-seong tapped Namgoong-won on the shoulder and to speak to him.

  “Tell them to go to the Forbidden City by the Skybus! If he follows the instructions in the absence of communication, he might even try to escape from the rooftop.”


  Namgoong-won gestured okay with his fingers and then repeated what Manager Lee Ja-seong had said.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll tell them to wait over at the Forbidden City and move to the coordinates they’ve received.”


  “Okay! Thank you for your effort!”


  “Yes, thank you.”


  “Chief Lee! Shall we go to the house too?”


  After finishing his communication, Namgoong-won asked Manager Lee Ja-seong.

  “Let’s go where Chief Lee is instead of going to the house!”


  “Chief Lee Jin-kyung?”


  Director Lee Jin-kyung was an agent named Alpha Four who followed Chief Yoo Ha-yeon.

  “Yes! Chief Yoon Tae-jin is not worried about the three people, but he is worried about Director Yoo who has been separated from the rest.”


  “Well, it surely is worrying.”


  Currently, Director Lee Jin-kyung was in a parked van on the side of the road 200 meters south of the building where the black van had entered the underground parking lot. He had been looking carefully at the front of the building for over an hour to see if there was any communication failure. Just then, the van that Manager Lee Ja-seong was in arrived.

  “You still haven’t heard any news?”


  It was the first question of Manager Lee Ja-seong, who came in through the back door of the black van. Director Lee Jin-Kyung answered her by nodding his head.

  “Yes, not yet. So I am concerned.”


  “No worries! I just got a call from the inner house. It seems that Director Yoo found the internal network server and installed the WCA as well. You say that he contacted the internal network server, which means that Director Yoo is performing his duties well. He’s well aware of the instructions in case communication fails, so he’ll be able to escape.”


  “Yes, all right.”


  “Is that the building?”


  Manager Lee Ja-seong pointed to a building over the shoulder of Director Lee Jin-kyung, who answered in a serious tone. It was the very building that operated the internal and external network server of the president’s office where Director Yoo Ha-yeon had entered.

  “Yes, that’s right. He went through the entrance to that underground parking lot over there.”


  “In the worst case, if the escape fails, we are ready to go in and rescue him, so let’s wait!”


  “Yes, manager!”


  Before they knew it, a car and a black van with the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 pulled up on the other side of the road and began waiting between other cars that were parked there as well.

  December 18th, 2023, 18:10 (New China Time 17:10)

  Black Tiger Headquarters, City Hall District, Beijing, New China

  Chief Huang Xuen and Commander Diao Yi-nan, who led a special task force team to the Soap Hotel to arrest the hacker, were reporting the situation related to the hacker to their boss, Shin Baiqing.

  “Currently, we lost them in the alley behind the Soap Hotel but we are checking all the CC cameras within a 50 kilometer radius around the hotel. The Central Intelligence Unit, as well as the special task force, are checking and searching all over the city.”


  “We should have not missed it! You must understand why they were trying to steal information related to the Black Tiger Corps. Bring in the Red Team too!”


  The Black Tiger Red Team was a department specializing in assassination, and they were selected as the elite among the elite who were also known as the Black Tiger.

  “Yes? The Red Team as well?”


  “Captain! Should I say it again? Don’t you know how serious the situation is? Anyway, if the hacker carried out the hacking in Hong Kong to uncover the work our second team was doing, what do you think would happen in the future? I don’t think the guy we are looking for is just another hacker. There is a high chance that they are f*cking Koreans.”


  “Well, that’s right. I hadn’t even thought of that.”


  “By the way, what happened to the laptop that the hacker left behind?”


  After judging the current situation, General Shin Baiqing continued to ask questions again.

  “I took it from the security room of the current external network server to see if I could uncover any clues that would point me to the hackers.”


  “Are you sure that no copies were made?”


  “Yes, the security staff clearly said no.”


  “Well, with the disappearance of Jjang Chun and this hacking case, only ominous things keep happening. Everyone stay alert and the Special Operations Team.”


  “Yes, sir!”


  Chief Huang Xuen answered without moving. It was an act of moderation as a soldier. In fact, the department called the Special Task Force was nothing more than a private army operated by the Black Tiger Corps. Most of them were recruited from various special forces from each military, and their actual affiliation was the Ministry of National Defense. Team leader Huang Xuen was also a soldier with the rank of sergeant major dispatched from the PLA (Special Forces).

  In addition, although the department unit was a team, each group under the team had 20 people, and there was a total of 40 groups. In other words, it was a task force that operated on a large scale with a total of 800 people.

  “Call all the team members currently dispatched to each city.”


  “Yes. All right.”


  “If there is a security breach or anything unusual, report it immediately. Leave now!”


  “Yes, all right.”


  After the salute and the two men left, Captain Shin Baiqing took out a flip phone from the desk drawer and made a call. A moment later, after the call connected, fluent English was heard over the receiver.

  “I was just waiting for you, and you called.”


  “How was it?”


  “We had a good talk. I have several who are interested. I’m seriously talking to the best caller of them all. Maybe we can gain some more money?”


  “It’s nice to hear that. Money is money but my safety comes first.”


  “Haha, that’s, don’t worry. They are also government workers. Can you come here sooner than planned? I have to schedule an appointment with them.”


  “Well, I’ll let you know on the next call.”


  “All right. You must contact us as soon as you have a date and time so we can prepare things on our end too.”


  “I see. Then I’ll call you again next time.”


  The person who spoke briefly to Shin Baiqing was Jackie Lee, a well-known broker in Europe. He was a big broker with such a strong influence, particularly when it came to weapons that it was even said that there could be no cross-border arms trade without interest.

  When the call was over, Shin Baiqing turned off his flip phone and put it back in the drawer. His gaze then moved to the small safe under the desk.

  A smile spread across his face.

  December 18th, 2023, 18:30 (Russian Time 19:30)

  55 kilometers west end of Amurskaya Zavitinsk city, Russia (7th Mobile Corps)

  The 712 Tank, which entered and immersed in Doha after completing a cover-and-shooting mission for allies there, rushed to maneuver and annihilate enemy tanks in the surrounding area when it was thrust into a fierce battle.

  Commander Sergeant Kim Young-joo and gunner Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi, who had been working together since the First Northeast Asian War, were mobile and effective like a cannon and had already slaughtered about 20 tanks, armored vehicles, and Russian infantry firing anti-tank guided missiles that were hiding.

  “Pass Target 3! Go directly to the fourth target.”


  Sergeant Kim Young-joo, the head of the 712 Tank, shouted furrowing his eyebrows when an enemy tank of the third target was hit by a tank-guided bullet that flew out of nowhere.

  “What kind of bastard eyes our prey…Oh sh*t!”


  “Haha, looking at their faces, they look like the 109th Battalion of the 62nd Brigade.”


  Hyeonmoo armored vehicles from the 106th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 62nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, followed the 26th Tank Battalion from behind, firing 50-millimeter photon cannons and multi-purpose Heilong Missiles.

  “Step on it, step on it! So they won’t be able to keep up with us.”


  “No matter how much you think about it, it seems like you have been possessed by Master sergeant Oh.”


  “Are you talking about the Master sergeant who used to be the 7th Company’s administrative subcontractor?”


  Corporal Kim Il-su, who skilfully piloted the 712 Tank, even intervened in the interesting conversation tank rounds and anti-tank guided rained down missiles everywhere.

  “How would you know? He got discharged before you even enlisted?”


  Sergeant Kim Young-ju, who was looking around for the next target, asked as if wondering.

  “Before I enlisted, seniors warned me that there was a demon bulldozer guard in the 7th Company.”


  “Hahaha, what? The demon bulldozer?”


  “Yes.”


  “Target hit four times! Total hit! Moving on to the next target. But I haven’t heard it in a long time. The demon bulldozer! Hahaha.”


  “What? Did Sergeant Kim know the nickname of Master sergeant Oh Young-taek?”


  “Ah! Aren’t I a soldier too? He was famous among our enlisted men. It was very difficult for the kids to become a company master sergeant after him! Some soldiers had been invited to Master sergeant Oh Young-taek’s wedding when he got married. Was it those guys from 7th Company and 2nd Platoon? I’m not too sure but they said they brought a tray of eggs back then. I think they threw it and tried to run away! Hahaha!”


  “What? Eggs? Hahaha! It would have been a mess on his wedding day! Haha, to think, he was good with bullying the kids around.”


  There was a significant impact on the left side of the turret. A single APFSDS (Wing Stabilized Separable Armored Bullet) flew and seemed to be properly inserted into the left armor of the 712 Tank. Even with a strong SECM (Radio Disruption System), it would seem very close if it was properly hit on the left side of the turret.

  “What is it?”


  Sergeant Kim Young-joo turned his microscope to the side where the unpleasant shock had sounded.

  He identified a T-14 Armata tank with only the barrel protruding in the form of a flat turret in a large puddle at a distance of 150 meters at the 9 o’clock position.

  “Why didn’t I see him? That rude kid! I’ll be sure to punish them! Setting emergency target!”


  “Yes sir!”


  According to the emergency setting, the turret automatically and quickly turned to the left, and within a few seconds, the optical crosshairs of the gunner’s sight were fixed precisely on the barrel of the T-14 Armata. Sgt Hoon-gi Yeom stepped on the launch plate without hesitation.

  “Oh yes! Enemy tanks are set as emergency targets! A hit!”


  At the same time as the shot, red particles pierced through the turret’s armor right next to the barrel and stirred inside. Under the pressure, the hatch exploded into the sky and red particles gushed out from between them. After a few seconds, the loaded ammunition exploded, causing a series of explosions, shattering the enemy tank.

  “Ah! I am the gunner for this reason… I should have been the gunner from the start…I uselessly served for two years and was just a pilot.”


  “Now do you know the true taste of the gunner’s job?”


  “Captain, you must have run out of adrenaline during the last war.”


  “Don’t talk about it. It definitely got my adrenaline pumped up.”


  At this time, the third platoon 731 led by Sergeant Lee Kyung-seok, who was the eternal opponent of Sergeant Oh Young-taek, was pushing forward.

  “Woah! Our great Sergeant has appeared.”


  Sergeant Oh Young-taek, who was discharged from the military, often called Sergeant Oh Kyung-seok a hard rock during his military service, so Sergeant Kim Young-joo unconsciously called him a stone when he was not there as if he was swearing.

  After being promoted to sergeant, Sergeant Oh Kyung-seok’s 731 Tank, deputy commander and tank commander of the 7th Company ignored enemy shells from the sky that poured down like rain and fired photon cannons without showing any mercy……