Chapter 127: A-a-a-a-ah!

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan felt as though his insides were drying up and his blood was boiling from the unbearable strain on his nerves.

The distance from where they were staying to Go Yeongjun's hideout was only about one kilometer. Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol had departed with two security guards and Saho an hour ago to capture him. By now, the operation should have been over long ago. Yet the phone lying on the table remained stubbornly silent.

Unable to suppress the growing anxiety gnawing at him, Kang Inhan turned to Cha Jiham.

"Director Cha... don't you think something serious might have happened over there?"

"If something had gone wrong, they would have contacted us one way or another by now."

"But Team Leader Lee and the others could have run into trouble because of Go Yeongjun's bodyguards."

Just how much has Chairman Park put him through for him to be this jumpy over everything?

Watching the normally stern Kang Inhan, Jiham couldn't help but be surprised, while at the same time realizing just how much stress the man had accumulated over the years. In any case, Go Yeongjun's bodyguards were currently dead drunk and incapable of putting up much of a fight. Lee Hyeonsol's group, on the other hand, was completely sober. Even though there were only three of them, handling a couple dozen drunken guards would be easy enough. Besides, they had the sacred beast Saho with them.

I'd better calm him down a little.

The chances of anything going seriously wrong were practically nonexistent.

"Team Leader Lee took Saho with him. Even if something unexpected happened, they'd have no trouble getting out. Saho can cover a kilometer in two or three minutes. If anything had gone wrong, he'd already be here to let us know."

"Then what's causing the delay?"

"Who knows? Let's wait a little longer."

Bzzzz.

As the agonizing wait dragged on, the phone in Kang Inhan's hand suddenly vibrated. As if he already knew who was calling, he answered instantly.

"Team Leader Lee! What's the situation?"

[We've safely secured Director Go Yeongjun.]

"Whew... thank goodness. But why did the operation take so long?"

[I'll explain everything once we get back.]

"Understood. We'll be waiting."

Click.

After hanging up, Kang Inhan turned to Jiham.

"Director Cha, the operation was successful."

"See? I told you everything would be fine."

About ten minutes later, the front door swung open and Saho dashed inside. Moments later, a security guard staggered in behind him, breathing heavily while carrying the unconscious Go Yeongjun on his back. Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol and the other guard followed, each struggling to drag a heavy suitcase into the room.

As Jiham stroked Saho's head after the cat leaped into his arms, he smiled at Lee Hyeonsol.

"Good work, Team Leader Lee."

"Thank you, Director. Once we dump this bastard in the basement, I'll give you a full report."

A short while later, Lee Hyeonsol returned from the basement. He grabbed a drink from the table, emptied it in several large gulps, then sat down on the sofa.

"Team Leader Lee, your operation wasn't discovered by Go Yeongjun's guards?"

"Right before we moved in, Saho knocked out every single one of his bodyguards."

"You mean the delay happened because he was putting them all to sleep?"

Lee Hyeonsol glanced sternly at Saho before answering Jiham's question.

"No. It only took Saho three or four minutes to knock out the drunken guards."

"Then what caused the delay?"

"With Saho's help, we entered the main building without any problems. But... Saho also knocked out Go Yeongjun."

To successfully capture Go Yeongjun, he naturally had to be subdued. So, following his instructions to the letter, Saho immediately knocked the man unconscious. However, Lee Hyeonsol clearly wasn't pleased with the cat's decision. Jiham calmly asked what the problem was.

"There was a medium-sized safe sitting in the corner of Go Yeongjun's bedroom."

There was a very high probability that all of Go Yeongjun's valuables were stored inside it. But to get to them, the owner needed to be conscious. Naturally unaware of such details, Saho had knocked him out the moment he saw him. As a result, the operation had been delayed while they tried to wake the debtor up so he could open the safe.

"I believe this is partly your fault as well, Team Leader Lee."

"I'm... not quite sure what you mean, Director."

"If you had Saho scout Go Yeongjun's hideout beforehand, you should have learned there was a safe in the bedroom."

"Ah... you're right. That was an oversight on my part."

"What's done is done, so let's leave it at that. What was inside the safe?"

"A single twenty-five-kilogram gold bar and several thick paper envelopes containing documents."

Gold was undoubtedly an important liquid asset. However, in today's internet-driven era, it had lost some of its appeal as something that could be quickly converted into cash.

"Why would Go Yeongjun keep such a heavy gold bar with him?"

"Perhaps he was saving it as an emergency reserve that could be sold quickly?"

"If I were him, I'd have kept smaller bars or diamonds that would be much easier to carry."

At that moment, an idea flashed through Jiham's mind. Finding his own reasoning convincing enough, he looked at Lee Hyeonsol again.

"Bring me the document envelopes that were inside the safe. Immediately."

"Yes, Director."

Lee Hyeonsol promptly went downstairs and soon returned carrying the envelopes.

Jiham took them and began examining their contents.

Unfortunately, the first document turned out to be nothing more than the lease agreement for Go Yeongjun's hideout.

He then picked up the thicker envelope.

The very first page bore an intriguing title.

— Sales And Purchase Agreement AU Metal —

A purchase agreement for AU Metal...

"Does anyone know what AU Metal means?"

As if he had been waiting for exactly that question, Kang Inhan answered immediately.

"Au is the chemical symbol for gold."

"Exactly right, Chief Secretary Kang."

"Director Cha, I'm dying to know what this is about."

"The documents in my hands are a purchase agreement for gold bars."

With that, Jiham turned the page and continued reading.

According to the contract, Go Yeongjun had agreed to purchase fifty gold bars, each weighing twenty-five kilograms, from Liu Peiqi at a fifteen-percent discount off the current LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) price.

To purchase 1,250 kilograms of gold would require 850 million U.S. dollars... roughly 1.15 trillion won.

At that instant, it felt as though a bolt of lightning had flashed through Jiham's mind.

Go Yeongjun had been buying gold from Liu Peiqi using the money he had stolen from the company.

But that conclusion immediately ran into a contradiction.

There had only been a single gold bar inside the bedroom safe.

"Team Leader Lee, was there any other gold inside the hideout?"

"We didn't find any."

"But according to this contract, he bought fifty twenty-five-kilogram bars from Liu Peiqi."

"...Could it be..."

Jiham immediately understood why Lee Hyeonsol had trailed off.

"Most likely your guess is correct. There's a hidden room somewhere inside that hideout."

"I'll take some men back immediately and search the entire building from top to bottom."

"That won't be necessary."

"...What?"

"Go Yeongjun himself knows where the hidden room is."

"Ah... right. That never even crossed my mind."

"I'd like to question him in about thirty minutes. Can you have him ready by then?"

Lee Hyeonsol instantly understood what Cha Jiham was implying.

Go Yeongjun needed to be placed in a state where he would willingly answer every question put to him.

Failing to understand his superior's intentions—or understanding them but refusing to carry them out—would amount to gross negligence.

"I'll make sure his brain gets properly reformatted."

At that moment, Kang Inhan quietly inserted himself into the conversation, as though he had been waiting for exactly this opportunity.

"Director Cha, would you allow me to participate in this... educational session as well?"

"You have a personal reason?"

"I suffered plenty because of that bastard too after he fled to China."

"Very well. Just don't overdo it. He has to stay alive if we expect him to talk."

"Haha. Understood. Well then, Team Leader Lee... shall we go help him improve his outlook on life?"

***

Thirty minutes later.

When Jiham descended into the basement and looked at Go Yeongjun, he instinctively frowned.

The man lay sprawled across the floor in such miserable condition that he barely looked any different from a corpse.

Pretending nothing had happened simply wasn't an option, so Jiham looked reproachfully at Kang Inhan.

"Chief Secretary Kang, why did you ignore my instructions?"

"We never intended to go overboard with him, Director."

"Did he try to exercise his right to remain silent?"

"Not exactly. He just started acting arrogant and throwing his weight around, claiming that a high-ranking Chinese government official was protecting him. We couldn't hold ourselves back."

"Throwing his weight around? Did you find out who was backing him?"

"Yes. His name is Liu Peiqi. He's a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China."

The members of the CCP Politburo formed an exclusive circle of twenty-five people who wielded the highest authority in China.

"So he managed to find himself quite an influential backer."

"I couldn't agree more, Director Cha."

"By the way... is this the same Liu Peiqi who sold him the gold?"

"Yes, the very same person. Incidentally, Politburo member Liu Peiqi is Vice President Liu Shen's biological uncle."

"Hmm... I see. As long as someone like Liu is standing behind him, bringing Go Yeongjun back to our country through official channels will be virtually impossible."

"The chances are extremely slim."

"I understand. Wake him up."

At Jiham's command, one of the security guards dumped an entire bucket of water over Go Yeongjun's face.

"Gah!"

The guards hauled the soaked debtor upright and forced him into a chair facing Jiham.

"Y-You..."

Go Yeongjun wasn't merely stammering.

His entire body trembled uncontrollably.

One of the effects of the herbal tranquilizer was its ability to crush a person's will and instill overwhelming fear. As a result, Go Yeongjun was seized by an instinctive, almost primal terror.

"I'm Cha Jiham, Director of Korea Investment's Venture Capital Fund."

"And Chairman Park's successor," Kang Inhan added heavily, further elevating Jiham's status.

"Go Yeongjun, you didn't just steal five hundred billion won from our company. You also caused catastrophic losses to financial institutions. Do you admit it?"

"..."

Seeing that Go Yeongjun intended to hide behind silence, Jiham decided it was time to bring him back to reality.

"Go Yeongjun, I'm speaking to you as one human being to another, and you're mistaking that for weakness?"

"..."

"If you don't answer my question within three seconds, I'll break your arms and legs one by one. If you don't believe me, feel free to find out. First question. How much company money and investor funds did you embezzle in total?"

"..."

"Chief Secretary Kang, it seems this man still hasn't realized the situation he's in."

To be honest, Kang Inhan had occasionally thought Cha Jiham was too soft-hearted.

But now, Jiham displayed a coldness and ruthlessness unlike his usual self.

Taking it as an excellent sign, Kang Inhan drove a crushing punch straight into Go Yeongjun's chest with all his strength.

"Urgh!"

With a short cry, Go Yeongjun collapsed pitifully onto the floor.

Looking down at him, Kang Inhan spoke in a chilling voice.

"I should actually thank you. It would've been boring if you'd talked without putting up a fight. Let's start with your right arm."

"I... I'm protected by Politburo member Liu Peiqi!" Go Yeongjun shouted, trembling in terror.

"So what?"

"..."

"You ignored the question again and tried to stay silent. In that case, I'll break your left arm too."

Crack!

Kang Inhan placed Go Yeongjun's right arm across his knee and pressed down with brutal force.

"A-A-A-A-Ah!"

Giving the screaming Go Yeongjun a cold glance, Kang Inhan stepped over him and grabbed his left arm.

Realizing what was about to happen, Go Yeongjun writhed desperately across the floor, pleading frantically.

"Chief Secretary Kang! I'll answer! I'll answer everything truthfully! Please spare me! Just this once!"

"Sorry. Too late."

Kang Inhan answered coldly before snapping Go Yeongjun's left arm without the slightest hesitation.

Crack!

"A-A-A-A-Ah!"

Go Yeongjun's shrill, pig-like scream echoed loudly throughout the basement once again.