Chapter 130: < Protect – Episode 129 – Hosoo Entertainment Group Year-End Meeting [1] >
Following Rome and New York, London was on fire as well.
After a discourteous awakening during the previous terrorist attacks, the advanced nations of the west were determined to put up a perfect defense, but they were left with another irreversible scar. The attack was similar to that of New York, but what was more serious was that a great number of old buildings, museums, and galleries were also blown up with everything else.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Rome, which hurt the least amount of people, lost the most amounts of properties. Since there were even investment firms that went bankrupt, the worth of culture and humanities was something that couldn’t be calculated with money. The first attack that the London police recognized was at Huxley tower, but due to the explosion that arose near the British Museum and the Palace of Westminster, the Piccadilly Circus and the Trafalgar Square was under surveillance.
Block the road connecting Downing to Saint James!
Who’s controlling Waterloo and Summerset?
RTB! All patrol cars must return to base!
What’s going on? Why are the police shooting guns?
They’re terrorists dressed up as police officers!
Avoid Guy Forks!
What?
In the midst of the police radio conversation, the most confusing command was to avoid Guy Forks. Who was Guy Forks? The police who were watching over the St. Paul Cathedral was wondering if they heard it wrong. However, there really was a Guy Forks.
“Oh my G.o.d!”
A red two-story bus was being driven at an alarming speed by someone in a mask.
“Move! Move! Get out of the way!”
Whether the stroller blocked the roads or not, not a single police officer was trying to stop it. The London police must have acted fast because the roads connecting to the older parts of the city were closed off first. The police squad, which was getting ready for a riot, blankly stared at the two-story bus speeding by.
No matter how well the London police or government workers led the citizens and tourists, there were still lots of fools wandering about in dangerous areas. The problem of big cities was clear. That there were just too many people. It was too hard for them to control the situation smoothly and flawlessly. The thugs robbing small street shops were probably roaming around with a smile.
The London terrorist attack was different from that of New York, but what was similar was that they were managing guerillas. Ahn Soo Ho accelerated toward a.s.sailants holding a missile. People usually avoided those with a gun, but Ahn Soo Ho sped toward them. It was the a.s.sailants who were taken aback.
“Agh!”
No matter how well the bus was built, it wasn’t invincible, but the car that the bus. .h.i.t flew off as it was paper. Then what would it have done to a person? One could only imagine. The final destination of the speeding bus was Huxley Tower. In front of the tower were many bodies lying around. He saw smoke coming out of one section of the building, and he also saw multiple a.s.sailants holding guns.
Ahn Soo Ho charged toward them with the bus.
Bang, Bang- Bang-
This time, the bus didn’t protect the driver. The bullet blasted through the gla.s.s and tires of the bus, but it kept on going.
Crash-
The bus ran through the security shutter and destroyed the concrete with it. The bus then slid across the lobby and fell over to its side. Then a fire started which led to the whole lobby being filled with smoke. After that, the bus exploded.
Bang, Bang- Bang-
One shot, one kill!
It was Ahn Soo Ho who killed one guy after another with his gun. The gunfight ended quickly. Since he saw the many b.o.o.bie traps beforehand, he acted as if there were no troops present in the lobby. While they looked at Ahn Soo Ho strangely, a building-wide announcement was made.
“Welcome, my friend. I’m on the 65th floor enjoying a date with a bunch of women. Come up.”
‘A date?’ What a joke.
He used the stairs instead of the lift. Even if they exploded the lift or cut the wires, he probably wouldn’t die, but he still didn’t want to be harmed in any way. It took an average person over an hour to go up 60 flights of stairs, but for Ahn Soo Ho he got up in no time.
‘Is he working with Barbara?’
But it seemed like she got ambushed. That could have all been for show, but Ahn Soo Ho’s intuition told him otherwise. If that was the case, that meant the London terrorist attack was Ransel Straussmow’s independent action.
‘I can’t understand it.’
Ahn Soo Ho annihilated Kadesh Morken all on his own. He probably knew that there was no use using hostages against someone like that. And if he wanted hostages, it made more sense for him to use his family back home.
The 65th floor was in chaos.
The bodies in the hallway were mostly Barbara’s security guards. England couldn’t help that she was famous, but the fact that she was a witch wasn’t supposed to get out. Yet Ransel exposed it to the world. After realizing that he really was a French amba.s.sador, the world got lit up once more thanks to the London scandal.
“Wel…”
Ransel, who started greeting him after seeing his shadow, immediately shut his mouth. Ahn Soo Ho shot up the room as soon as he got in. The a.s.sailants holding cameras and lights were a total of nine people, and they all fell in an instant. The female police officer and female soldier picked up guns from the floor and pointed them at Ransel. Barbara let out a sigh of relief and approached Ahn Soo Ho before she was stopped by his hand.
“You prepared some interesting things, Ransel.”
Despite the turnaround, Ransel wasn’t surprised but just smiled instead.
“Do you like it? This is an option that no one else has put into action until now.”
“How did you get them?”
“It’s all thanks to North Korea’s black market. As long as they open a route, nuclear weapons can be made easily.”
The drugs and illegal weapons circulating in Asia were mostly from North Korea, and even some nuclear facilities were provided by them as well. North Korea played a big role in the black market of international weapons.
Barbara dropped her jaw.
“Ha! Nuclear weapons! How can you talk about that so calmly?”
“Tsk, tsk! You’re such a coward.”
Ransel clicked his tongue and ridiculed her while Ahn Soo Ho shrugged his shoulders.
“I can’t believe you… Ransel! Give me the unlock code right now!”
Barbara looked at them both in absurdity and yelled at Ransel. The female police officer and the female soldier both kept their guns in their hands. They were ready to pull the trigger.
“There’s no such thing. It’s connected to me.”
Ransel lifted his wrist. On it was a heartbeat checker that looked like a watch.
“If I die, boom! It’s all over.”
“You crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“It’s interesting hearing that from a crazy b.i.t.c.h. What do you think? Are you willing to negotiate with me now?”
Ahn Soo Ho just smirked.
“The nuclear weapons weren’t bad. Any other fresh conditions?”
“Hm. If I die, a fatal secret will be revealed on the internet.”
“A secret?”
“The horrible things that the so-called powerful nations were doing in Africa.”
The military policies that Ransel advocated weren’t for the powerless Africans.
“So?”
“I just want to be acknowledged.”
“Do you really think you can get away after doing this?”
“As long as you acknowledge me, everything else will resolve on its own.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Then we all die.”
That wasn’t Ransel’s original plan.
Since Europe suffered thanks to J-Law and Issac, he didn’t have to do anything there, and if Scott Davis had successfully killed the American president, the American military—who would probably be in shock—would have become more pa.s.sive. Ransel was planning to use that opportunity to appear as the new troubleshooter of international conflict. The problem was that the New York terrorist attack didn’t go as planned.
‘Who would have imagined Mr. Guardian would get in the way?’
As soon as France knew the situation, they abandoned Ransel and even put him on the a.s.sa.s.sination list. Ransel’s plan to attack London was for next year, but he had to make it earlier than expected.
“Your secrets will be revealed as well.”
“My secrets?”
“You’re a merchant who sells death. The public won’t react favorably to that.”
The public always had a negative view of mercenaries. If Ahn Soo Ho’s past as the king of mercenaries happened to get out, it was bound to cause controversy.
Ahn Soo Ho smirked once more.
“You’re dumber than you look. Do you really think you’re the only one who came up with that idea?”
“Probably not. But the others were probably too scared to actually try it. I have nothing to lose.”
With the nuclear weapons and the scandals waiting to happen, Ransel’s confidence was higher than ever. Every country also believed that even the ones with supernatural powers were powerless in front of nuclear missiles. Ahn Soo Ho also believed that he could be obliterated with a nuclear weapon in the future. So Ransel believed that he possessed the best hand possible.
“America’s not stupid.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that Yankees are dumber thugs than you think. Do you really think they’ve never tried using a nuclear weapon on me?”
“What?”
He had already broken the cameras, but he didn’t take off his mask. He couldn’t trust Ransel, and Barbara was crazy, too. He didn’t want them to know any more than necessary.
“Ransel Straussmow, you naïve little b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
Was it possible for America to not have shot a nuclear missile at Ahn Soo Ho? As mentioned before, national security wasn’t n.o.ble or ethical in any way. All they cared about was obliterating their enemies.
“Let me ask you something. Africa’s justice? The second Mr. Guardian? Terror plans? Did you really decide to do them all on your own?”
“What?”
The way his eyes shook made him grow suspicious.
Ever since the brainwashing program began that was almost as powerful as magic, international order started to show some changes. Some people might have been hoping for the collapse of white supremacy.
‘It’s not China.’
China was known as the G2, but they had to overcome many obstacles to become superior. Then what about Africa? They weren’t capable enough either. South America really didn’t stand a chance, and despite Russia having bad relations with the States, they were a part of white supremacy. Then the only ones left were the Middle East but when it came to confrontations, Islams were at a disadvantageous position.
So there was only one place left.
“General Ashford.”
Criminal planning group, General Ashford.
“No way! This was all my…”
“Then press the firing mechanism.”
“What?”
“Make the nuclear weapon blow up.”
Ransel was taken aback by Ahn Soo Ho’s words.
“You’ve got some nerve! Do you seriously think you can survive a nuclear missile?”
“I’m serious. Your life and death have nothing to do with the nuclear weapon. And the explosive has already been removed. If you don’t believe me, ask them.”
“Jeno! Answer me! Jeno!”
Ransel desperately called into his walkie-talkie, but no one answered.
“There are no problems at the observatory, Boss.”
A perfectly changed voice came out of Ahn Soo Ho’s lips.
“Gasp!”
Ransel was shocked by his chillingly similar voice.
“Do you really think I would have missed such dangerous objects? Seriously? But thanks to you, I now have some nuclear weapons added to my collection.”
Even if he had explained how he took those nuclear weapons, he probably wouldn’t have understood. Ransel’s face turned red as he desperately stepped on the pedal. However, the nuclear weapon didn’t go off.
“Are you sick? You don’t look so good, Ransel.”
In contrast to Ahn Soo Ho’s friendly face, Ransel was grabbed by an invisible hand and flew in midair.
“You should get some fresh air!”
“St… stop it! If I die, your secrets… Agh!”
After hanging in the air for a bit, he flew out of the window while screaming. No human being could survive after falling from the 65th floor. Once the cold air from the outside hit Barbara’s face, she finally came to her senses.
“Is it okay if your secrets get out, Soo Ho?”
“That’ll pose more problems for you than me, Barbara.”
Whether Ransel was crazy or not, the French amba.s.sador exposed the head of Huxley Group as a witch, and as soon as he died, lots of secret doc.u.ments were going to be spread on the internet. It was impossible to stop it completely without having to destroy every computer on the face of the earth.
‘General Ashford.’
Ahn Soo Ho’s beliefs stiffened after that.
‘They’re not just smart criminals.’
It was clear that at the core of this crime planning group were alphas or those with supernatural powers. If not, they were some kind of cult that believed in supernatural powers.
‘What do they want?’
******
“The nuclear weapon…didn’t go off.”
“So it failed.”
The vice president of Michael Tobal’s Genesis Quantum laughed bitterly. Across from him was the vice president of Thomas Chenyabin who looked like he saw it coming.
“We should have seen it coming ever since the New York incident didn’t go according to plan. Since Ahn Soo Ho’s involved now, we can’t expect anything to proceed as planned. But I don’t see this as a failure, Michael.”
“Because the witch got exposed to the public?”
“Ransel was pretty useful. I didn’t expect him to attack London, but the results are positive. Both England and France will be in trouble which will speed up the collapse of the EU.”
“I see. But there could be more misgivings, Tom.”
Michael looked uncomfortable.
“Alphas are all smart. And they’re more…”
“They are. I agree. They could have caught on to us already. But so what? As long as we don’t cause harm and stick to the rules, we won’t have to meet in the near future. And it’s just a matter of time before Soo Ho stands on our side, too.”
Since humans were born with jealousy and envy, they wouldn’t accept those who were superior but try to suppress and control them instead.
“People will betray him. Trust me.”
< Protect – Episode 129 – Hosoo Entertainment Group Year-End Meeting [1] > The end.