Chapter 135 : It's About to Blow
It's About to Blow
【Bellbyte Technology Opening Ceremony held at Sedona Headquarters! The main guests include the parent family of Taeshin Asset Management, key business partners, and Arizona State Governor Hele Carver...】
【Tourist attractions Sedona and Flagstaff. Now there are predictions that they will also become sites of job creation...】
【Among the three shareholders of the joint venture Bellbyte Technology, Taeshin Asset Management, thanks to division director Kang In-hyuk's foresight, invested in Greenbyte Labs...】
.
.
The next day.
From the early morning, due to the breaking news, people began to flood the streets of Sedona, Arizona, America.
Since only the invited knew the exact date, time, and place, most reporters had arrived late after reading the exclusive news articles.
By late afternoon, the opening ceremony began.
The office site of Bellbyte Technology quickly filled up with those who had been invited.
Tae Ju-ha, looking at In-hyuk who was standing next to her, spoke.
"There are more people than I expected."
Of course, the current In-hyuk was actually Noah Vantrail in disguise.
"That means that many people have been curious about this place."
"If it was for publicity, shouldn't you have released the articles earlier?"
"We aren't ready enough for that yet. There might be trouble, just in case."
Tae Ju-ha nodded.
Meanwhile, Noah Vantrail, disguised as In-hyuk, thought to herself.
'If it was going to be like this, we could've just come forward directly.'
Right now, a miniature in-ear microphone was attached inside her ear. She was listening in real time to In-hyuk's answers and repeating them.
Noah turned her head slightly and said to In-hyuk,
"You never said we'd have to meet this many people! How much longer do I have to keep doing this?"
The dignitaries invited to the opening ceremony were seeking out In-hyuk and other key figures from Bellbyte Technology to talk business.
Of course, every time that happened, In-hyuk provided appropriate answers to get through the crises, but for Noah, it was a huge hassle.
[Bear with it a little longer. You know I have a lot to do here as well.]
At this moment, In-hyuk was also moving in another person's appearance.
So Noah looked around the opening ceremony, but couldn't spot In-hyuk.
"You're not about to go take out those guys at Rock Mountain by yourself, are you?"
[I need to do that too. Anyway, it's going to get busy, so if something's hard to explain, just brush it off. Say we were lucky or something.]
"Damn it—!"
Noah barely managed to suppress the curse and returned to her composed expression.
.
.
.
About 500 meters away from Bellbyte Technology, Rock Mountain was pitch-dark as the sun had set.
There, Li Weicheng of WID was watching the opening ceremony with binoculars.
There were no other buildings around, and only that spot was brightly lit, making it easy to observe.
"If it keeps going like this, there shouldn't be a problem..."
Next to him, Oliver quietly asked,
"We still haven't identified who was watching us... Will that be alright?"
The search team had only found traces of someone staying about 200 meters away.
From the situation, it seemed someone had been surveilling them and left immediately.
As a result, they had relocated.
"Considering the operation is going smoothly, they might be up to something."
"Then shouldn't we change the plan?"
"Could we even do that now? Besides, we're just plan B. The real operation is going to take place inside."
Li Weicheng checked the situation again through the binoculars, then picked up the radio.
"This is KIRIN. BETA ONE, transmit."
Ruben, in charge of the infiltration team, responded over the radio.
[This is BETA ONE.]
"How is it so far?"
[No problem at checkpoint.]
That meant everything was fine.
Li Weicheng nodded and continued on the radio.
"Remember, you must not withdraw until you've confirmed the target has been neutralized."
[Roger.]
There was little time left before the operation.
At the opening stage, Bellbyte Technology officials would come out one by one to give congratulatory speeches. When the target stepped up to the podium, the infiltration team was going to detonate the pre-installed gas trap.
Then Ruben's voice came back over the radio.
[Operation start timer: 1 minute.]
The countdown had begun.
Li Weicheng checked his watch as he peered through the binoculars.
As the seconds passed, the other agents nearby gripped their rifles tightly. If the primary operation failed, they would have to run straight toward the target.
Time passed, and the moment Ruben announced approached.
"...?"
But nothing happened.
Ruben's voice came over the radio again.
[This is BETA ONE. Trap failure. Trap failure. The remote isn't working.]
They had checked it over and over for today's operation.
Despite that, the gas trap was not working, and veins stood out on Li Weicheng's forehead. At the same time, memories of their failed operation in Russia flashed across his mind—this time, they had to succeed.
"Plan A is a bust. BETA ONE, switch to Plan B. We'll enter, except for the sniper team."
[Rog—!]
At that moment, Ruben's response was cut off with an odd tone.
Li Weicheng and the other agents, who were just about to move, froze in place.
"This is KIRIN. All remaining agents, switch frequency to Code B."
Ruben's voice did not return.
If someone had gotten to him, the radio might have been seized.
Meanwhile, after switching frequencies, another BETA team member's voice came in.
[This is BETA TWO. BETA ONE has disappeared. BETA ONE— argh!]
This time, the transmission was cut with a violent noise.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Li Weicheng spoke again on the radio.
"Switch to frequency Code C. All remaining members, move in. Infiltration agents, discard radios and execute Plan C."
After that, their faces set in steely determination, they pulled their masks down to their necks. Grabbing their weapons, they sprinted toward the opening ceremony site.
* * *
Disguised as someone else, In-hyuk released his grip from a man whose neck he'd just twisted.
Thud—
The man's body, life extinguished, slumped to the ground. Beside that corpse lay another man, already dead.
"Does that handle everyone who was in the opening ceremony grounds?"
Last night, after switching places with Noah Vantrail, In-hyuk had snuck into the venue, tampered with the gas trap's ignition device, and waited for the infiltrators. When the opening ceremony started and the Kooou agents withdrew, he quietly picked them off one by one.
Thanks to handling this as quietly as possible, the people at the ceremony were completely unaware.
"Noah. How's the situation on your end?"
He moved positions as he asked, waiting for her response.
After a moment, Noah answered with a muffled sound.
[No problems yet. What's the boss up to?]
She now referred to In-hyuk by the term Hong Yu-geon and Go Mi-ah had used, not "Kang" anymore.
"I just dealt with some dangerous guys. In about ten minutes, something's going to blow up over there."
[Huh? Blow up? What's blowing up?]
After moving a bit farther from the Bellbyte Technology premises, In-hyuk sent a message somewhere using his cellphone.
"It's about to blow."
BOOM— KA-BOOM—!
At that moment, flames shot up from the warehouse farthest from the ceremony, accompanied by a huge explosion. At the same time, through his earpiece, he heard the shocked shouts of people inside.
[Are you insane?! What are you doing? Wait... was that the boss who blew it up?]
"Help evacuate people. And be careful of the secretaries and guards at Baek Si-hwan and Tae Seok-ho's side."
[And what about you?]
"I have to take care of the cockroaches swarming this way."
During the day, only the red rocks of Rock Mountain could be seen—a desolate place. But as night fell, dark ridges and glittering stars filled the sky.
"I need to return the favor we got in Vladivostok."
Clack—clack—
In-hyuk drew a pistol from his waistband and checked the magazine—it was one confiscated from the Kooou agents he'd just dispatched.
After putting on a skull mask, he closed his eyes, letting them adapt to the darkness, then slowly opened them again.
"That way, huh?"
He could see people rushing in from a distance.
Hiding behind a boulder, he waited for them to pass by.
Just as Noah had determined, there were eight in total—including Li Weicheng from MSS, as he'd seen in the pictures.
'Three... Two... One.'
The Kooou agents rushed right by, unaware of In-hyuk, who hid all signs of his presence. When enough distance was gained, the moment became In-hyuk's opportunity.
Bang— ta, Bang— baang—
Loud gunshots echoed over the dark mountains.
Of those racing toward Bellbyte Technology, the last four fell forward, each struck cleanly in the back of the head.
"Scatter!"
It was Li Weicheng, shouting from the very rear. The agents who hadn't been hit instinctively dove, turning to attack the direction the bullets had come from.
Rat-tat-tat— ra-ta-ta-tat— rat-tat— pwak— pwak—
Heavy impacts struck the rocks between bursts of rifle fire.
"They even prepared a sniper unit, so I guess they were going to force it if the trap failed."
Noah had sent photos during her surveillance showing the presence of sniper rifles.
That's why In-hyuk had waited in a spot out of the possible shooting angles, coming around from a hard-to-target direction.
But as soon as he attacked, their positions shifted in response and they targeted him instantly.
"Well, that too was within expectations."
In-hyuk sent another message on his phone.
An explosion erupted near where the Kooou agents were spread out.
BOOM—!
After disabling the ceremonial gas bomb, he'd planted a second bomb nearby, so when it went off, a great brightness engulfed the area.
At that moment, In-hyuk dashed from behind the boulder, grabbed a rifle from one of the downed Kooou agents, and kept moving between piles of rocks.
Ratatat— ratat—
Amid the confusion, he dispatched two more agents, then hid among the rocks again.
Pwapak— pak—
Late gunshots from snipers—unable to use night-vision because of the explosion—struck the rocks he'd just vacated.
"An XM177 will do just fine."
That was the model of the rifle he'd just picked up.
He checked the magazine, then guessed the positions of the last snipers based on where their bullets landed.
"About 300 meters, maybe?"
The rifle's scope was a fixed magnification, good for short-range.
But with In-hyuk's heightened senses, it was enough.
"Shot."
Bang— ratat—
He fired, the 5.56mm round flying fast.
In-hyuk could faintly see what had happened after the shot.
"Clear."
With that, he had taken out both the sniper and the spotter, who calculated distance, wind, and temperature nearby.
"Now, only two left?"
He'd known their numbers from the start.
In-hyuk turned the muzzle to track the last two's location.