Chapter 189: Of Course, YES

“Team Leader, it’s time to wake up.”

Feeling someone trying to wake me, I struggled to open my eyes and saw Chief Secretary Kang Inhan.

Grabbing the phone lying beside the head of the bed, I checked the time. It was only six in the morning.

Sitting up in bed, I cleared my hoarse throat with a cough and asked him,

“What happened this early in the morning?”

“Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol called me about half an hour ago, and I thought you needed to know the details.”

“Is that so? Tell me quickly.”

“They say they managed to recover a laptop used by the hackers from Politburo member Liu Peiqi’s villa.”

“That’s right! There was a laptop there!”

However, contrary to my expectations, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan did not have the most encouraging news.

“They couldn’t check the contents of the laptop because it’s password-protected.”

“Contact Director Lee Menghong and tell him to prepare the car.”

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan instantly understood my intentions.

He realized that I intended to head straight to Liu Peiqi’s villa.

But despite figuring out my plan, he could not carry out my order.

“Team Leader, perhaps we shouldn’t rush to leave just yet?”

“Is there a reason?”

“A curfew has been imposed in central Dandong because of the massive explosion at the Golden Trading warehouse. They say it’ll be lifted at seven in the morning, so please wait about an hour.”

“Well, then there’s nothing we can do. Do we know anything about the extent of the damage?”

“Judging from observations at a distance, they still haven’t managed to put out the fire at Golden Trading.”

The Golden Trading warehouse covered a little over a thousand square meters, and the tremendous explosion had occurred at one in the morning.

Five hours had already passed since the fire started, yet they still had not extinguished it.

Burning with curiosity, I asked how that could have happened.

“We don’t have detailed information, so I can’t tell you anything specific.”

“Can’t we find anything online?”

“It seems the Chinese authorities are heavily censoring the press. There isn’t a single article about a major fire in Dandong.”

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

“I suppose there aren’t any articles online about the naval base in Dalian being reduced to ruins either?”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“Did anything else happen while I was asleep that I should know about?”

“It seems the residents didn’t report the explosion at Liu Peiqi’s villa to the police.”

In other words, law enforcement had never arrived at Liu Peiqi’s villa.

“I see. What else?”

“Vice Chairman Wei Chen called. He says downtown Dalian is swarming with soldiers.”

“It must be because of the devastated naval base?”

“That’s my assumption as well. On top of that, the PLA has declared the Yellow Sea a military operations zone.”

My heart grew heavy.

After all, I was the one who had created the situation that forced the Chinese military to take such measures.

“Why do I get the feeling this situation is growing bigger and bigger...?”

“...Exactly. On top of that, in response to the destruction of the kamikaze drone manufacturing plant, the Chinese government has officially announced its intention to retaliate harshly against Ukraine.”

“And? How did the authorities in Kyiv respond?”

“So far, there’s been no response from them.”

“Well, I understand the situation. We still have enough time, so let’s have breakfast first and then head out.”

***

“Team Leader Cha, welcome.”

I had a bad feeling.

That was because Director Lee Menghong, who had come to greet me, looked gloomier than a storm cloud.

I couldn’t pretend nothing was wrong.

“Director Lee, you look terribly exhausted. Did something happen?”

“I stayed up all night tracking yesterday’s developments.”

“I’m sorry for dragging you out this early without knowing that.”

“Not at all. There’s no need to apologize. The car is waiting outside. Please follow me.”

Following Director Lee Menghong, we went outside, where a luxury car was waiting with its engine running.

He promptly opened the door so Chief Secretary Kang and I could get in.

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan climbed in first, while I took the seat of honor in the back.

As always, Director Lee Menghong took the front passenger seat.

I gave an instruction to NIS Agent Choi Seonghun, who was behind the wheel.

“Agent Choi, take us to Liu Peiqi’s villa.”

“Yes, understood.”

After his brief reply, Agent Choi Seonghun smoothly pulled the car away.

At that moment, Director Lee Menghong turned his head around and asked curiously,

“Team Leader Cha, may I ask why we’re heading to Liu Peiqi’s villa?”

“Director Lee, I’ll answer that,” Chief Secretary Kang Inhan cut in before I could speak.

“I’m listening.”

“A laptop used by the hackers was discovered at Liu Peiqi’s villa, but it turned out to be useless.”

“It’s password-protected, right?”

“Exactly. And the Team Leader is going there to find that password.”

“But how?”

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan looked at me.

Immediately understanding what he meant, I answered Director Lee Menghong’s question.

“The leader of that hacker group is Major General Lee Cheolseung. To keep the hackers under control, there’s a high probability that he knew the password to their device.”

“That makes perfect sense.”

“And unless he’s a genius with a perfect memory, he must have written it down somewhere.”

“I understand your reasoning, but what if he stored the password on his own laptop?”

North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau was an organization comparable to our National Intelligence Service.

NIS agents always prepared a Plan B in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Considering that, Major General Lee Cheolseung might likewise have prepared a backup by recording the password somewhere else in case something happened to his equipment.

Still, my assumptions could be wrong, so it was better not to say too much.

“Of course, that’s possible, but it’s worth trying. We have nothing to lose.”

“Understood.”

“By the way, do you know why they still haven’t managed to put out the fire at the Golden Trading warehouses?”

“The area where those warehouses are located is very close to Sinuiju in North Korea. Because of that, the area is packed with warehouses belonging to smugglers who trade with the North. The fire from the Golden Trading warehouse has now spread to the neighboring buildings.”

“So the damage is enormous?”

“As of now, twenty warehouses have already burned to the ground, and the scale of the disaster is continuing to grow.”

That raised a question for me.

“Director Lee, who has to compensate the owners of the other warehouses for their losses?”

“If they were insured, the insurance companies will pay them. Then the insurers will file claims against Golden Trading, whose negligence caused the fire.”

“Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui, who owns Golden Trading, is going to have a very bad time.”

Bzzzz!

At that moment, the phone in my pants pocket began vibrating.

Taking it out, I saw an unfamiliar ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) number on the screen.

While I was wondering whether I should send it straight to spam, the vibration stopped.

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan, sitting beside me, asked,

“Team Leader, who was calling from such a strange number?”

“Ah, it’s just a number I don’t have saved in my contacts. By the way, which country uses the code ‘380’?”

“‘380’ is Ukraine’s country code.”

Director Lee Menghong answered before Chief Secretary Kang could.

“I see...”

“Perhaps you should call back, just in case?”

Bzzzz!

The phone in my hand began vibrating again.

The same number appeared on the screen.

That could only mean one thing: whoever was calling knew exactly who they were calling.

This time, I didn’t hesitate and pressed the answer button.

“Cha Jiham speaking.”

[Hello, Team Leader Cha Jiham. I’m Vlad Volasky, Director of Ukrainian Military Intelligence.]

“Are you sure you haven’t called the wrong number?”

[CIA Director Eddie Griffin gave me your contact information.]

In case this was some sort of provocation, I needed to verify it.

“Would you mind if I contacted Director Griffin and confirmed that?”

[Of course. Verify it as much as you like.]

“Please wait a moment.”

Covering the speaker with my hand, I turned to Chief Secretary Kang.

“Contact Director Griffin and ask whether he gave my number to Volasky, the Director of Ukrainian Military Intelligence.”

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan called Griffin, exchanged a few brief words with him, and ended the call.

“Team Leader, Director Griffin confirmed that he personally gave him your number.”

Nodding, I resumed my conversation with Volasky.

“Mr. Volasky, I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

[I completely understand. Don’t worry about it. I called to express my personal gratitude.]

By involving the NIS and Delta Force, I had completely destroyed the kamikaze drone manufacturing plant jointly operated by China and Russia.

At the same time, all the credit for the successful operation had been handed entirely to Ukrainian Military Intelligence.

So I had every right to accept the gratitude of its director.

Proper etiquette called for modesty, but I had plans of my own, so I decided to change my tone.

“Mr. Volasky, I value actions far more than words.”

[Actions... Tell me directly. What do you want from me?]

I could clearly hear irritation creeping into his voice.

It was understandable. Who would enjoy being openly asked for compensation during their very first conversation?

Even so, I wasn’t worried in the slightest because I knew exactly which strings to pull.

“I want South Korean companies to play an active role in your country’s postwar reconstruction projects.”

[Ah, is that all? That’s not a difficult request at all.]

It took no more than a couple of seconds for Volasky’s displeasure to disappear.

“Thank you for agreeing to help.”

[There’s no need to thank me. Now, let me get to the main reason I called.]

‘There’s something else?’

“I’m listening.”

[China’s Minister of State Security, Peng Yuxiang, has announced that they’re prepared to take harsh retaliatory measures over our intelligence service’s destruction of the kamikaze drone factory. How should we respond to this threat?]

“I believe the best option is simply to ignore it.”

[Do you seriously think we can do that?]

“If China launches a direct strike against Ukraine, it would mean directly entering the war. So Beijing will limit itself to increasing its covert weapons supplies to Russia. Of course, as you already know, Beijing is secretly supplying Moscow with weapons even now.”

[But if they start doing it openly and without restrictions, our country will be placed in an extremely difficult position!]

I needed to calm the anxious Volasky.

“Something happened in China last night that was on a vastly greater scale than the explosion at the drone factory.”

[Is that so? What exactly happened?]

“The naval base in Dalian was attacked by unknown forces.”

[What?! Is that true?!]

Volasky shouted so loudly into the phone that my ears rang.

“Absolutely true. The unidentified forces disabled eight warships and four submarines and completely destroyed the ammunition depots.”

[Wow... Incredible!]

“I won’t deny that. Now listen carefully to how you can force Beijing to abandon the idea of openly supplying weapons to Russia.”

[I’m listening!]

“Warn them that if they decide to openly support Russia, a catastrophic end awaits them. And hint that otherwise, you’ll make all the details of the incident at the Dalian naval base public.”

[I’d gladly do that, but I don’t have any facts or details about what happened!]

“Request all the information from Director Griffin.”

[Wait, don’t tell me...]

I knew perfectly well why Volasky had stopped mid-sentence.

He had concluded that the United States was behind the attack on the Chinese base.

In reality, the operation had been carried out by Delta Force soldiers together with the Triad under my personal orders.

Naturally, the American leadership would prefer to keep quiet about its cooperation with a criminal syndicate.

“Your assumption is absolutely correct, Mr. Volasky.”

[Hmm... That’s what I thought.]

“As for releasing the information to the media, coordinate that directly with Director Griffin.”

[Of course. Tell me... if necessary, could we destroy another Chinese base again?]

Considering how deeply the Triad’s people had taken root within the Chinese military, carrying out something like that would not be difficult at all.

“Of course, YES.”