Chapter 180: Who the Hell Is This Gangster?

Bzzzzzt—

Just as I was about to head to Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s room, the phone in my pants pocket vibrated.

I quickly pulled it out and checked the screen. Vice Chairman Wei Chen was calling.

I needed to contact him anyway, so thinking the timing was perfect, I sat back down on the sofa.

“Vice Chairman Wei, I’m listening.”

[My people told me you’re at the Crown Hotel.]

“That’s right. I came here to personally observe the operation to capture and interrogate Liu Peiqi.”

[I see. And when are you planning to take him?]

“The capture was successfully completed just moments ago.”

[What did you say?!]

The operation to capture Liu Peiqi had originally been scheduled to begin right after his room-service order was delivered.

Since they had captured him only twenty minutes after the room-service call, Vice Chairman Wei Chen was astonished.

“That’s just how it worked out.”

[I’m extremely curious. Why the rush?]

Vice Chairman Wei Chen’s voice was filled with undisguised curiosity.

“Once things settle down, Liu Peiqi is guaranteed to bring in the police to investigate.”

[Well, that makes sense.]

“The first thing the police will do is detain and question the Triad member who delivered the order to his room. And we can’t rule out the possibility that he’ll spill the whole truth under interrogation.”

[Hmm, you have a point. So who captured him?]

“Team Leader Seo Donghun and Saho.”

I briefly described the operation to capture Liu Peiqi to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

“...So the capture went flawlessly.”

[Oh, I see.]

“I plan to record Liu Peiqi’s entire interrogation on video.”

[Do you think that bastard will answer willingly?]

“The stronger a person’s lust for power and money, the more terrified he is of death.”

[I see what you mean. Will I be able to watch the recording too?]

“As soon as we’re finished, I’ll send it to you.”

[Haha. I’ll be waiting.]

After exchanging a few more words with Vice Chairman Wei Chen, I ended the call.

“Well then, shall we go meet Mr. Liu?”

The moment I stepped into Liu Peiqi’s suite, Saho nimbly leaped into my arms.

I stroked his head in praise and looked around.

A man in his fifties was lying on the floor, while Liu Peiqi himself was sprawled unconscious on the sofa.

Naturally, both of them had their hands and feet bound with rope.

A camera had already been set up opposite them.

For some reason, however, Team Leader Seo Donghun and the Korea Investment employees were wearing gloves.

I asked Seo Donghun why.

“We decided to put on gloves so we wouldn’t accidentally leave fingerprints anywhere in the room.”

“Good thinking.”

“Thank you for the compliment. We checked the identification of the man in his fifties lying on the floor. He’s Pu Zhenghua, head of Dandong’s Public Security Bureau.”

Apparently, Liu Peiqi had been meeting with Police Chief Pu Zhenghua to receive a report on Commander Kwak Taesu’s escape from North Korea.

“I see. How drunk are they?”

“They finished an entire bottle of Wuliangye, so they’re pretty drunk.”

“Does that mean we can’t interrogate them right now?”

“Not at all. It’s perfectly possible.”

“How?”

“There’s a saying: ‘What a drunk man thinks, a sober man says.’”

“Haha. Now I understand.”

“So that you can observe the interrogation, I connected the camera feed to the television in the bedroom.”

To ensure absolute secrecy, Team Leader Seo Donghun intended to interrogate Liu Peiqi and Pu Zhenghua in Chinese.

That meant there was no need for me to be in the same room with them.

Still, it felt awkward to reject Seo Donghun’s efforts, so I decided to watch the interrogation through the screen.

“All right. Let’s get started.”

***

Tap, tap!

Liu Peiqi felt someone shaking him awake.

With great difficulty, he opened his eyes and saw a masked man standing over him.

“W-who are you?”

His eyes darted wildly as he forced out the question in a trembling voice.

Seo Donghun didn’t answer.

Instead, he walked over to Pu Zhenghua, who was lying on the floor, and kicked him full force in the side as though taking a penalty kick.

“Ghaaa!”

Police Chief Pu Zhenghua howled in pain and curled up like a snail.

Seo Donghun gave a barely perceptible nod, and the masked Korea Investment employees grabbed Liu Peiqi and sat him upright on the sofa.

Then they hauled the writhing Pu Zhenghua to his feet and seated him beside Liu Peiqi.

Seo Donghun pulled a silenced pistol from the inside pocket of his jacket, gripped it in his right hand, and sat down on the sofa opposite them.

The Korea Investment employees stood at attention behind him.

Pointing the pistol at the captives, he spoke in fluent Chinese.

“Dying to know who I am?”

“......”

Pfft!

Without warning, Seo Donghun shot Pu Zhenghua in the right thigh.

“Ghaaaagh!”

Screaming in pain, the police chief clutched his wounded thigh with his bound hands.

“It only grazed you. Stop acting like a martyr.”

“......”

“If you decide to keep your mouths shut or spout bullshit when I ask you a question, we’ll quickly find out which is tougher—your bodies or my bullets. If you don’t believe me, feel free to test it.”

“...I’ll answer everything honestly.”

“I-I’ll tell the truth too!”

Neither of them wanted to die, so Pu Zhenghua and Liu Peiqi immediately started talking.

“I’ll take your word for it. So when are you going to answer my previous question?”

“Of course we’re curious.”

“To be honest, I don’t particularly care about either of you. I’m just a mercenary.”

“A mercenary?.. Can you tell us who hired you?”

“We haven’t even started playing yet, and you’re already demanding that I show my cards?”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Since you’re so curious, I’ll give you a little hint. Today is one hell of an unlucky day for you.”

At that moment, the image of Vice Chairman Tang Guochang flashed through Liu Peiqi’s mind.

That bastard was certainly capable of sending mercenaries to eliminate him.

After all, he was his greatest rival.

Liu Peiqi decided to test his theory.

“Could it be... Vice Chairman Tang Guochang sent you to eliminate me?”

“Why would he?”

“If it wasn’t him, then who the hell was it?!”

“Think carefully. You’ll figure it out yourself.”

Seo Donghun answered indifferently, then turned to Pu Zhenghua.

“Why the hell is Dandong on high alert?”

“Well... a very high-ranking official fled from North Korea to Dandong.”

“High-ranking? Who exactly?”

“Guard Command Commander Kwak Taesu, who was responsible for the personal security of Kim Jonghun and his family.”

“Well, damn! That’s one hell of a big fish that got away. So where is he now? Are you on his trail?”

Team Leader Seo Donghun knew perfectly well that Commander Kwak Taesu had already fled to the South.

Nevertheless, he asked Pu Zhenghua these pointless questions purely as a precaution.

Naturally, Pu Zhenghua had no idea what his true motive was.

“We’re trying, but we have no idea where he’s hiding.”

“Tell me, has our police force always been this incompetent?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Bang!

Seo Donghun slammed his fist down on the table and barked in an icy voice,

“Your ‘sorry’ isn’t good enough!”

“I-I’ll do everything I can to catch him as quickly as possible!”

Terrified out of his mind, Pu Zhenghua answered in a trembling voice.

In truth, Seo Donghun had no reason to overact this much.

However, he was deliberately putting on this performance to firmly plant one idea in Liu Peiqi and the others’ minds: the man in front of them was a fellow Chinese citizen.

“You can’t even find his shadow, can you?”

“...I have no excuse.”

“Are you even sure he’s still in the city?”

“All routes out of the city have been blocked. He couldn’t have gotten outside Dandong.”

“‘Couldn’t have’? Ha, more assumptions.”

Seo Donghun let out an exaggerated sigh and continued.

“It makes me sick to hear that the city police are headed by someone this useless.”

“...I don’t quite understand what you’re getting at.”

“Bodyguards at that level are supposed to prepare escape routes in advance in case of an emergency. And this fugitive was the head of Kim Jonghun’s own security detail! Do you really think a professional like that would bolt across the border without a carefully prepared plan?”

“...You’re right.”

“He’s probably been outside Dandong for a long time already.”

“But... where could he have gone?”

“Shenyang is full of foreign consulates.”

Listening to the exchange, Liu Peiqi frowned in confusion.

This gangster possessed far too much knowledge about military affairs and the finer points of security work.

On top of that, his words carried an exaggerated sense of patriotism.

‘Could he be... military? And if so, how is he connected to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang...?’

While Liu Peiqi’s thoughts raced furiously, the conversation between Seo Donghun and Pu Zhenghua continued.

“Put every foreign consulate in Shenyang under total surveillance.”

“But to do that, I need to get out of here!”

“Like I said, you were simply unlucky enough to get caught up in this.”

“You mean... you’ll let me go?”

“If you’re tired of living, I can kill you instead.”

“N-no! Please, spare me!”

Desperate not to die, Pu Zhenghua begged in a trembling voice.

“There’s one condition if you want to stay alive.”

“Name it! I’ll do anything!”

“You’ll forget everything you saw and heard here for the rest of your life.”

“I swear I won’t tell anyone a word!”

Ignoring Pu Zhenghua’s fervent assurances, Seo Donghun turned to Liu Peiqi.

“You want to live too?”

“Of course!”

“I’m very sorry, but I can’t let you go.”

“W-why?!”

Sensing something ominous, Liu Peiqi asked in a sinking voice.

In reality, Seo Donghun had no intention of killing him.

But he had started this conversation with a very specific purpose in mind.

“The client gave me explicit instructions. You have to be eliminated.”

“But I haven’t done anything to make anyone hate me that much!”

“Oh, really? Can you put your hand over your heart and swear to that? If it’s true, maybe I’ll spare you.”

“......”

Liu Peiqi bit his tongue, knowing he had plenty of sins to answer for.

“You’re a dead man anyway, so I might as well tell you the client’s name. The fugitive Go Yeongjun of K&J Bio, who fled to the Philippines...”

“That bastard?!”

Liu Peiqi flew into a rage and roared, cutting Seo Donghun off.

And immediately, an unexpected mishap occurred.

Without warning, Seo Donghun raised his pistol and shot Liu Peiqi in the right side.

“Ghk!”

Liu Peiqi howled in pain, clutching his left side with both hands.

“Who gave you permission to interrupt me?”

“I-I’m sorry...”

“This time, the bullet only grazed you. Next time, I’ll put one straight through your heart. Or we can have a contest to see which is tougher—lead or your forehead.”

“Please... spare me!”

Terrified out of his mind, Liu Peiqi dropped to his knees on the floor.

Seo Donghun gave him an icy stare and continued.

“Why do you think Director Go put a hit on you?”

“I think he decided to strike first before I could get to him.”

“Quick on the uptake. Director Go has a message for you. Want to hear it?”

“Tell me! Hurry!”

“Director Go asked me to tell you that he didn’t steal your valuables.”

“Don’t lie! He stole the gold from my mansion with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang’s help!”

“Do you have proof?”

“...No,” Liu Peiqi forced out barely above a whisper.

It was time to really rub salt into the wound.

“Director Go merely passed along information about where you kept your gold bars to someone else.”

Go Yeongjun really had mentioned to Cha Jiham that there might be gold stored in Liu Peiqi’s mansion.

So Seo Donghun’s words weren’t a complete lie.

“Do you know exactly who he leaked that information to?!”

“You’ve already figured it out yourself.”

“Tang Guochang!”

In a fit of rage, Liu Peiqi sprang up from the floor and screamed wildly.