Chapter 253.2: Let’s Not Overdo It (2)
Gérard’s appearance was a perfect fit for Africa. He had deep eyes, thick eyebrows, a scar on his cheek, and a nose that was refined and pointy for a French person.
Kang Chan suddenly found himself craving some hot, spicy ramyeon.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I just suddenly thought about ramyeon,” Kang Chan replied.
Gérard looked as if he couldn’t help but wonder if he heard wrong.
“Anyway... you really are the best in the world when it comes to making noise,” he commented.
“What now?”
“I just never imagined I’d live to see the day someone stand up and go against the UN.”
“Who cares about them anyway?” Kang Chan nonchalantly replied.
Gérard grinned. “This is fucking crazy!”
Even though their conversation wasn’t funny in the slightest, the two still snickered. However, Gérard’s reaction was probably how any normal person would react upon hearing Kang Chan’s insane remarks.
“That aside, you’re the Deputy Director-General of France now?” Gérard asked in disbelief. “How did that even happen?
“It just sort of happened. One thing led to another, and here I am. Think of it as an honorary position,” Kang Chan casually answered.
Astonished, Gérard could only sigh. “Haah!”
“Well, I did find it was unusual when they made you captain of a special forces team too. Looks like you’ve gotten quite the fine promotion, Cap.”
“You punk!”
They shared another hearty laughter.
“Are you planning to stay here for the entire evening?” Gérard asked.
“My men don’t have enough combat experience here in Africa to do guard duty at night yet,” Kang Chan replied.
“I see. Well, I’ll be sure to come over later when I want to kill some time.”
“Go get some sleep instead. Daye and I will take shifts.”
“I’ll keep an eye on the situation first. I’ll come by again.”
“All right.”
Gérard strode off, the clunking of his rifle echoing out.
***
Moon Jae-Hyun raised his gaze from the documents on the desk to Hwang Ki-Hyun and Kim Hyung-Jung, who were sitting across from him.
“We have just received an unofficial complaint that the Assistant Director ignored UN orders and took military actions on his own, Mr. President. They told us that if this issue isn’t resolved within the next few days, they will be filing a formal protest,” Hwang Ki-Hyun said.
“You mean him protecting the hostages?” Moon Jae-Hyun, confusion evident both in his voice and expression.
“Yes, sir,” Hwang Ki-Hyun answered.
“How is protecting hostages a violation of the UN’s commands? Are you saying that they gave orders to abandon the very hostages they just rescued?”
Hwang Ki-Hyun’s expression darkened. “From their perspective, although the UN decided to prevent the assassination of the Somalis, protecting them despite not being ordered to is a form of internal affairs interference.”
Moon Jae-Hyun sighed as he flipped the page at the top of the pile of documents he was looking at. He then looked back up. “Where did you find these documents?”
“I attached information gathered by a National Intelligence Service agent to the materials that the UN sent us.”
Moon Jae-Hyun nodded. He spent a bit more time skimming through the documents before returning his gaze to the two in front of him.
“Is there any countermeasures we can take?”
“The quickest way to deal with this is to tell the Assistant Director to follow the UN’s commands from the UN.”
“Do you really think the Assistant Director will adhere to such an instruction?” Moon Jae-Hyun asked with a genuinely curious face.
“I don’t believe so,” Hwang Ki-Hyun presumed.
“Exactly. Considering everything that he’s shown us so far, he probably has a reason for going so far as to defy UN orders to protect the hostages. What are the possible outcomes from telling him to abandon the people they saved?”
Hwang Ki-Hyun turned his gaze to Kim Hyung-Jung, who immediately answered the question.
“As we’ve already reported before, this deployment has too many unanswered questions. The Assistant Director’s actions are likely related to those issues in some way.”
“How did the French intelligence respond to this situation?” Moon Jae-Hyun asked.
“We believe they are choosing not to exchange any key information with us,” Kim Hyung-Jung replied.
“Then there really must be something that we don’t know about,” Moon Jae-Hyun mused.
He glanced at the documents in front of him again.
“For now, let’s show them that we’re siding with our Assistant Director. If the UN files an official complaint, then issue an announcement that it was the best course of action our men could take since they had precious lives to protect. The last thing we need right now are the UN’s words demoralizing our own special forces team, especially since we deployed them to Africa at our own expense. We’re going to stay by letting everyone know that our government has the utmost respect for our men for how they are handling the situation,” Moon Jae-Hyun stated.
“That may come across as an insult to the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom, Mr. President. After all, they did refuse to join Assistant Director Kang’s initiatives,” Hwang Ki-Hyun countered out of concern.
Moon Jae-Hyun leaned back on his chair and clasped his hands together on the desk.
“Then we can just announce that we respect their decisions as well, can’t we? For as long as I am president, our government will not criticize any of our troops that are deployed overseas. I made a promise in this very room that I would protect Assistant Director Kang to the best of my ability, and I believe this exact moment requires me to uphold that promise.”
Hwang Ki-Hyun let out a quiet sigh.
***
- South Korea has issued an official announcement. They are choosing to respect the judgment of their special forces team.
Lanok looked at the document on his desk with a masked expression.
“I want us to monitor every move—even the ones that seem insignificant—made by Saudi Arabia, SSIS, SISS, and the United States,” Lanok said.
- Everyone in our bureau is already working away to uncover anything we can. However, at this rate, they will most likely notice our actions too.
Lanok’s lips curved into a smirk.
“Monsieur Kang’s judgment is out of this world. He’s approaching the center of the mystery as if he knows our plans. Have the French intelligence bureau and the DGSE defer to his decisions even if it risks putting everything else at stake.”
- Understood, sir.
“Moon Jae-Hyun and Monsieur Kang’s chemistry and teamwork are truly fantastic. Considering how things are progressing, we could end up with a world dominated by South Korea.”
- The United States’ DIA and CIA are working on an operation that involves Moon Jae-Hyun. The South Korean National Intelligence Service doesn’t have the power to take them on yet. If they proceed with the operation, South Korea could lose Moon Jae-Hyun soon.
Lanok stared into space as he took a moment to contemplate.
“For the honor of France, I think we should keep quiet and pretend not to know, but considering Monsieur Kang’s disposition, we should still help them. What does the bureau have to say about this?”
- They think Monsieur Kang will be left with no other choice but to fall into the arms of France if the United States succeeds in taking Moon Jae-Hyun out of the picture.
Lanok tilted his head in thought.
“We still have some time left to decide. Let’s wait and see for things to unfold first before making a decision on this matter. Report back in twelve hours with any changes to the situation.”
- Yes, sir.
Click.
Putting down the receiver, Lanok sharply flipped through the papers on his desk.
***
The sun rose in the distance like a lazy wolf pup. Although France and South Korea’s special forces teams had just woken up, they immediately prepared to go back to base to get some food. They had a long day ahead of them, after all. Once they were done with breakfast, they would have to secure the safety of the hostages and head out to save the four hundred Somalis who were still being held captive by the rebel forces.
There was a chance that the UN would step up and help rescue the Somalis, but that only made it more difficult to predict how the situation would develop.
“Captain, we’re going to pay the base a visit now,” Gérard said as he strode over.
When he stopped right in front of Kang Chan, his expression stiffened due to the look his captain had on his face.
“I’m sure you’ll do well on your own, but be extra careful today,” Kang Chan warned.
“Are you getting a bad feeling about this?” Gérard asked.
“If we didn’t have to keep the hostages safe, I would’ve gone myself.”
“I see. I’ll keep that in mind,” Gérard replied with confidence before turning around.
Cha Dong-Gyun would be accompanying them too. With their numbers and capabilities combined, a bunch of good-for-nothing rebels shouldn’t be able to kill them at the very least.
The vehicles drove off not long after.
Kang Chan couldn’t shake off the uneasiness he had been feeling since dawn broke. If only he could figure out what was going wrong...
He soon found the thought ridiculous, though. If he had all that information, they wouldn’t have ended up getting stuck here in the first place.
Click, click.
Turning around when he heard a rifle clunking, he found Seok Kang-Ho walking over with a mug in each hand.
“Here you go. Coffee,” Seok Kang-Ho greeted. His voice was horribly scratchy probably because it hadn’t been too long since he woke up. “Hoo! After you’re done with that, you should go get some rest.”
His mouth opened wide when he yawned, making him look like one of the hippopotamuses that roamed the lands of Africa.
“I’ll have to observe the situation first. You can go and get some more rest yourself if you’re tired, though,” Kang Chan said.
“Nah, I’m good, Anyway, what are you talking about? What’s your gut telling you?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“Nothing good.”
“I thought that might be the case.”
“Why?”
Meeting Kang Chan’s gaze, Seok Kang-Ho nonchalantly shrugged. “It’s not like we’ve ever gotten an easy break. I just thought it’s about time you start getting a bad feeling about all this.”
Seok Kang-Ho stared into the distance as Kang Chan laughed, finding it funny how correct his prediction was.
When they finally finished their coffee, Kang Chan chose not to head back to the cave to rest. He leaned back on a boulder and closed his eyes instead.
He could sleep for at least thirty minutes, maybe an hour at the longest.
Feeling the heat slowly rise, Kang Chan fell into a slumber.
Africa? The Somalis? The UN’s ridiculous commands?
Fuck that! Why am I even here?
People didn’t change easily.
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