Chapter 187: Let’s Move Up the Start Time of the Operation

7:30 p.m., Ukrainian time.

Director Volasky, who headed Ukrainian intelligence, convened an emergency press conference.

Staring intently into the television camera positioned in the center of the hall, he declared that China was actively participating in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

As evidence, an overview of the kamikaze drone manufacturing plant located in Fengcheng was displayed on the screen.

Then, one after another, documents appeared on the screen proving that Russia and China were jointly operating the facility.

Following that, he announced that the plant had been destroyed as a warning to China and Russia.

To substantiate his words, he played footage on the screen showing kamikaze drones destroying the facility.

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan, who had been watching the destruction of the plant on a laptop, was the first to speak in disappointment.

“Ah, I wish I could’ve watched the plant being blown up right there on the spot instead of through a screen... What a shame.”

“Then you might have been roasted to a crisp from that kind of heat.”

“Hahaha! You think so? So, how do you think China will respond to this?”

“They’ll flare up at first, but they’ll most likely let it slide afterward.”

“They won’t even retaliate against Ukraine?”

“China only has two cards in its hand: a direct retaliatory strike or economic sanctions. If they retaliate directly, that would mean China had officially entered the war, so they’re unlikely to do that. And economic sanctions would be pointless because the trade volume between the two countries is negligible.”

“Ah, I see.”

Click!

While Chief Secretary Kang Inhan nodded in understanding, Vice President Fries opened the door and entered the conference room.

“Chief of Staff Cha, we just managed to capture First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon and President Lee Hyeoksan alive.”

“Excellent! Great work.”

“Not at all. We merely enjoyed the meal you so neatly served up for us, Chief of Staff Cha.”

“You flatter me. Carrying out a preplanned operation without any deviations requires skill as well.”

“Hahaha! Thank you for the compliment.”

“And where are those two now?”

“They’re being transported to the location where the stealth submarine is standing by so they can be taken to Korea.”

I had been worried that the FBI might secretly take First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon and President Lee Hyeoksan to the United States.

If that happened, all our work would have gone to waste—we would have fed someone else’s dog.

However, contrary to my concerns, the FBI intended to send them to the Republic of Korea.

Thinking that everything was working out perfectly, I continued my conversation with Vice President Fries.

“Was there anyone on their tail?”

“As a precaution, our agents are following at some distance and covering them.”

“Then there shouldn’t be any problems. What about Deputy Director Pak’s bodyguards?”

“We shot them with tranquilizer darts and left them unconscious right inside the Choson Trading office.”

“Weren’t there employees of the company there?”

“The moment Deputy Director Pak and President Lee bolted, everyone else fled as well.”

At that moment, a thought instantly flashed through my mind.

“Vice President Fries, are there FBI agents stationed near the building where the Choson Trading office is located?”

“Agent Hackerson is stationed there.”

“Call Agent Hackerson right now and hand me the phone.”

“Just a moment.”

Realizing that something unusual had come up, Vice President Fries called Agent Hackerson, exchanged a few words with him, and handed me the phone.

“Agent Hackerson, what’s the situation?”

[Officers from the Public Security Bureau just stormed into the Choson Trading office and took away the unconscious North Korean bodyguards.]

“Did they take anything else with them? Laptops, for example?”

[I didn’t see anything like that.]

“Phew, thank goodness. When First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon and President Lee Hyeoksan fled, did they take any laptops with them?”

[No. They bolted out of there in a complete panic and in a hurry.]

“In that case, either Deputy Director Pak’s or President Lee’s laptop should still be in the Choson Trading conference room, right?”

[Most likely.]

“You understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

[Of course! I’ll retrieve the laptop immediately.]

“Excellent. I’ll hand the phone back to Vice President Fries.”

Vice President Fries spoke with Agent Hackerson for a little longer before ending the call.

Then he looked at me with undisguised respect and said,

“I never imagined you planned this far ahead, Chief of Staff Cha.”

“It just happened to occur to me. By the way, have you already reported to Director Nevers?”

“I’ll report to him right now.”

Vice President Fries immediately called Director Nevers and reported the capture of First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon and President Lee Hyeoksan.

At the same time, he briefly told Director Nevers about the instructions I had given Agent Hackerson.

After a while, he covered the speaker with his hand and turned to me.

“Chief of Staff Cha, the Director wants to speak with you.”

Instead of answering, I simply held out my hand and took the phone from Vice President Fries.

“Director Nevers, I’m listening.”

[Thank you very much for your invaluable assistance in capturing First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon and President Lee Hyeoksan.]

I immediately saw through what Director Nevers was getting at.

He was indirectly implying that the United States government had the rights to the captured individuals.

However, I already had an excellent plan ready to nip that idea in the bud at just the right moment.

“Director Nevers, command of the operation in this area rests with me.”

[...Yes, of course.]

“I think it would be appropriate for our country and the United States to interrogate the two of them jointly.”

[Haha, of course! That’s exactly what I was thinking. Well then, let’s talk about something else.]

Feeling awkward, Director Nevers hurriedly changed the subject.

“I’m listening.”

[At present, the Chinese military has gone on a state of emergency bordering on wartime conditions.]

The Delta operatives and Triad members had sunk eight warships and four submarines right inside the Chinese naval base in Dalian, and on top of that, they had blown up the ammunition depots.

It would have been strange if they had not declared a state of emergency in such a critical situation.

“I understand.”

[The Chinese military has already named our country as the culprit behind the devastation at the naval base.]

“But they haven’t even investigated the cause of the incident yet, have they?”

[The Chinese side claims that no country other than ours would be capable of boldly deploying more than a dozen submarines at the same time like that.]

The design of submarines did not allow them to fire torpedoes from all their tubes simultaneously.

Yet eight ships and one submarine had been attacked at the same time.

That was precisely why they had pointed the finger at the United States.

“Ah, now I understand what you mean.”

[The Chinese Navy intends to intercept our submarines and is currently sweeping the sea with anti-submarine aircraft.]

“I hope the Chinese won’t detect the stealth submarine carrying Delta Force’s Bravo Team?”

[The stealth submarine is heading south along North Korean territorial waters, so the probability of it being detected is zero.]

“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

[Haa...]

Director Nevers’s heavy sigh did not sound carefree in the slightest.

“Director, has some unexpected problem come up?”

[The Chinese Navy built a state-of-the-art nuclear submarine and was conducting sea trials in the waters off Chengdu. Our country deployed one of our submarines to keep a close watch on it...]

“Don’t tell me... the Chinese expanded their search area all the way to Chengdu?”

“You’re right, Chief of Staff Cha.”

“Could they detect it?”

[I thought it would be fine too, but there’s always that damned ‘what if.’]

“Let’s hope everything works out.”

[Exactly. Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang and the senior military leadership have already flown to Dalian.]

“To personally investigate the cause of the disaster?”

[That’s what we believe as well.]

After finishing my conversation with Director Nevers, I hung up.

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan immediately asked with a concerned expression,

“Chief of Staff, your expression suddenly changed. Did something unexpected happen?”

“The Chinese naval base was reduced to ruins, and...”

Bzzzz!

The phone vibrating in my hand cut me off.

Looking at the screen, I saw the name Lee Menghong, the man who had led the operation to destroy the kamikaze drone factory.

If he was calling at a time like this, something truly important must have happened.

After excusing myself to those present, I swiftly swiped to answer.

“Director Lee, I’m listening.”

[Chief of Staff, we just arrived on the outskirts of Dandong.]

When Director Lee Menghong and the Delta Force soldiers had headed to Fengcheng to destroy the factory, the trip had taken three hours and thirty minutes.

For that reason, taking the return journey into account, we had decided to move up the start of the operation to blow up the factory by two hours.

However, they had moved with phenomenal speed and made it back in only two hours and fifty minutes.

“Director Lee, did I hear you correctly?”

[Yes, you heard correctly.]

“I’m curious how you managed to cut a full fifty minutes off the trip compared to the way there?”

[When we were heading to Fengcheng, temporary checkpoints had been set up at every major intersection. Because of that, we had to make detours along bypass roads. But on our way back to Dandong, out of the several dozen checkpoints, barely ten were left.]

“Do you know why they removed the checkpoints?”

[I was curious myself, so I discreetly asked an acquaintance at the Dandong Public Security Bureau. Apparently, everyone was urgently pulled out and sent to Shenyang.]

During the interrogation of Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua, Team Leader Seo Donghun had planted the rumor that Commander Kwak Taesu had fled to Shenyang.

Completely convinced by that disinformation, Pu Zhenghua had ordered the police stationed at the checkpoints to withdraw and redeploy to Shenyang.

Even so, I still had a few doubts.

“Director Lee, weren’t soldiers stationed at the checkpoints as well, not just police officers?”

[After the kamikaze drone factory was blown up, all the soldiers rushed to Fengcheng.]

“Ah, I see.”

[After dropping Delta Force’s Alpha Team off at the designated location, I’ll return to the hotel.]

“So you’re not evacuating to Korea aboard the stealth submarine?”

[As you know, I run the Korea Tour travel agency in Dalian.]

In other words, Director Lee Menghong was subtly reminding me that he was an undercover NIS operative.

“Hmm, I completely overlooked that.”

[It’s all right. I’ll see you later.]

Click.

As soon as I hung up, I turned to Vice President Fries.

“Can we adjust the detonation time for the explosive device at the Golden Trading warehouse?”

“The explosives are set up so that they’ll detonate at the push of a button.”

“Now I understand.”

“Could you bring me up to speed? What happened?”

“You’ll understand everything if you listen carefully to my conversation with Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol.”

With that, I called Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol.

As though he had been waiting for my call, he answered after the very first ring, and I heard his voice.

[Chief of Staff, I’m listening.]

“We need to move up the elimination of the hacker group. Is that possible?”

[That’s no problem, but...]

I knew perfectly well why Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol hesitated.

“The Chinese military is currently under conditions bordering on wartime.”

[Is it because the naval base in Dalian was reduced to ruins?]

“Exactly. The Chinese have deployed anti-submarine aircraft and are sweeping the sea, and there’s a possibility they’ll expand their search area all the way to Dandong.”

[I understand, but the NIS operatives and Delta Force soldiers haven’t returned from Fengcheng yet, have they?]

“Director Lee Menghong just called. They made it safely back to Dandong.”

[That fast?!]

Extreme astonishment rang in Lee Hyeonsol’s voice.

I did not have time to recount my conversation with Lee Menghong in detail.

“We’ll discuss the details later.”

[Anyway, understood. What time are we moving the start of the operation to?]

“I think 1:00 a.m. would be just right.”

[Understood. I have to get moving. There’s a mountain of work to do.]

Click.

After ending the call, I gave Vice President Fries his instructions.

“Blow up the Golden Trading warehouse at 1:00 a.m.”

“Yes, sir! It will be done!”

Vice President Fries’s thunderous response echoed throughout the conference room.