Chapter 49: There Won’t Be Any Problems Now, Right?

When the appointed time arrived, the emergency meeting regarding the elimination of the Korean branch of the Chinese Triad began.

Chairman Park Yeongil, seated at the head of the table, slowly swept his gaze across the tense faces of everyone present before speaking in a stern, authoritative voice.

“If anything discussed in this room leaks outside these walls, the consequences will be catastrophic. If I discover that the details of this operation have been exposed, I will personally find the person responsible and punish them to the fullest extent. Remember my words.”

“Yes, sir! Understood!”

Everyone present at the meeting, myself included, responded in a loud, unified chorus.

Chairman Park Yeongil nodded in satisfaction before continuing.

“I've decided that Department Head Cha will lead this meeting concerning the elimination of the Triad. I trust no one needs an explanation as to why.”

“Of course not, Chairman.”

“Department Head Cha, begin.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Giving a short, crisp nod in response, I politely bowed to everyone gathered before taking the floor.

“Last night, we successfully captured alive the man who is effectively the second-in-command of the Triad's Korean branch.”

I briefly explained the process of capturing Li Jiahan and summarized the information we had extracted from him during the interrogation. Naturally, I omitted every confidential detail that was not meant for anyone else's ears.

“...Saho also successfully recorded the interior layout of their hideout.”

“So Saho is the real hero here.”

“I won't deny it. After carefully reviewing the footage Saho brought back, I drafted a rough operational plan. Naturally, the detailed plan will have to be developed by all of you professionals. If you have any questions during my briefing, don't hesitate to ask.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Department Head, before you begin, I have one question. Are all of the Triad members currently inside the hideout?” asked Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok.

“At the moment, five of them have gone into the city.”

“If they haven't returned before the operation begins, deploy Special Operations personnel to capture them alive.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

After Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok's crisp reply, I continued.

“How many of our people will be needed to completely wipe out those bastards?”

“At least twice their number.”

Once Saho cut the power to the Triad's hideout, they would quickly realize the circuit breakers had tripped. Within a couple of minutes, electricity would be restored and the surveillance cameras mounted on the fence would begin operating again. That meant one hundred Special Operations officers would have only those few minutes to scale the fence and enter the compound.

There was, however, one critical problem.

The fence was a full three meters high.

“Team Leader Jeong, how long would it take one person to get over a fence that high?”

“Since we'd have to use grappling hooks and climbing ropes, I'd estimate about thirty seconds per person.”

“If the power outage lasts five minutes, that means only ten people can get over?”

“If we assault from multiple locations simultaneously, all one hundred officers can enter the compound within five minutes.”

“What if the blackout only lasts two or three minutes?”

“...”

Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok had no answer.

At that moment, Team Leader Seo Donghun, who apparently had his own doubts, raised his hand sharply to speak.

“Department Head Cha, someone has to infiltrate the hideout before the operation begins in order to cut the power. The place is covered with surveillance cameras. How would anyone get in unnoticed?”

“Before the assault begins, we'll send Saho into their compound.”

“You mean Saho will cut the power himself? Is that even possible?”

The atmosphere immediately became tense.

Apparently offended by Team Leader Seo Donghun's words, Saho bared his sharp fangs and let out a threatening growl.

Normally, I would have smacked him on the back of the head for behaving like that, but tonight he would be carrying out the most important mission of the operation.

I gently stroked Saho's head to calm him before answering Seo Donghun's question.

“Last night, Saho infiltrated the Triad's hideout twice and returned without a single problem. Team Leader Jeong has already shown him what the electrical panel and circuit breakers look like. As a matter of fact, Saho even took a picture of the panel inside their base.”

“So you're saying Saho can flip the breaker himself?”

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

Quickly organizing it in my head, I continued speaking with Team Leader Seo Donghun.

“I've personally seen Saho open doors many times by pressing keypad buttons with his paw.”

“In that case, pushing down an ordinary circuit breaker lever should be child's play for him.”

“I think so too, Team Leader Seo. So we'll make a slight adjustment to our infiltration plan. Please listen carefully.”

“Yes, sir!” everyone at the meeting answered loudly.

“Saho will enter the compound, ignore the two guard dogs, and make his way to the main building. There, he'll press the intercom button mounted on the wall and open the main gate. When the gang members notice the gate standing open, they'll naturally come outside to see what's going on.”

“Yes, that's exactly what they'll do.”

“And at that very moment, Saho will cut the power. Saho, you can do it, can't you?”

Saho gave a quiet rumble of agreement and nodded his head.

“The Special Operations officers must immediately neutralize everyone who comes out to close the gate and enter the compound. How long will that take?”

“One minute is more than enough.”

“Excellent. While the Special Operations officers deal with the guard dogs, Saho will open the front door of the main building. Once inside, your primary objective will be capturing the leaders located on the first, second, and third floors.”

“You're saying we should ignore everyone on the first and second basement levels for the time being?”

“What do you think will happen to the ordinary gang members once their leadership has been captured?”

“Their morale will collapse...” Jeong Gwangseok replied slowly as he grasped my intention.

“The Special Operations officers only need to block the exits so no one from the basement levels can come upstairs.”

“Now I understand your plan.”

“If anyone has further questions regarding the proposed operation, ask them now.”

As though waiting for the perfect opportunity, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan finally spoke.

“It seems to me that an excessive number of Special Operations officers are being assigned to eliminate these gang members. Department Head, what are your thoughts on that?”

In reality, the Special Operations unit only needed to focus on capturing the five key leaders headed by Chen Shao while keeping the ordinary members trapped in the basement. I had secretly thought that twenty officers would be more than enough myself, but after seeing the determined expressions on the Special Operations officers' faces, I changed my mind.

“We'll still deploy all one hundred officers as originally planned, but we'll divide them into two waves. The first twenty will conduct the assault, while the remaining eighty will serve as the second wave.”

“Is there really any point in sending another eighty officers afterward?”

“Those bastards have been supplying methamphetamine to local gangs.”

Only then did Chief Secretary Kang Inhan finally understand Cha Jiham's true intention.

The remaining officers would sweep through the Triad's hideout in search of the hidden drugs Chen Shao had stashed away.

“Ah... now I understand what you're getting at.”

“The first officer to locate the methamphetamine stash will receive a substantial cash bonus from me.”

“Ooooh!”

As always, money worked its magic.

The Special Operations officers erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

Once the excitement had died down, I added in a firm voice,

“If even one Special Operations officer is injured or killed during the elimination of the Triad, I will hold those responsible strictly accountable.”

The spacious conference room fell into complete silence.

I'd expected exactly this reaction, so I wasn't bothered in the slightest.

“All of you are the best of the best—the elite chosen for this mission. If you suffer casualties fighting a bunch of worthless trash, wouldn't that simply prove you weren't worth much to begin with?”

“Ah... We misunderstood what you meant.”

“The operational plan must be flawless if none of you are to get hurt. That means you must study the layout of their hideout thoroughly.”

“Of course. We will.”

“I'll determine the exact time the operation begins after coordinating with the police.”

“So the police are participating in the assault as well?”

“The police will simultaneously carry out a complete crackdown on the local gangs that purchased methamphetamine from the Triad.”

“I see. Understood.”

I patiently answered every question that came from every direction.

Finally, once the questions had stopped, I concluded the meeting.

“Since there are no further questions, this emergency meeting is adjourned. And let me repeat what I've already said several times—there must be absolutely no casualties among our personnel.”

“Yes, sir! Understood!”

A loud, unified response echoed throughout the room.

***

Chairman's Office.

Seated in the place of honor, Chairman Park Yeongil looked toward Cho Myeongjeong, President of the venture capital fund.

“So? What did you find regarding the matter I ordered you to investigate?”

The online newspaper Today News had suddenly abandoned its investigation into Cha Hyeonji's hit-and-run case.

It later turned out they had simply sold all of the evidence they had gathered to Li Jiahan.

As a result, the witnesses to the accident, Han Jeongsu and Park Seunghun, had been mercilessly murdered by the Triad.

Chairman Park Yeongil had personally ordered a thorough investigation into the filthy news outlet that had become the root cause of the tragedy.

“We've confirmed that the head of Today News is Kim Mansu. That bastard used to work for one of the major national newspapers before founding his online publication ten years ago. Within journalism circles, he's known as...”

To summarize Cho Myeongjeong's report, Today News was nothing more than a garbage dump masquerading as a news organization.

And sitting at the very top of that pile of trash was its CEO, Kim Mansu.

“...We've confirmed that he sold the information to Li Jiahan in exchange for one hundred million won.”

“Tell me about the most despicable crime that company has committed.”

“There was an actress named Han Bori. Kim Mansu obtained footage that had been secretly recorded with a hidden camera and blackmailed her by threatening to publish an article. He extorted three hundred million won from her. Even after receiving the money, the bastard continued tormenting her, and two years ago she took her own life.”

“You filthy piece of trash!”

Chairman Park Yeongil's colorful curse perfectly reflected the disgust all of us felt.

“We don't have complete records, but there's no doubt that bastard has committed many similar crimes.”

“How did that garbage manage to escape punishment all this time?”

“We've determined that he operated extremely carefully, intimidating his victims so that nothing ever became public.”

“So what should we do with him?”

“The best solution would be to strip him of every last asset, compensate the victims, and permanently remove him from society.”

“Permanently remove him from society, you say...”

Knowing we couldn't simply let something like this go, I decided to ask Chairman Park Yeongil for clarification.

“Chairman, what exactly do you mean by 'permanently remove Kim Mansu from society'?”

“A rotten tree never bears healthy fruit. Rotten people stay rotten.”

“In that case...”

As though reading my mind, Chairman Park Yeongil immediately cut me off.

“A bastard like that deserves to be dumped into the East Sea!”

“Wouldn't it be better to make sure he faces legal punishment instead?”

“Our laws are too lenient. He'll get two or three years, walk right back out, and start doing the same thing all over again.”

“I understand how you feel, but won't that cause problems later?”

“I know exactly what you're worried about, Department Head Cha. Fine. Let's observe that scum for now.”

Bzzzz.

At that moment, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan's phone vibrated.

After checking the screen, he informed Chairman Park Yeongil that Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong of the National Police Agency was calling before accepting the call.

After exchanging a few words, he covered the receiver with his hand and turned toward the Chairman.

“Chairman, Commissioner Choi would like to speak with you personally.”

Without a word, Park Yeongil simply held out his hand.

Taking the phone, he addressed the Commissioner.

“I'm listening, Commissioner Choi.”

“[Chairman Park, what do you think about launching the full-scale operation against the Triad and its affiliated gangs at two o'clock tonight?]”

“I agree with your proposal, Commissioner.”

“[Thank you for supporting my initiative.]”

“Don't mention it. I hope that this time we'll completely sweep away every last parasite feeding off our country.”

“[Of course. That's exactly what we'll do.]”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chairman Park Yeongil carefully steered the conversation toward another matter.

“By the way, Commissioner Choi, what do you intend to do about the owner of that online newspaper who sold information to Li Jiahan and effectively condemned those witnesses to death?”

“[Chairman Park, you know as well as I do that I have no choice but to act strictly within the law. But our laws are so lenient that it grinds my teeth.]”

“I couldn't agree with you more.”

Chairman Park Yeongil wholeheartedly agreed with Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong's words.