Sooho

Chapter 219: < Protect – Episode 209 – Trip To Europe [5] >

“This is huge.”

Bae Sang Chul, who was meeting with his lawyer in a private room, laughed at the photo of Ahn Soo Ho on the cover of a newspaper. He started a kind of syndrome in the Korean society and then shocked everyone when he renounced his citizenship.

But as soon as it was revealed that he used his connections to return Korea’s cultural assets, he only received praise. Seeing how he easily manipulated popular opinion, he was no ordinary man.

The world knew Bae Sang Chul as Bridal Mask, but he was just Ahn Soo Ho’s puppet. But he gladly accepted the role.

‘This is the only way to give the Korean society a proper warning.’

He lifted his gun and knife because he loved his homeland.

It almost seemed like a wrong belief that caused coup d’etats in the past, but Bae Sang Chul didn’t want power or money. He just loved his grandfather, and he wanted his beloved country to return to what it used to be.

“What did they say?”

Bae Sang Chul put down his newspaper and looked at his lawyer.

“What do you think? They’ll announce the hearing date soon. By the way, you’re watching your mouth, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Just keep doing that.”

This was Jimmy’s first experience with the Korean court, but all large cases with heavy media coverage were the same. They couldn’t do anything about the fact that he was caught at the scene of the crime. But there was no evidence that Bae Sang Chul engaged in any murders. As a result, it was hard to prove the murder and murder instigation charge that the prosecution set forward.

‘The problem is that you don’t know where it’ll go with politics involved.’

When it came to Korea’s legal world, looking into the jury’s tendencies and preparing a defense was not enough. And lobbying or corruption wasn’t going to work in Korean society either. He didn’t know about the inside, but he wanted the outside to look righteous.

‘If we can’t use a lobbyist… we’ll just have to go at it face on.’

He tried his best to respect his client, Bae Sang Chul, and his supporter, Jeon Taek Joong’s wishes, but his career was important as well.

‘We just have to make sure he watches his mouth.’

Korean judges had strong authority. Actually, the law enforcement was overly strong. It seemed as though their constitution was all wrong from the start.

‘The assembly, administration, and the judicial branch are all fighting to get a bigger piece of the pie.’

Rather than personal judgement, they were bound to put the group tendencies first. As a result, judges with an opinion couldn’t last long.

“Have you met with the chairman?”

“That old man… I asked him for more food, but he ignored me.”

“Go easy. Why are you getting on the old man’s nerves?”

After not being able to get Bae Sang Chul’s confession, they went after the 80 society. Some of the media portrayed their death as a deed of viciousness, but that bothered the nose hairs of a sleeping lion.

There were many mercenary organizations involving Koreans.

But since people looked down upon using guns, they just decided to stay quiet. Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t the only one that succeeded as a mercenary soldier. Sure, he wasn’t as successful, but he had more money and connections than the average man. Internationally, at that.

While Bae Sang Chul waited for his trial, Kim Min Shik was released on probation. Once he exited wearing a suit and a long beard, he was greeted by Yoon Chul.

“Where’s my tofu?”

“It’s no time to eat raw tofu these days. Let’s go eat Mapa tofu.”

Kim Min Shik got into Yoon Chul’s car without a word.

“How’s Soo Jung?”

“Good.”

“Do you have a date?”

“Not yet.”

Yoon Chul and Kim Soo Jung continued to put off their wedding.

Following Ahn Soo Ho’s accidents, the 8-member group had to be careful since attention was put on them as well. Many were jealous of Kim Soo Jung for already being the director of a broadcasting station in her 30s, and there was just as much attention on Yoon Chul, who was leading Ahn Soo Ho’s Hoosoo Guard Team.

Since they couldn’t mess with Ahn Soo Ho, more people focused on his friends. And with HBS becoming more recognized and influential, other broadcasting stations kept them in check. Since external pressure didn’t work on this broadcasting station, they felt uncomfortable and displeased about their existence.

The two arrived at a Chinese restaurant.

Kang Joon and Choi Jung Yeon were already there and greeted them.

“Min Shik, you lost half your face. Didn’t you eat anything?”

“No, I did.”

“Then why are you so skinny?”

“How would I know?”

Choi Jung Yeon treated Kim Min Shik like a little kid. Kim Min Shik sat down with a smile and looked back at Yoon Chul.

“Didn’t you say Kyung Il is back in Korea?”

“He’s on probation.”

“So the rumors are true.”

“You know how the high-up nobles are like.”

The higher up police officers and government officials got, the more they focused on keeping their position and nothing else. After all, if they retired without any problems, they could live off of their pensions. People liked heroes but around that hero were dangers. For government officials, heroic acts needed to be avoided.

Kim Min Shik looked sad.

“Nothing has changed…”

Many government workers got punished for his whistle-blowing, but the ones at the top didn’t get hurt. And unfortunately, the impact was too weak for it to receive any national interest or support.

The citizens saw so much corruption that they were becoming immune to it. The same went for the bridal mask incident that led to so many deaths. The country was causing a fuss when the arrest was being made, but during the legal proceedings, it all died down.

“Give him a call later.”

“Okay.”

Han Kyung Il and Kim Min Shik were especially close because they survived the government society together.

“Soo Jung must be really busy.”

“Haven’t you seen the news? Soo Ho got into another accident.”

“I don’t know. I think he should be praised for this one.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong. But it looks like I’ll end up living alone because of him.”

“Is women all men think about?”

“That’s what happens when a man and woman fall in love.”

“You probably just want any woman.”

“No, what I’m saying is…”

“Whatever, Chul. You win.”

As soon as Kang Joon brought down Yoon Chul from fighting Choi Jung Yeon’s criticisms, he surrendered. Choi Jung Yeon was just as tough as Kim Soo Jung. She wasn’t a feminist, but she was against women conscription.

‘Going to the military changes a person.’

Women changed for the worse. With that considered, perhaps it was better for the men to suffer a little more in their stead.

“Is Sol Ji busy, too?”

“She’s probably the busiest out of us all.”

Jung Sol Ji was getting ready to run for the assembly elections. There were many eyeing her, but there was nothing saying there couldn’t be a female president in the future.

“I’m the one with the least to do.”

In response to Kim Min Shik’s complaint, Kang Joon looked at Yoon Chul.

“Didn’t you tell him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t have the chance.”

Kim Min Shik tilted his head and Choi Jung Yeon smirked while pouring him a glass of alcohol.

“Congratulations, Min Shik.”

“Congratulations?”

“You’re the premier.”

Ahn Soo Ho picked Kim Min Shik as the premier of Emerald City-Gaesung. No one knew why the position was called a premier instead of mayor.

“What?”

“You went up by quite a few ranks.”

“What are you talking about?”

He accepted his drink but didn’t know what was going on. While Kim Min Shik was confused, Daniel Navarros was outside of Star Tower holding a press conference.

“As mentioned before, the development of Emerald City-Gaesung will contribute to the peace of the Korean peninsula. We’re now working toward strengthening the politics, economics, and cultural cooperation of Korea, China, and Japan in order to establish world peace.”

After that, Daniel received questions.

“Did you get official permission from the Korean government? If so, which diplomatic channel did you use?”

“I can only answer that after confirming with CEO Ahn.”

“But don’t you have a feeling?”

“Since I’m not his wife, I can’t read his thoughts. Why don’t you ask his wife instead?”

Daniel’s joke made everyone burst into laughter. He pointed at another reporter.

“Is CEO Ahn Soo Ho in Europe in order to get back all of our cultural assets?”

“Yes, that’s correct. But the other countries might not be as cooperative as France.”

“Hmm. But I thought France was the most strict when it comes to returning cultural assets.”

“That’s true. Both England and France are strict in that sense. As CEO Ahn has said before, nothing comes for free in this world.”

“Are you saying he paid France somehow?”

“We can’t reveal the details of the contract, but he paid a hefty price. But since this was his homeland, he’s returning it for free.”

“Are you able to reveal any details of the scale or price?”

“No, we can’t. But… let’s just say it’s a very high number.”

Daniel took a few breaths and then continued with a serious face.

“As CEO Ahn’s friend and the financial head of Hosoo Group, I was against this decision. I’m sure the Korean citizens wouldn’t like this, but I think CEO Ahn made the wrong decision.”

“Why’s that?”

Daniel looked around the room in response to the cautious question.

“You probably know that better than I do.”

“Ahem!”

Some of the reporters avoided his gaze.

“Just like you said in your articles, CEO Ahn is no longer Korean. So he has no obligation to do anything for this country. However, he went through all the obstacles to do it, anyway. Why, you ask?”

Daniel looked straight into the camera and continued, “He did it for this country and its people.”

Daniel laughed in his head at how great his acting was. He was now a con artist as well.

“You must realize what CEO Ahn has sacrificed.”

******

There was an unusual banner that was hung up in Gangnam where Ahn Soo Ho’s house was located. The Gangnam elites also abandoned their pride and praised Ahn Soo Ho as well. Some of the people claimed that Emerald City- Gaesung should be made the federal capital and that Ahn Soo Ho should be the federal president. The problem was that there were more Koreans for that than against it.

The Internet news was overtaken by Ahn Soo Ho.

And the comments were favorable.

Kya! That’s our patriot!

Those French bastards! Those things belonged to us in the first place!

That’s what national power and influence can do! His class is at a whole different level!

The kind of class that gets him in with the Chinese premier, the American president, and the French president? Where’s the next target? England?

Apparently, Hosoo Group announced just how CEO Ahn got the cultural assets returned. Even during his wedding, he met with the UN guests to convince them into it!

He’s a tycoon that’s unmatched in both North and South Korea! It’s ridiculous to criticize a man like that! If North and South Korea can really be unified, CEO Ahn’s the only one who can do it!

However, it wasn’t just the Koreans that commented. Foreigners joined in on the debate as well.

He’s a tycoon of all of Asia! Let’s bring him to Japan so he can revive the Japanese empire!

Huh? What is this? Get out of here, monkeys!

You don’t deserve such a big tycoon like him!

What are you talking about? Stop your bullshit! Soo Ho is a master of Chinese martial arts! Protector of the continent. Isn’t that a beautiful name?

Are you stupid? That’s not what his name means.

I can’t believe he made Napoleon’s empire surrender! He’s Asia’s pride!

They didn’t surrender! I bet it was a deal! All Joseon knows how to do is bribe!

Hm! You’re not wrong. Maybe he bribed the French president!

You guys are crazy, you lonely bastards! If Ahn Soo Ho really succeeds in reunifying North and South, he might build an empire in Asia! This isn’t a delusion! Some are already treating him like a God!

He’s definitely dangerous! What if he unifies the country and then attacks Japan and China?

I heard Chinese blood flows through Ahn Soo Ho’s blood! If he’s a descendent, he could take over the continent!

Isn’t Ahn Soo Ho better than all the old men at the top? Seeing how he made Hosoo Group succeed, he’s quite the businessman!

A nation and a company are at two different scales! You can’t compare them!

Japan is rotten! They can’t be revived! All he can do is sweep them up and purify the contamination!

Ahn Soo Ho is definitely noble! He’s an aristocrat for sure!

The country that claims him will rule the world!

Ahn Soo Ho’s next destination was not England but Germany. But one thing had changed. This time, Jang Seol Hyun joined him from Hawaii. Her belly was now much bigger, so her movements were restricted. Her mother and Mrs. Park Ok Nam tried to come with them, but Ahn Soo Ho talked them out of it.

‘I don’t want them to see everything.’

Not yet, at least.

His wife had immunity since she was in Hollywood once, but not their mothers. Just by showing them one failure, he could ruin his entire image with them.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“No.”

They decided to take a big limousine bus to Germany from France. The inside of the bus was large while also being cozy. He got 6 of such buses and with all of the security cars in between, they took up 300 meters in total.

People might have thought he was a president.

Jang Seol Hyun said she wasn’t tired, but she leaned into Ahn Soo Ho’s arms and closed her eyes. He didn’t say anything and became her bed and pillow. He felt pained seeing her having a hard time with her pregnancy, and he didn’t use any magic just in case it would affect the baby.

With Jang Seol Hyun in his arms, he opened the cyberspace containing a supercomputer. The number of supercomputers was growing to this day. Some groups used AIs, other groups used interfaces, while he took parts of them and added to his computer group and backed everything up every time.

Ahn Soo Ho’s “world intelligence” was probably larger than anyone else’s, and it was still growing to this day. Google would be shocked to find out that Ahn Soo Ho’s data server was much larger than theirs.

‘Show me Sylvestre’s whereabouts.’

The computers received Ahn Soo Ho’s order and began working. Other people didn’t know that Ahn Soo Ho’s eyes could sweep through the entire world.

A world dominated by CCTVs.

Unless it was a fallen region, surveillance networks were flawless. The only problem was the fight over jurisdiction. But no matter where one was hiding, he was confident he could find them.

The reason why DGSE lost Sylvestre was because they believed he really ran away. If he was actually like Issac or J-Law, there was no way he ran or hid. If anything, he was probably going to find Ahn Soo Ho.

‘Just like them.’

Ahn Soo Ho froze the world.

He didn’t use magic to manipulate time, but since he distorted the space, his wife had no idea what was going on.

“Is that you, Sylvestre?”

It was simple magic to talk without opening his lips.

“Nothing gets past you. Or was that just a guess?”

He showed himself at a limousine parking lot. And it wasn’t a man but a woman.

“Unless you’re a transgender or a gay… you tricked France.”

“It’d be stupid to reveal all of my cards.”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked at his confidence.

“You must have left your true identity elsewhere.”

“I have to keep my guard up in front of Mr. Guardian.”

As soon as Ahn Soo Ho tensed up, he immediately backed down.

“Whoa, whoa! I’m not trying to fight. Let’s talk!”

“Go on.”

Ahn Soo Ho finished his calculations in his head.

The host didn’t die but was killed. If not, the fact that she could pilot would have been found out by the French government. Sharing memories was a clear lie.

“You’re the one that broke up the Angola Circle, right Soo Ho?”

Ahn Soo Ho just shrugged his shoulders, and he understood right away.

“Are you trying to take over the world?”

“Who? Me? Haha. No way. Why would I go through the trouble?”

“Then what are you going to do with the third world war approaching?”

“Someone else will resolve that.”

Sylvestre shook his head.

“It took 100,000 years for mankind to exceed a billion people. However, it only took 100 years for it to double. If that’s the case, how long would it have taken to double again?”

“Just answer my question.”

Just like Issac and J-law, most supernatural beings had shitty philosophies. Did people naturally become philosophers if they lived long? Of did they just go crazy over time?

Ahn Soo Ho had rejected taking on a belief that he would dedicate his life to. People changed their minds depending on the situation, and that was how business worked.

‘Is this also a type of belief?’

Refusing to have a belief could be a belief of its own.

“The human population will exceed 10 million in 30 years.”

“So?”

“That’s why there are wars, race wipeouts, human trafficking, plunder and hatred. We’ll come to an end.”

“Stop with the bullshit and get to the point!”

He became quite talkative in the time he hadn’t seen him.

“We have to reduce the population.”

“How?”

“The answer to that is war.”

“That’s going on right now.”

In contrast to Korea’s declining birth rate, there were more being born than dying.

“I’m talking about a bigger war. For example… one between China and India.”

To be frank, both China and India were far from becoming a developed country. Their combined population was around 2.5 billion. That was 1.3 of the entire world’s population.

“Or maybe one between Europe and Russia.”

That would have been a sight to see.

“America has enemies on all four sides.”

If the anti-American alliance really took action, that would make quite the impact.

“But a bigger fight than that would be…”

When considering population proportions, the biggest war wasn’t a world war. Ahn Soo Ho knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Religion?”

“Yeah. A religious war.”

The Islams and Christians had been against each other for hundreds of years. Since Hindus and Islams already fought in India, religious wars wasn’t that much of a big deal. But he tilted his head and then gasped. The war that Sylvestre wanted wasn’t between the Islams and Christians.

Christians vs. Christians.

Islams vs. Islams.

Hindus vs. Hindus.

He wanted wars within religions. That was the only way there wouldn’t be a ceasefire. In a war within wars, they either had to go extinct or coexist.

Capitalists vs. Capitalists.

Laborers vs. Laborers.

Intellectuals vs. Intellectuals.

The capitalist battle that Issac led was nothing in comparison. The Angola Circle tried to repress human civilization, but they never tried to destroy them. But the psycho in front of him was thinking of annihilating them all.

Ahn Soo Ho asked the most fundamental question.

“Why?”

It’s true things would get uncomfortable if the population grew further. There were even scientists who worried that the pollution would harm future babies, but Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t worried about that.

‘The earth can’t be judged by mere humans.’

Forejudging nature was the foolish thing they could do. He expected Sylvestre to come off as a stubborn environmental terrorist, but he said something much more shitty.

“Our new mankind will protect the peace of the…”

He threw the psycho into space. For real.

“Huh?”

When Jang Seol Hyun started mumbling awake, Ahn Soo Ho hugged her tighter.

“Keep sleeping.”

He patted Jang Seol Hyun back to sleep.

Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t so enraged that he was going to find him and end him. There were other psychos on earth just like Sylvestre. Even the crazy religious Michel was talking about building a church in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

The world was full of psychos.

If they were just crazy, all you had to do was ignore them. But if they had money and power as well, they were very dangerous. It was best not to get involved in the first place, but he got a bad feeling about this.

He didn’t agree with Spider Man that with great power comes great responsibility, but it was true that great power led to big incidents. Just like how hyenas always roamed about waiting to pounce, there were many who were trying to get closer to Ahn Soo Ho.

And where people gathered, problems followed.

“Long time no see, Soo Ho.”

The person that greeted Ahn Soo Ho as soon as he crossed the border into Germany was none other than Roberto Aquilan. Ahn Soo Ho sent his party away and walked along a trail in a forest.

“You’ve gone too far, Roberto.”

“Are you talking about Garcia?”

“If you keep pressuring the old man… he’ll do something big.”

“To be honest, that wasn’t my intention. Someone with power must be after that old man. I’m just a figurehead.”

“Oh?”

An upright prosecutor like Roberto Aquilan was someone’s figurehead? Had he changed? Or was someone just that powerful? Aquilan made a face that was either crying or smiling.

“The world is changing too fast.”

“That’s because of the endless terror.”

“That too… but the EU is in for a big change, too.”

Did they sense others trying to leave the EU following England? The world was going through countless splits. If the EU happened to split up, international law would become weak, and the authority of the international court would disappear into ashes.

If that really happened, every man would be for themselves.

“If the fundamental rights that protect human rights become harmed, we’ll be back to the barbaric times. Even now, those who are being repressed have no power to change things around. And it’s hard to say that you’re not the party responsible for that, Soo Ho.”

“You were the one that said that Superman’s justice isn’t really justice.”

“I know.”

Aquilan looked pained as he nodded.

“But let me tell you, I was wrong. Right now… we need a pivot. We need a Superman who can’t be swayed. Because as soon as something goes wrong, mankind will go extinct.”

His mindset changed drastically.

Was he really the Robert Aquilan that was after Ahn Soo Ho? If he wasn’t right in front of him, he would have thought he was someone else.

“I’m retired, and that’s not going to change.”

“Aren’t you a little too active for someone who’s retired?”

“I can’t just live in the countryside just because I’m retired.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Ahn Soo Ho was Ahn Soo Ho, regardless of his retirement. Aquilan looked at the my-way-or-the-high-way Ahn Soo Ho and felt mixed feelings.

“Soo Ho, I promise you this much.”

The more dangerous the world got, the higher Ahn Soo Ho’s worth got.

“People won’t leave you alone.”

The world would revolve around him whether he liked it or not.

< Protect – Episode 209 – Trip To Europe [5] > The end.