Chapter 302: Shall We Take a Look Inside the Cave?

About thirty minutes later.

NBI operatives arrived at the scene, bringing tear gas, fans, oxy-fuel cutting equipment, and other gear.

I gathered everyone around and gave the final instructions for the operation.

"Team Leader Seo, send Saho into the cave one more time and calculate its exact volume."

"Consider it done."

Leaving Team Leader Seo Donghun to his task, I turned to Team Leader Bruno.

"Once you've calculated the cave's volume, release the required amount of sleeping gas through the ventilation shaft. Most importantly, use powerful fans so the gas fills the entire space as quickly as possible."

"Chairman Cha, may I offer a suggestion?"

"Of course. I'm listening."

"We inspected the main entrance and the secret passage, both of which are blocked by thick steel plates, and noticed some small gaps. Why don't we pump the sleeping gas directly through those?"

I shook my head.

"Carlos's guards were stationed right behind the main entrance. If we try to pump gas through the gaps in the steel doors, they'll immediately realize what's happening."

"Ah, now I understand," Bruno said with a nod.

"Let's assume we've filled the cave with enough gas through the ventilation shaft. After waiting the necessary amount of time, Team Leader Seo will send Saho inside again."

"Are you sure that will be safe?"

The concentration of sleeping gas inside the cave would be sufficient to put a human to sleep. Seo Donghun was worried that Saho would simply fall asleep once he entered.

"Saho can hold his breath for almost two minutes."

"So his only job is to check whether Carlos's men have fallen asleep?"

I nodded.

"Once we've confirmed that Carlos's gang has been neutralized, cut through the steel entrance doors with the oxy-fuel torches."

"Understood."

"When we storm the cave, the Triad will capture Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and his close associates alive, while the NBI will take Carlos and his bodyguards."

At that moment, Director Nevers interrupted with a displeased expression.

"Chairman Cha, what about us? Are the CIA and NIS operatives supposed to sit around twiddling our thumbs?"

"President Gonzalez will certainly want to claim the destruction of Abu Sayyaf as his personal achievement."

"Most likely."

"And if the Filipinos learn that the FBI, CIA, and NIS participated in taking down Abu Sayyaf, President Gonzalez's triumph will lose some of its luster."

However, NIS Director Om Giyeon had a different opinion on the matter.

"Chairman Cha, the NIS once had a motto: 'We work in the shadows, striving toward the light.' You understand what that means, don't you?"

How could I not understand?

It meant they wouldn't go around announcing Carlos's capture to the whole world.

"Of course I understand."

"In that case, may we participate in capturing Carlos's gang alongside the NBI and the Triad?"

***

Inside the cave, Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and Carlos sat at a table, drinking.

"Why would the government forces suddenly decide to bomb our base tonight of all nights?"

"What are you getting at?" Carlos asked, setting his glass down on the table with a puzzled expression.

"The government's primary objective is to eliminate you, Mr. Carlos. That means they must have been keeping you under surveillance before launching the attack."

"That's quite possible."

"But you went to Iligan to collect the North Korean missiles and launchers. Are you saying the government forces didn't know about that?"

"Of course they knew."

"And yet they scrambled their aircraft and attacked the base."

"Don't tell me..."

Carlos stopped mid-sentence, as though something had suddenly occurred to him.

Chen Zhihui knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I suspect Alberto, Abu Sayyaf's second-in-command."

Carlos himself had entertained similar suspicions.

Alberto had frequently expressed dissatisfaction, calling his methods too radical.

But Carlos didn't want to believe he had betrayed him.

Why would Alberto destroy the entirety of Abu Sayyaf just to seize power?

Carlos asked Chen Zhihui for his opinion.

"I think it's possible the government forces never bombed the base at all."

"But we saw the flames rising over there!"

"We're fifty kilometers away from the base, so we can't know for certain. Even if there was an airstrike, the government pilots' skills leave much to be desired. There would certainly have been survivors. Yet only one person reported the bombing."

"Wait a minute..."

Carlos took out his phone to verify Chen Zhihui's words, but there was no signal inside the cave.

"Goddamn it all!!"

Cursing viciously, Carlos hurled his phone against the stone wall.

With a dull, crushing impact, the device shattered into tiny fragments.

Unable to control his mounting rage, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and drained it straight from the neck.

Once the bottle was empty, he threw it against the wall as well. It shattered into pieces, just like his phone.

Chen Zhihui looked sympathetically at his panicking ally.

"Mr. Carlos, now more than ever, we need to keep our heads."

"Phew... All right. So what do we do now?"

"Government forces have almost certainly set up an ambush outside."

"Most likely."

"Fortunately, I doubt they know about the secret exit."

"You're suggesting we escape through the secret passage, but there are impenetrable jungles outside."

Chen Zhihui suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to slap Carlos across the face.

It was entirely Carlos's fault that they had ended up in this mousetrap, and yet he still had the nerve to speak so carelessly.

How could anyone not lose their temper?

"Then are you suggesting we all fucking die in here?!"

"...I'm sorry," Carlos muttered, cowed by Chen Zhihui's stern tone.

"We'll have a signal once we're outside the cave, so getting out of the jungle won't be difficult."

"Let's say we make it out of the jungle. What do we do next?"

"We'll sneak into Iligan and join the North Korean submarines. We can use them to escape to China and save our lives."

"Thank you, Vice Chairman Chen."

Chen Zhihui knew that Carlos had amassed an enormous fortune through drug trafficking.

Therefore, he intended to seize all of Carlos's wealth at the first opportunity.

Carlos, of course, had no idea what his true intentions were.

"Thank me once we've safely reached my country."

"Understood."

"It's just a shame we won't be able to take all two hundred and fifty million dollars stacked in the corner."

Chen Zhihui sighed regretfully and raised his glass to his lips.

After setting the empty glass on the table, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

His life was on the line, yet for some reason, an incredible, uncontrollable drowsiness was washing over him...

While he struggled to figure out what was happening, Carlos, who was sitting opposite him, began nodding off.

"Mr. Carlos, are you tired?.."

Before he could finish speaking, Carlos toppled onto the wooden platform like a felled log.

A second later, Chen Zhihui collapsed beside him with a dull thud.

***

"Chairman Cha, they should be asleep by now, shouldn't they?" Vice Chairman Wei Chen asked me impatiently.

The FBI operatives had released the sleeping gas through the ventilation shaft an hour ago.

Considering its devastating effectiveness, Carlos's gang was almost certainly fast asleep by now.

Nevertheless, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Team Leader Seo is checking the situation with the industrial endoscope. Since he hasn't contacted us yet, it's possible they haven't all passed out."

Bzzzz—

At that very moment, the phone in Chief Secretary Kang Inhan's hand began to vibrate.

He quickly glanced at the screen and reported that Seo Donghun was calling.

Noticing the questioning looks from everyone present, I told him to put the call on speakerphone.

Kang Inhan switched modes and answered.

"Team Leader Seo, speak in English."

"Understood. You're on speakerphone. I'll report the situation."

"We're listening."

"We've confirmed through the endoscope that Carlos's men have fallen asleep. To be absolutely certain, we're sending Saho into the cave."

"Go ahead."

Click.

Kang Inhan gave the brief instruction and ended the call.

"We'll know for certain whether those bastards are asleep in a minute or two."

However, as we waited, I began to have a bad feeling.

Saho was incredibly quick. A minute should have been more than enough for him to check the cave.

But two minutes passed, then three, and Kang Inhan's phone remained silent.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one with a bad feeling. NIS Director Om Giyeon turned to me.

"Chairman Cha, could something have happened to Saho?"

"Saho is perfectly capable of taking care of himself."

Bzzzz—

At that very moment, Kang Inhan's phone vibrated again.

As though he had been waiting for precisely this moment, he immediately pressed the answer button.

"Team Leader Seo, what's happening?"

"Saho just returned."

"Phew..."

Kang Inhan let out a sigh of relief and continued.

"Why did he take so long?"

"It seems there wasn't enough sleeping gas, and the guards at the secret exit hadn't completely fallen asleep."

"Are you saying he was delayed because he was knocking them out?"

"That's exactly right, Chief Kang."

"Tell him he did an excellent job and let him go hunting."

"He's already run off to hunt."

"Hahaha! I should have known! All right, keep in touch."

Click.

The moment Kang Inhan hung up, Director Santiago spoke.

"Team Leader Daniel, cut through the steel doors with the oxy-fuel torch."

But something strange was happening.

I had expected removing the steel plate to take about ten minutes.

However, the NBI operatives worked for half an hour and managed to make only a hole smaller than a fist.

I asked Team Leader Daniel why the work was progressing so slowly.

"The steel plate is made of a special high-strength alloy, and it's thirty centimeters thick."

"I see... How long will it take to make an opening large enough for a person to get through?"

"At this rate, about three hours."

While I considered how to solve the problem, Director Griffin joined the conversation.

"Chairman Cha, why don't we blow the door open with Composition H6?"

"That seems like the most reasonable option."

Just then, Seo Donghun spoke up.

"Chairman Cha, I can descend through the ventilation shaft directly into the cave and open the door from the inside."

"The shaft would have to be wide enough for that."

"It's eighty to eighty-five centimeters in diameter. I can fit through easily."

After receiving my permission, Team Leader Seo Donghun took a long rope and headed toward the top of the mountain.

We remained at the entrance and waited.

Some time later, there was a loud click!

Seo Donghun came running outside, having thrown open the heavy steel door.

Turning toward the fresh breeze, he greedily drew a deep breath.

"Phew-ahhh~"

I walked over to him and praised him.

"Team Leader Seo, excellent work."

"Someone had to do it."

"Hahaha, that's true. Well then, shall we take a look inside the cave?"