Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Edge
The one who swaggered out as if he owned the place was a pot-bellied middle-aged man. His appearance perfectly embodied laziness and sloth, but it seemed his rank wasn’t exactly low.
“I am Sheriff Guo Ohong. I’ll only warn you once, so you’d better listen carefully.”
As if speaking a mere few words was exhausting, he breathed out sharply, huff, huff. Was this what a pearl necklace around a pig’s neck looked like? The sight was utterly ridiculous.
“The backing you trust in isn’t really that bastard over there, is it?”
“How about you let go first? Unless you want to become a bullet shield.”
Unlike Johwang, he appeared to act rationally, but in the end, Lawian was the same sort who believed himself to be the smartest and most superior person around. There was no way he would leave future trouble behind just because of a little threat.
When Ga-on shoved Lawian forward as a human shield, Guo Ohong suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.
“I said put him down already! Does what a sheriff says sound like a joke to you?!”
“……Next time, don’t send out someone like that as a negotiator.”
After mocking Lawian, Ga-on casually curled his fingers.
At that moment, bright red juice seeped out between them. Startled, Lawian tried to close the opening, but it was already too late.
His neck had long since separated from his head.
There was no vitality left in the lump of meat that exhaled its final breath.
“Oops.”
Throwing aside the limp Lawian, Ga-on dramatically raised both hands high, showing he had no intention of resisting.
“I surrender.”
***
“You fucking bastard, how dare you ignore an order from the Public Enforcement Corps?! If you hadn’t been born in a society governed by law, you would’ve been executed on the spot, executed! Do you understand?!”
“I told you, I was startled. If you hadn’t shouted at me like that, he’d still be alive.”
District 39 Western Public Enforcement Office, inside the interrogation room.
Dragged in as a criminal caught in the act, Ga-on had no choice but to face Guo Ohong. After all, killing someone in front of a sheriff was an undeniable fact. However, ever since the Millennium Code Gate incident, laws regarding self-redress and self-defense had become significantly stronger.
Meaning that as long as one thoroughly understood the relevant statutes, defending oneself wasn’t difficult.
“They illegally trespassed into my residence first. And they also damaged private property. The damages exceed 5 million Pia. I could probably win even if we took this to court.”
“Then you should’ve reported it to the Public Enforcement Corps first. Why are you acting so damn proud?”
“I didn’t, but someone else probably did.”
“Someone else? Oh, so you’ve got an accomplice. Fine then, let’s hear it.”
The moment Guo Ohong snorted as though he had finally caught something, his plump cheeks trembled like a pendulum.
“Maximum Noise. The android they destroyed belonged to them. And to add to that, it’s apparently one the chairman’s son treasures quite a bit.”
“Huh?”
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Even a sheriff would find the sudden appearance of an unexpected big shot overwhelming. Naturally, his mouth shut on its own.
As Guo Ohong retreated weakly, Ga-on sneered as though he had expected as much. In District 39, competent sheriffs like Dominique were rare. Since the place was deeply connected to the underworld, it was often regarded as a form of exile posting.
Because of that, incompetent Public Enforcement officers flooded the district.
Still, there were occasional cases like this. People who couldn’t even qualify as investigators — investigation assistants, at best — somehow managed to scrape together achievements from somewhere and steadily climb the ranks.
Nine times out of ten, they were tied to criminal organizations. They survived as parasites by acting as the hands and feet of those groups.
So-called “planned officers.”
Guo Ohong was probably one of them as well.
Of course, the fact that he was so enraged over the already-dead Lawian was suspicious in itself.
There was no way a useless fool like Guo Ohong would know anything about principles like “good faith and sincerity,” so there was a high chance he was connected to the “hyungnim” Lawian had mentioned. Come to think of it, Fernandez had said something similar before.
“Is Ryungyeong the one backing you?”
“…….”
He stiffened his facial muscles, trying in his own way to maintain a straight expression, but the more he did, the more the twitching only amplified the sense of discomfort. From Ga-on’s perspective, it was quite the lucky catch.
“That’s unexpected. It’s not often I get an answer from the very first question.”
“Ryungyeong? You’re trying to tie me to Ryungyeong? Hah, looks like we’ll be adding insulting an officer to your charges as well. Got that? Thanks to all the nonsense you spewed, you won’t be walking out on your own two feet!”
Guo Ohong passionately ranted while spitting everywhere.
There was nothing uglier than the tantrum of a middle-aged man whose dirty secrets had been exposed, so Ga-on only half-listened while waiting for time to pass. The only reason he entertained such meaningless conversation at all was for amusement.
Eventually, it would end.
And just then, the interrogation room door burst open and someone stepped inside.
“What a shame. I wanted to play around a little longer.”
After confirming the newcomer’s face, Ga-on turned away as though he had already lost interest, but unlike him, Guo Ohong immediately became hostile.
“I told them not to let anyone in. Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Sheriff Jin Geon from the Wide-Area Investigation Unit of District 2.”
“District 2? The Wide-Area Investigation Unit?”
The moment names beyond his ability to handle came up, Guo Ohong’s puffed-up shoulders visibly shrank. But even if he had realized his place, Jin Geon was not the sort to let him off because of it.
“I reviewed the case materials, and from beginning to end, it’s clearly self-defense. This hardly seems like something worth detaining him over for this long.”
“But this falls under my jurisdict—”
“You mean clinging to an advisor? District 39 should have plenty of other cases requiring your attention besides Mr. Ga-on, shouldn’t it?”
“Advisor…?”
At those impossible-to-ignore words, Guo Ohong stared blankly at Ga-on. Never in his wildest imagination had he expected them to belong to the same side.
“There’s also the possibility this could be interpreted as a protest against Public Enforcement Agency Headquarters. Surely you didn’t think that far ahead before acting, did you?”
The downward gaze bearing into him felt painfully sharp. No matter how much he wiped his forehead, the sweat refused to disappear. Considering complicated power dynamics simply didn’t suit Guo Ohong. Wasn’t the reason he aimed for a higher position merely to escape headaches like this?
And so—
“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”
He had no choice but to tuck his tail between his legs.
***
Stepping out of the shabby, run-down Public Enforcement office, I looked up at the bluish clearing sky.
The case had been transferred to Public Enforcement Agency Headquarters and immediately assigned to Jin Geon. The final conclusion: no charges.
“Your after-service is pretty reliable. Judging by how quickly you rushed over after finding out I’d been arrested.”
“Well, love you or hate you, you’re still an advisor I personally appointed.”
Jin Geon smiled warmly. The curve of his smile was so perfect it was hard to dislike him, yet—
“Just hearing that brings tears to my eyes.”
Ga-on’s eyes only grew colder.
At first glance, it sounded like a friendly gesture, but ordinary goodwill was never this heavy.
Truthfully, letting himself get caught by Guo Ohong had been, in part, an attempt to gauge Jin Geon’s true intentions. He had just confirmed that the advisor position also functioned as a set of shackles.
Even a hundred sighs wouldn’t have been enough, but this time was a little different. He had even used that suspicion itself as bait. After all, Jin Geon wasn’t the only person who would move upon hearing news of his arrest.
Sure enough, before the two could even leave the Public Enforcement office grounds, something unexpected happened.
It began from far away.
A procession of ceremonial vehicles advanced in a line, as if determined to drive away the hazy exhaust fumes and foul stench around them. The filthy parking lot transformed into a glamorous exhibition hall in an instant.
In District 39, a place steeped in worldly grime, it was an exceedingly rare sight. Naturally, every passerby stopped in their tracks.
That was when the rear door of the vehicle at the center of the convoy rotated open at a ninety-degree angle.
The woman who stepped out under the protection of countless bodyguards resembled pure white snow.
From her hair to her eyebrows, and even her skin.
Her sculpted beauty was no different from a masterpiece, enough to create the illusion that time itself had frozen around her.
Click, click.
Eventually, the woman who stopped in front of Jin Geon, Baek Seol, briefly glanced at Ga-on standing beside him before subtly puffing out her chest.
It was practically a gesture asking, ‘Aren’t I incredibly imposing?’ Needless to say, it carried a fair amount of self-praise.
For Ga-on, her appearance had been expected. But for Jin Geon, this meeting was entirely outside the norm. That was why, unlike himself, he mentally rehearsed the flow of the coming conversation.
“If my memory serves me correctly, wouldn’t you be Chairman Baek Seol, who recently took over Baekdu?”
“That’s right. Judging by the look of things, the Public Enforcement Corps seems to think even someone like me doesn’t matter. This is what people commonly call ‘establishing discipline,’ isn’t it? I can’t say I’m very pleased.”
A question impossible to grasp.
Anyone could tell Baek Seol was in a foul mood, yet the reason behind it was exceedingly difficult to infer.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding. We are always striving to maintain a healthy cooperative relationship with the megacorps.”
It was questionable why he had suddenly become the representative speaker, but Baek Seol had approached first. The situation could only be interpreted as her having business here.
“No matter if you’re the Public Enforcement Corps, you cannot disregard our Baekdu like this. To take him away without even a prior notice. If you intend to forcibly detain my younger brother, you’ll need my permission first.”
“Younger brother……?”
A conversation that seemed strangely out of sync, and within it, a single word presented itself.
Clinging to that thread-thin hope, Jin Geon’s mind raced chaotically toward an answer.
The only person here who could possibly be referred to as a younger brother—
‘……!’
Realizing something, Jin Geon turned his gaze toward Ga-on.
“Miss Snow. You were one step too late. Prince Charming already arrived first.”
“Eh.”
***
Not long afterward, Baek Seol disappeared while stomping her feet in frustration, seemingly upset that she had missed her chance to shine.
There was no time to leisurely chat over the little commotion that had occurred after so long. She had become the chairman of a megacorp, someone whose schedule operated down to the second. Coming all the way to District 39 had likely already been a considerable strain.
Perhaps because of that—
Im Sol, who appeared midway through, seemed to want Ga-on dragged back into the interrogation room, but he had no intention of indulging her. In the end, she left looking disappointed, taking only the name of the sheriff called Guo Ohong with her.
As for what would happen to him from now on, that could remain a small source of amusement.
After all, he wasn’t the only one Ga-on had to deal with.
For example, a hunting dog wearing a mask.
“I’m surprised. To think Mr. Ga-on was the youngest son of Baekdu.”
“We’re half-siblings, though.”
“Isn’t sharing the same blood what matters? Chairman Baek Seol genuinely seems to care for you, Mr. Ga-on.”
As though reflecting his state of mind, Jin Geon stirred up a storm inside his teacup with a spoon, revealing emotions more agitated than usual. But it was merely an expression forcibly crafted to pry out information.
To Ga-on, who had observed countless kinds of people, it was nothing more than laughable acting.
Still, there was no reason not to play along.
It wasn’t as though he had nothing he wanted to say.
No, rather, he wanted him to hear it.
“The reason I became a fixer was to find my past. I don’t remember anything from my childhood.”
He filled an ordinary past—
—with traces of misfortune.
“I didn’t know at first, but it seems a tactical nuclear weapon was used during the Black Shower. I was probably exposed to radiation back then.”
The genes he had damaged through consuming Nuclase—
—he disguised as a condition acquired later in life.
“I heard from the former chairman that the woman who gave birth to me carried out excessive genetic modifications.”
The process he had spent three hundred years cultivating—
—he explained away as talent beyond reason.
There might have been some inconsistencies and leaps in logic, but Jin Geon would accept it without prejudice. After all, the topic had arisen because Baek Seol had “coincidentally” come to the Public Enforcement office. In his mind, Ga-on himself had no intentional hand in steering the conversation.
Unfortunately, it was the kind of disaster born from possessing shallow background knowledge.