Chapter 129: Wow! That’s an Enormous Pile!

"Director, we're being tailed."

Jeong Gwangseok, who was sitting in the driver's seat, turned around and reported to me.

"No prizes for guessing—they're FBI agents. Ignore them."

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan, however, had a different opinion.

"Director, shouldn't we have a word with Director Nevers and tell him to stop wasting his time?"

"Just think of it as proof of how important you are, Chief Secretary Kang."

"What makes you say that?" he asked in confusion, clearly unable to follow my reasoning.

"The FBI doesn't waste manpower tailing ordinary citizens."

"They're not following me, Director—they're following you!"

"What difference does it make? We have nothing to hide from the FBI, so there's no point wasting our time on something so meaningless."

"...Fair enough. Still, what are you planning to do with President Go?"

Originally, I had intended to bring Go Yeongjun back to Korea under the criminal extradition treaty.

Unfortunately, he had already built guanxi with one of the most powerful figures in the Chinese government—Politburo member Liu Peiqi. On top of that, we were about to reclaim our share—the forty-nine gold bars—from Liu Peiqi's country estate. If Go Yeongjun remained in China, Liu Peiqi would almost certainly discover that we were behind everything.

So even if the heavens themselves split apart, we had to get him back home.

"What choice do we have? We'll put him on the submarine and send him back."

"But if we do that, won't we run into Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol's group?"

"I'll explain everything to Director Om Giyeon. I'm sure he'll find a solution."

"I understand. Still... I'm curious. Why were you so ruthless with President Go?"

I had expected that question.

"I got the feeling he had become so confident in Politburo member Liu's protection that he no longer took me seriously."

"I see. That bastard really had lost all sense of fear."

Ignoring Kang Inhan's remark, I looked down at Saho, who was sitting comfortably in my lap.

"You know how you should behave if you want a date with a wild kitty, right?"

As though he understood every word, Saho nodded vigorously.

"Check whether there are surveillance cameras inside the estate. If there are, cut the power. And if anyone's inside... knock them out."

I carefully explained his assignment.

"...The gold is most likely hidden in a secret compartment. It'll be your job to find the hidden room too. Can you handle it?"

With his mind completely occupied by the thought of his upcoming date, Saho carelessly nodded again.

At that moment, Jeong Gwangseok spoke from the driver's seat.

"Director, we're almost at Politburo member Liu Peiqi's estate."

"Just in case, park some distance away."

"Understood."

"Team Leader Lee, take Saho and scout the area around Liu Peiqi's house."

Soon afterward, Jeong Gwangseok parked the vehicle in a suitable location.

Lee Hyeonsol immediately picked Saho up and got out.

All that remained was to wait.

Breaking the heavy silence, Kang Inhan checked the time on his phone.

"Director, it's stuffy in here. Shall we wait outside?"

"That sounds better."

The moment I stepped out of the vehicle, Saho came sprinting toward us from the distance.

Lee Hyeonsol followed behind him, breathing heavily.

As always, Saho charged straight at me and leaped into my arms.

While I stroked his head, the panting Lee Hyeonsol finally caught up.

Kang Inhan handed him a bottle of cold mineral water.

Lee Hyeonsol drained it in one go before immediately beginning his report.

"There aren't any buildings within a hundred-meter radius of Liu Peiqi's residence."

"That's good."

"Surveillance cameras are installed every two or three meters along the entire perimeter wall. We decided it'd be safest to cut the power immediately before entering."

Modern technology had advanced to the point where power outages triggered instant notifications on a person's phone.

If the electricity stayed out for too long, Liu Peiqi might become suspicious.

The shorter the outage, the better.

"Yes. That's probably the best approach."

"I asked Saho. There's no one inside. He also didn't find a safe."

Which meant the gold wasn't stored in a safe.

It was hidden somewhere else.

"It seems fortune is on our side."

"You can say that again. One last thing—there aren't any surveillance cameras inside the house."

That was excellent news.

If there had been indoor cameras, we'd have been forced to search for the hidden compartment in total darkness.

"Understood."

"There's a large open parking area about twenty meters from the main gate. I think we can park both the SUV and the van there."

"Chief Jeong, did you hear what Team Leader Lee said?"

"Yes, Director."

Jeong Gwangseok answered crisply before immediately getting behind the wheel.

***

The surveillance cameras covering the perimeter fence finally shut down.

Saho, who had entered the estate ahead of us, had most likely disabled the main electrical panel.

The moment we saw the cameras go dark, Jeong Gwangseok and Seo Donghun sprinted toward the wall.

Seo Donghun braced himself against it and clasped his hands together.

Jeong Gwangseok ran forward, stepped onto his interlocked hands, and with Seo Donghun's powerful boost effortlessly vaulted over the wall.

A short while later—

Click!

The gate unlocked.

Those of us waiting outside rushed into the estate.

After crossing the garden and approaching the house, the lights inside suddenly came on.

Saho had apparently spotted us running toward the building and flipped the light switch.

I pushed open the front door and ran into the living room—

Then froze.

I had expected Saho to leap straight into my arms as usual.

Instead, he was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go?

While I was wondering, Saho suddenly darted out of the bedroom.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

He bit onto my trouser leg and began tugging me toward the bedroom.

I immediately understood what he was trying to tell me.

"The hidden room is in the bedroom?"

"Grrr."

Saho growled and nodded enthusiastically.

Without another word, we followed him.

Inside the bedroom stood a massive antique-style luxury bed with matching furniture.

Saho stared fixedly at the bed and let out another low growl.

The entrance was underneath it.

Thinking exactly the same thing, everyone rushed toward the bed and yanked the mattress off.

Beneath it lay an enormous stone slab resting directly on the frame.

Several men tried lifting it.

It didn't budge an inch.

Watching them struggle, Kang Inhan spoke up.

"There has to be a switch somewhere in this bedroom that opens the hidden room. Stop wasting your strength and find it instead."

I disagreed.

"There's no need to look for a switch."

"...Why not?"

"If there were one, Saho would've found it already."

"Hmm... that's true."

"Most likely, Liu Peiqi used a remote control."

"Did you all hear what the Director said?"

"Yes, Chief Secretary Kang!"

The men immediately began searching the bedroom.

Before long, one of them pulled open a drawer in the dressing table and shouted,

"Director! I think I found the remote!"

"Really? Bring it here!"

Taking it from him, I saw two buttons.

OPEN.

CLOSE.

Just to be safe, I pressed OPEN.

Whoosh—

The bed slowly slid aside.

"We found it!"

Everyone watching the bed move shouted in excitement.

Without hesitation, Saho immediately jumped down into the newly revealed opening.

We instinctively stepped back, just in case something unexpected awaited below.

A moment later, Saho casually jumped back out.

As though waiting for that signal, Lee Hyeonsol and the others climbed down.

Only a couple of minutes later, Lee Hyeonsol burst back up the stairs, visibly excited.

"Director! Just as we expected—the basement is stacked with gold!"

"Excellent. Let's go."

I followed him downstairs—

And couldn't believe my eyes.

For good reason.

Gold bars occupied nearly half the room.

"Wow! That's an enormous pile!"

"No kidding."

"Just how many are there?"

At that moment, Jeong Gwangseok approached after making a quick count.

"Director, by my estimate there are around two hundred bars, each weighing twenty-five kilograms."

"So... five tons?"

"Exactly. What should we do with the gold?"

Originally, we had only planned to take our forty-nine bars.

But there were two hundred lying before us.

The sight of such incredible wealth was enough to stir anyone's greed.

I desperately wanted to take everything.

Unfortunately, reality had other ideas.

The distance from the hidden room to where our vehicles were parked was roughly one hundred meters.

For fourteen people to carry all two hundred bars, each person would need to make about fifteen round trips.

No matter how physically fit we were, hauling twenty-five-kilogram gold bars fifteen times in succession was simply too much.

Nor could we afford to move at a leisurely pace.

After thinking it through, I realized there was only one option.

"We'll stick to the original plan and take only our forty-nine bars."

"Director... is there really no way to change the plan?"

"I'd like to take everything too, but physically it just isn't possible."

At that moment, Kang Inhan suddenly spoke up.

"Director, there's a way to move the gold much faster."

"I'm listening."

"If we drive the SUV and the van directly into the estate's parking area, we'll cut the distance in half to fifty meters, and the cameras won't see us. Then, if we line everyone up every five meters and pass the bars from person to person, we'll save a tremendous amount of energy."

But I couldn't agree with his proposal.

"How long would it take to move one bar?"

"If we hurry, about a minute."

"So moving all two hundred would take three hours and twenty minutes. Dawn will break in two hours."

"Then we'll finish within two hours!"

Passing the bars while constantly moving those five-meter intervals will burn through far too much energy...

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

After quickly organizing my thoughts, I dialed Director Nevers.

Several rings later, his sleepy voice answered.

"[...Director Cha, what happened so early in the morning?]"

"Director Nevers, interested in making some extra money?"

"[What do you mean?]"

"We're currently inside Politburo member Liu Peiqi's estate, and we've found two hundred gold bars. We'd like to take all of them, but we're desperately short on manpower."

"[You want to recruit the FBI agents stationed outside?]"

Director Nevers was as quick-witted as ever.

"Exactly, Director Nevers. Naturally, we'll compensate your agents very generously."

"[Hmm...]"

Nevers hesitated, clearly weighing the proposal.

Whether we could take all the gold depended entirely on his decision, so I waited in silence.

A short while later, he finally spoke.

"[Very well. I accept your proposal, Director Cha.]"

"Haha. Thank you!"

"[I'll contact the agents myself.]"

"I'd be extremely grateful. We're quite busy here, so let's talk later."

Click.

After hanging up, I confidently addressed the men.

"Let's work together and move every last bar within two hours!"

"Yes, sir!" everyone shouted in unison.