Chapter 50: Your Guess Is Correct

Woof! Woof!..

Hearing the gate open, the guard dogs broke into a fierce barking fit.

«Meowy will cut the power now.»

And as if confirming my thoughts, the Korean hideout of the Triad was plunged into pitch-black darkness at that very moment.

About a minute later, one of the gang members appeared. He had come out to close the gate.

Crack!

Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok, who had been waiting for him, raised his rifle in a lightning-fast motion and delivered a crushing blow with the buttstock straight to the enemy's temple.

“Kgh!..”

Thud!

After taking the hit, the gang member let out a short groan and collapsed to the ground like a felled tree.

Ignoring the unconscious enemy, the Special Operations officers swiftly rushed inside.

It took the operatives no more than thirty seconds to neutralize the sentry and infiltrate the base grounds.

While one of the officers was tying up the stunned gang member, the dogs that had been barking furiously suddenly fell silent.

Apparently, the operatives who had entered the yard had tranquilized them with dart guns.

“Phew... Finally, it's quiet.”

“Ha-ha-ha. You can say that again.”

While Chief Secretary Kang Inhan chuckled, the Triad hideout, which had been submerged in darkness, was flooded with light once more.

I had expected the gang members to need around five minutes to figure out the cause of the power outage. However, they managed it two minutes faster than I had anticipated.

«I hope everything goes without a hitch.»

Noticing my unease, Kang Inhan spoke to me.

“Director, the men who entered the mansion previously served in special forces units and took part in the most difficult counterterrorism operations.”

“I know, but I still can't help feeling uneasy.”

After all, even the most perfect plan could develop a flaw capable of leading to something irreparable.

Bzzzz, bzzzz...

As those tense minutes dragged on, the mobile phone in Kang Inhan's hand vibrated.

As though he already knew who was calling, he quickly pressed the answer button.

“Team Leader Jeong, report the results.”

“Meowy finished everything before we even managed to enter the house.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Meowy single-handedly knocked out the entire Triad leadership and blocked the passage to the underground level.”

“What?!”

Kang Inhan roared in genuine astonishment so loudly that my ears almost rang.

“When you enter the mansion, I'll report everything in detail.”

“Fine, we'll be there soon. See you shortly.”

Click.

As soon as Kang Inhan lowered the phone, I immediately asked,

“Secretary Kang, what's going on?”

“Well, I'll be damned!..”

Kang Inhan let out an astonished sigh, shaking his head, then added,

“It turns out Meowy can do everything himself. He handled the whole thing alone.”

“I don't quite understand what you mean.”

“Team Leader Jeong promised to report the details in person. Well then, shall we go inside?”

The moment we stepped out of the car after Kang Inhan, eighty fully armed operatives formed a tight ring around us.

I didn't particularly like such excessive protection, but I decided to keep quiet.

«Just like in movies where the special forces show up after everything is already over.»

Surrounded by the officers, I crossed the threshold of the Triad's hideout.

Meowy immediately leapt deftly straight into my arms.

“You did a great job.”

Stroking the cat's head, I looked around.

On the living room floor lay the five key leaders of the gang, including Chen Shao, all unconscious.

Notably, each one of them had a mark on his temple from a blow, with blood seeping through.

Now I understood the general picture.

Meowy had simply sneaked into the rooms where the Triad leaders were sleeping and sent them into a deep knockout with precise blows from his paw.

However, my logical reasoning soon ran into a dead end.

Meowy physically couldn't open locked doors.

Deciding to set that mystery aside for later, I turned to Jeong Gwangseok.

“What about the remaining gang members on the first and second basement floors?”

Jeong Gwangseok pointed toward the passage and replied,

“It looks like they were trying to hide the very existence of the underground level. The stairway entrance was disguised behind a massive display cabinet.”

“But in order to go down, that display cabinet has to be moved somehow, right?”

“It seems Meowy knew where the activation mechanism was.”

“Meowy, is Team Leader Jeong right?”

As though confirming his words, the cat jumped down from my arms, ran to the wall, and pressed a hidden switch mid-leap.

Immediately, with a “Bzzzz!” sound, the display cabinet began slowly sliding aside.

Bang! Bang-bang!..

At that very moment, the gang members holed up below opened a barrage of fire.

Bullets flew through the stairwell and ricocheted straight into the living room.

Frightened that I might get hit by a stray bullet, I hurriedly backed away from the danger zone.

Meanwhile, the Special Operations officers quickly regrouped, crawled toward the passage on their stomachs, and returned fire downward.

Tuk-tuk-tuk...

We silently watched the firefight unfold, trying not to interfere with the professionals.

After about five minutes, the thunderous noise from below noticeably died down.

Then Team One Leader Seo Donghun approached the stairs and shouted in Chinese.

“All your bosses, starting with Chen Shao, have already been arrested! In five minutes, we will begin the assault and clear the basement! If you don't want to die for nothing, drop your weapons and surrender!”

A short pause followed, and Seo Donghun's warning took effect.

From the darkness of the basement, the Triad gang members slowly began coming out one by one, raising their hands behind their heads.

The operatives immediately searched them harshly and took them away.

However, not all of them surrendered.

Jeong Gwangseok came over to me with a report.

“Director, thirty-nine men have surrendered so far. Six more have barricaded themselves at the very bottom.”

“So they don't intend to surrender. Correct?”

“I think so too. What should we do with them?”

“No need to drag this out. Eliminate them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Jeong Gwangseok answered my harsh order loudly and clearly.

After coordinating the assault plan, Jeong Gwangseok and Seo Donghun began the final phase of the operation.

Putting on night vision devices, the Special Operations officers first cut power to the building completely, plunging the basement into darkness, and carefully began descending.

Bang! Bang!..

Tuk! Tuk!..

The sounds of fierce combat rose from below.

Another five minutes passed, and the chaotic gunfire, which sounded like peanuts crackling in a frying pan, suddenly stopped.

It seemed the resistance had been put down.

As though waiting for the perfect moment, Kang Inhan ordered the officer standing beside him,

“Turn the breaker on.”

A second later, the living room was once again filled with bright light.

From the basement, breathing heavily, Jeong Gwangseok came up. He had personally led the officers in the clearing operation.

Sensing that something was wrong, I asked him in an anxious voice,

“Team Leader Jeong, do we have casualties?”

“Kgh... No, there are no casualties.”

“Then why did you run up like that?”

“D-Down there... We've discovered an illegal methamphetamine production lab. The scale is simply enormous.”

“I see. Lead the way. Let's take a look.”

Following Jeong Gwangseok down to the basement levels, I saw gang members lying in pools of blood.

We had given them a chance to surrender.

They had chosen resistance themselves and paid the price for it, so I felt no pity for them.

Descending even farther to the second basement level, we arrived before a massive door.

Once I entered, I saw a spacious room filled with various equipment and boxes.

I had never seen a drug lab before, so unlike the experienced Kang Inhan, I couldn't immediately grasp the scale of it.

“Well, well. Those bastards set up a full-fledged factory here.”

“Is it really that serious?”

“Judging by the amount of raw material, they could produce at least five hundred kilograms of pure methamphetamine here.”

The words Li Jiahan had given during his interrogation immediately resurfaced in my memory.

At the time, he had claimed that once every two months, they secretly smuggled only five kilograms of drugs from China.

We had found that small volume surprisingly modest.

Now it was clear.

The Triad had simply been manufacturing the product locally on an industrial scale.

However, there was an obvious inconsistency here.

“Secretary Kang, if they could supply the Korean gangs with locally produced product, why did they need to take the risk of smuggling drugs in from China?”

“Most likely as a cover. In case of investigations.”

“Then that makes sense. But why did Li Jiahan hide the existence of this lab?”

“We never asked him about it directly, so he kept his mouth shut.”

“That's true too. It's rather unpleasant being down here. Shall we go back up?”

“Ha-ha. Agreed.”

When we exited, the bodies of the dead gang members on the stairs were already gone. The operatives were efficiently clearing the area.

In the living room, Seo Donghun approached us.

“Director, all gang members who resisted in the basement have been eliminated.”

I had no objection to such harsh measures by the Special Operations unit.

If they had shown excessive mercy to the Triad, we might have lost our own people.

“Team Leader Seo, you did excellent work.”

“Not at all. It's our job.”

“Judging by the scale of the lab, there must be finished product stored somewhere around here. Use every available person and search the mansion.”

“Yes, sir.”

After giving a brief report, Seo Donghun went off to issue orders to the officers.

I sank tiredly onto the sofa and turned to Kang Inhan.

“Report the results to the Chairman.”

Kang Inhan called Chairman Park Yeongil, gave a brief report, then covered the receiver with his hand and held the phone out to me.

“The Chairman wants to speak with you personally.”

Instead of answering, I simply reached out, took the phone, and brought it to my ear.

“I'm listening, Chairman.”

“Cha, my boy, you've done a tremendous job.”

“I merely watched from the side while the Special Operations unit eliminated the gang.”

“On the battlefield, a general doesn't personally swing a saber. But when the battle is won, all the glory goes to him. I think you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Contact Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong of the police and report the results of the clearing operation to him.”

I immediately grasped Park Yeongil's true intention.

To strengthen my position and raise my authority in the eyes of high-ranking officials, he wanted me to personally inform the head of the police that the matter had been successfully concluded.

It would have been unforgivably foolish to understand his intentions and not take advantage of them.

“I will carry out your instruction.”

“And tell Choi that I'm heading there as well.”

Those words from the Chairman meant only one thing: Commissioner General Choi had to come directly here, to the captured hideout, immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

“See you soon.”

Click.

I returned the phone to Kang Inhan and immediately dialed Choi Dongyeong's number.

He answered after the very first ring, as if he had been sitting on pins and needles waiting for my call.

“Director Cha, how did everything go?”

“Forty-four people, including Chen Shao, have been successfully detained. We had no choice but to eliminate six men who offered armed resistance.”

“...I see.”

Whatever the reasons, the eliminated gang members were citizens of China.

Killing six Chinese nationals at once could provoke a serious international scandal, and the government of the People's Republic of China was unlikely to let it pass without notice.

That was precisely why Choi Dongyeong's voice noticeably dropped and became anxious.

Of course, I had a powerful argument ready that could dispel all of his fears in an instant.

“Commissioner General, how severely does China punish drug-related crimes?”

“Depending on the severity, but in most cases, it's the death penalty.”

“Allow me to ask one more thing. If the criminals organized illegal methamphetamine production on an especially large scale, what would the sentence be?”

“Don't tell me...”

Choi Dongyeong's voice trailed off, and the pieces of the puzzle had clearly begun falling into place in his mind.

Realizing that he had understood my point, I did not delay my answer.

“Your guess is correct. I believe you understand what I'm getting at?”

“Oh, of course!”

It took only one minute for the Commissioner General of the police's gloomy tone to change into sincere relief and confidence.