Chapter 128 : More Than a Comrade's Honor
More Than a Comrade's Honor
A few days later.
In-hyuk received a message at the Taeshin Asset Management office.
【Bluemetal03: Looked into Taeshin Group's Tae Seok-ho and Tae Ju-ha, as well as Kang In-hyuk's activities overseas. Completed transmission of investigation materials.】
The sender was a senior member of the Cheong Geumbang, an underground organization in China. Moreover, Cheong Geumbang was a group that In-hyuk had controlled in his previous life.
Naturally, he knew not only the weaknesses of those executives, but also the information on surrounding groups Cheong Geumbang needed to expand its power.
"So they only now got around to checking into this... Does that mean those guys haven't shared what they know?"
Because if it were Kooou, it was something he would have known right away.
At the same time, the faces of Reina Blackwood came to mind. Ostensibly, she was Tae Seok-ho's close aide, appearing to help, but behind the scenes, she was controlling the flow of key information.
While muttering to himself, In-hyuk looked over the empty office. Neither the typically boisterous Hong Yu-geon nor Van Hester, who would stand munching on suspicious(?) snacks, were around.
Both had left the country to track Kooou's camp.
At that moment, his phone vibrated again with another message. This time, it was from Go Mi-ah.
【Red Witch: Finished the cipher decryption and uploaded it.】
He had previously asked her to analyze the agents' device records copied at Areum Cleaning.
In-hyuk accessed the private cloud on his computer.
【Guest5436: Okay.】
【Red Witch: I don't know if these guys are slow learners or just don't realize they've been breached. They keep using Japanese as the decryption keyword.】
【Guest5436: Maybe they think we haven't cracked the code yet.】
【Red Witch: They're dumber than I thought.】
【Guest5436: Still, we should stay cautious, just in case. Either way, thanks.】
After finishing the exchange, In-hyuk checked the contents. The records acquired from the agents this time were quite different from before.
In the past, infiltration was about monitoring and dealing with key executives, but now these were conversations between people strictly carrying out combat operations.
'Are there separate fields of responsibility within the organization?'
Moreover, the agents In-hyuk had dealt with this time were all unfamiliar faces. That alone meant he had never encountered them in his previous life, and suggested the size of Kooou was likely even larger than he had expected.
'Their armament too...and at this level, they're on par with official government agents. But the Kooou keyword I came across for the first time, and the fact I never found any trace...'
At any rate—Baek Ji-woong, Kwon So-jeong, Im Deok-chang, and now Jung Yoon-ju...
People who held key posts in corporations, government agencies, and the Ministry of Justice were all moving with a single purpose.
Had In-hyuk not gotten in their way—had he died as originally fated together with Tae Ju-ha—many things would have changed.
"There's not as much on record as I thought."
Apparently they regularly changed out their communication equipment.
As he went through things one by one, another message arrived from Go Mi-ah.
【Red Witch: Almost forgot. I found records on someone named Jeon Eun-seong, too. Just uploaded them—take a look.】
Since she'd hacked into the servers of both the Ministry of Defense and the executive branch, it had taken some time.
Still, she found the material quicker than In-hyuk had anticipated.
He closed the folder he'd just been viewing and opened the folder labeled "Jeon Eun-seong."
A familiar photo and its details appeared.
【Ministry of Defense Personal Record】
－Name: Jeon Eun-seong
－Date of Birth: 1977, MM-DD
－Affiliation: Military Intelligence Command, Administration Division
－Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
－Service Period: Commissioned MM-DD, 1998 ∼ Discharged 2025/02/DD
.
.
A sharply-eyed man in military uniform, looking both neat and slightly boyish for his age.
Jeon Eun-seong, in In-hyuk's previous life, had been his superior and training instructor at UID. He had learned everything about combat from him, and their service together had been without any major trouble until discharge.
Of course, Baek Si-hwan, who was currently working out in the adjacent office, had also served under him.
"So he retired last year? Was that the same before?"
He had never bothered to look up Jeon Eun-seong's status after discharge, so this was new information. It also raised questions.
"If Baek Si-hwan was connected/poached at UID...why not me?"
His service with Baek Si-hwan had overlapped by about two years, during which In-hyuk had higher marks in mission performance, combat skills, tactics—everything.
A bitter look came over In-hyuk's face. The trust built through joint operations with Baek Si-hwan was now tainted by the memory of returning from death in a previous life.
But his train of thought did not stop.
"Don't tell me...they belonged to Kooou even before joining UID? The same goes for Jeon Eun-seong."
The combat technique, TMT, taught at the organization was said to have originated with the formation of UID. And yet agents not part of UID but of Kooou knew and used TMT.
If his guess was correct, Jeon Eun-seong had always been like Baek Si-hwan.
One supporting piece of evidence: after military retirement, there was no sign of activity record for Jeon Eun-seong within the country.
"If Jeon Eun-seong is training agents at their camp, it all fits. If that's true, those guys need to be a lot more careful."
In-hyuk sent a message to both of them through Ghost Link.
* * *
A safehouse on the outskirts of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
Im Deok-chang of the National Intelligence Service stepped out of a car that had rolled up the driveway in the darkness.
Inside, the first to arrive was Kwon So-jeong of W&W Group.
"Why are you so late?"
"I can't close out NIS business on my own terms, you know."
"Never mind. Just sit down. Everyone else must be waiting."
"Let's."
The two sat together on the sofa.
A National Intelligence Service agent who had come with Im Deok-chang, Choi Dong-hoon of WID, set up a portable projector on the table, started it, then stepped outside.
After the laptop was connected, images of three people appeared on one wall.
It was Hakushikijou, Tengu, and Hannya—who recently convened in Japan by video.
As the screen, flickering with noise, normalized, Hakushikijou spoke up first.
[We're all probably feeling heavy-hearted by the bad news.]
He meant the death of Shojo, one of the elders, as well as Jung Yoon-ju, the deputy general prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
Because it was news no one could miss, everyone fell respectfully silent.
Hakushikijou continued.
[But for the sake of our society's safety and goals, sacrifices must sometimes be endured... For now, Shojo will shoulder all the responsibility for this situation.]
Everyone nodded, quietly but in agreement.
To them, the existence of the society always outweighed even the honor of comrades.
At this, Tengu's image spoke up.
[Then the vacant seat of Shojo needs to be filled—do you have anyone in mind, Hakushikijou?]
It was why the society had been reconvened.
When asked, Hakushikijou thought quietly for a moment before continuing.
[What we need right now is, as with Shojo before, someone who can shield us from legal oversight. But the current prosecution is going to be in turmoil from an anonymous tip-off.]
No one knew how long the prosecution would be under scrutiny.
Even if they filled the slot with a new person, there was no guarantee Skull wouldn't find and punish the candidate just as before.
Hearing this, Tengu gave a wry, almost mocking laugh.
[Hmm... How about we move our legal network to law firms and use prosecution only for funding? In the legal world, connections like school, region, and blood ties run deeper than anywhere. That way we can cover not just the prosecution but the courts too.]
But Hakushikijou looked dissatisfied.
[The suggestion isn't bad, but established law firms have both strong power and a lot of ambition. There's a risk they'll use us as a shield rather than us using them.]
[Given ongoing operations, maybe we have to accept that risk? If we poach and promote someone unremarkable, it won't be much better than Shojo.]
[More importantly, now is the time for safety rather than risk. You know well what's happened since Shojo...]
There had been an explosion and gunfire at Areum Cleaning that attracted government attention.
Because of that, every detail of Jung Yoon-ju the deputy general prosecutor's background, movements, and weapon sourcing would be under investigation.
Of course, the society had already cleared almost every possible track.
Nevertheless, they had still suffered at the hands of Skull, so there was no relaxing entirely.
[How about the thoughts of others? Kitsune, since your husband recommended Shojo, surely you've considered the replacement?]
The address Kitsune referred to Kwon So-jeong.
Having quietly watched the situation, she was slightly flustered now that the arrow pointed at her.
"I think Tengu makes a valid point. Considering especially the projects at Taeshin Group and KQ Group that we're preparing, legal protection is essential. It's hard to judge if a hastily appointed prosecution figure could handle it."
With her vote cast Tengu's way, Hakushikijou's gaze behind the mask shifted to Im Deok-chang.
[Hyottoko, your opinion?]
[Sheer strategy is important, but safety must be the top priority for now. As previously shared, the NIS is tracking Notex's shell companies. To activate any line without secured safety would threaten the future of our society.]
In the end, the tally came to two votes each.
Thus, attention naturally turned to Hannya, who had yet to speak.
[Do you have an opinion?]
This time, Tengu threw the question—purposefully tense, as his faction was well-known.
Hannya maintained silence for a while longer, then slowly opened his mouth.
[Legal protection is key for now, but you should not overlook the combat strength Skull has revealed.]
With Jung Yoon-ju—Shojo's—death, there were 12 agents with him besides 2nd-tier Kim Hyo-jun.
Of these, two were third-tier, ten were 4th-tier.
All belonged to the Operations Division, specialized for combat beyond what the Intelligence Division offered.
They had not only been tracked to Areum Cleaning but destroyed to the extent that even the scale of damage they suffered remained unknown.
As head of force generation and distribution at the Hongu Society under the name WID, Hannya could not take this lightly.
Again, silence fell.
Then Hakushikijou spoke.
[Hannya's point stands. Let's suppose Skull wields power comparable to ours—and is even aware of TMT.]
At that, Hannya's eyes widened almost into holes.
[Skull knows about TMT? Was this previously shared?]
Hakushikijou raised a hand to calm his stern tone.
[It's something to get worked up over, but please calm yourself. I only learned about it recently myself. During the Pyo Jun-woo abduction incident in Korea, Skull asked about it. Chairman Baek has been keeping that fact secret until now.]
As the name of her husband came up again, Kwon So-jeong—Kitsune—wore a shadowed expression.