M 58

“Go ahead and pour more oil on it!”

That message about the handsome customer—there was no doubt Ki Tae-jeong had written it while joking around. The sarcastic tone was exactly like Ki Tae-jeong’s usual way of speaking. He had tried to improve Sehwa’s miserable life out of pity… Apart from his pretty face, there was nothing worth looking at. He must have lost his mind just because two officers approached him, not knowing his place. This is why you judge people by their family and bloodline. As soon as he left his seat for a moment, that guy couldn’t wait to cling to another man…

“Vulgar b1tch.”

He was the crazy one for thinking of keeping such a cheap man as a mistress even for a moment. In a way, Sehwa was a perfect match for Ki Tae-jeong. They were both defective goods unable to act like proper humans. Yeah, birds of a feather flock together.

“Lieutenant, we’ve received a radio message from General Oh Seon-ran.”

“…Pretend we don’t know for now. I’ll report afterward.”

“She seems to already know the situation, so wouldn’t it be better to inform her in advance…?”

“Are you crazy? If we spill everything here, wouldn’t it be the same as turning ourselves in for messing up?”

Even if everything is transparent, they still need to create an excuse. Justification. That superficial thing was more important than one might think. After long years of dictatorship, the power structure supporting the head of state had now spread its branches quite evenly. Even if they want to kill that bastard and take everything for themselves, everyone restrains themselves to a certain extent, knowing that the collapsed balance would eventually come back as poison to themselves. So if they were going to stir up trouble, they needed to secure some basis, however thin. In a world where ranks are stripped and given, people are saved and killed solely based on justification. This needs to end as just an unavoidable accident where the warehouse burned down completely. The family elders should be able to clean up a mistake of this level.

The criminal bastards who had raided the shelter sent a signal that they would raid the warehouse today. It was clearly a trap. Ki Tae-jeong was the one who had taken custody of those bastards in the first place, so how could anyone trust that? However, because the circumstances and process of the shelter being raided were flawless, to claim that Ki Tae-jeong had done it intentionally, Kim Seok-cheol’s side needed to find other evidence. If that was difficult, the only option left was to clean up even the remaining traces.

So Kim Seok-cheol had no choice but to head to the warehouse in 2-Hwan, even though he knew everything. He had to take care of both the criminal bastards who were nothing more than Ki Tae-jeong’s puppets, and all the drvgs and test subjects piled up in the warehouse.

Honestly, he wasn’t afraid of Ki Tae-jeong. Even if Ki Tae-jeong had managed to become a Brigadier General, he had no family to back him up, and the only people he had with him were dregs who had rolled around with him in the camp. Not even trash, mere dregs.

However, what made Kim Seok-cheol uneasy was that it was difficult to predict what else Ki Tae-jeong might be holding now… and that the crazy bastard might well expose this project to the whole world. Every country was watching with keen eyes, hoping to get a piece of the pie. If evidence of violating the most serious international agreement came to light… then even if Kim Seok-cheol stepped forward and begged to take all responsibility, it would be irreversible. The most important virtue for a soldier should be patriotism and loyalty, not integrity, but Ki Tae-jeong was someone from whom one couldn’t expect even a grain of such things.

So, the warehouse had to be completely burned down. It’s not that he didn’t know it was dangerous. He knew it could be a big deal that might require sealing off the entire 2-Hwan. But Kim Seok-cheol believed he could somehow cover up this much. Manipulating domestic public opinion was nothing, and although it stung a bit to have to plead with the investors first… they would have no choice but to mind the families that had supported the military for generations anyway. Above all, there were not a few insiders who had bet on the ‘Harvest’ project while pretending not to know. Ki Tae-jeong might be able to single-handedly annihilate an entire enemy country, but it’s impossible for him to oust all the personnel currently in key military positions.

Kim Seok-cheol planned to pin everything on Boss Son of the House and Lee Sehwa after setting fire to the warehouse. That was his intention from the beginning when he approached them. He had changed his mind later because Sehwa was quite pretty… but such an ungrateful b1tch deserves worse than execution by firing squad. He could just claim he’d been gambling and doing drvgs outside the fortress, and that he never made such dangerous drvgs. He’d argue there was no such thing as a drvg that transformed male bodies into ones capable of pregnancy. What does that have to do with drvgs – he just needed to insist on this.

Just as he couldn’t say anything despite knowing Ki Tae-jeong was behind the shelter attack, Ki Tae-jeong would also find it difficult to suddenly take issue with this drvg. All the remaining drvgs and test subjects would disappear here, so how could he prove that this drvg was a serious matter violating international agreements?

“L-Lieutenant!”

It took quite some time just to spray oil evenly inside. Just as he was about to feel relieved seeing the fire start to catch on the clothes of the corpse slumped at the warehouse entrance, one of his foolish minions pointed to a far-off place with a trembling chin.

“Ah, what is it?”

Kim Seok-cheol’s face slowly hardened as he followed his subordinate’s gaze with an irritated expression. Flying towards them with the sunset at its back was… a combat helicopter. Two more followed in formation behind the lead one. They were continuously firing flares as if planning to land directly on the ground. The helicopter, which had been as small as a fingernail, instantly grew to the size of a fist, then a face. An artificial gust swept eerily around the warehouse grounds. The symbol engraved on the door was that of the Air Force, and the lead helicopter had an additional single star drawn on it. There was no need to ask who it was. It was Ki Tae-jeong.

Lieutenant Kim Seok-cheol, who had been glaring at the sky with his fists clenched tight, shoved the privates holding oil cans randomly. The men, who had lost their senses at the appearance of that infamous Brigadier General, swayed as Kim Seok-cheol pushed them, uttering confused sounds. Using every ounce of strength he had, he threw them into the warehouse as if cramming them in. Yellow liquid splashed everywhere from the open oil cans, and one man who fell onto a burning corpse while flailing screamed shrilly. The flames, which had been burning faintly, began to rise fiercely only after consuming one more person.

Kim Seok-cheol quickly ran out of the warehouse and hijacked the bike of the nearest person. He sped away, pushing the speed to its limit. He could feel the heat from inside the warehouse stirring even through the road surface. The men following behind called out to Lieutenant Kim Seok-cheol desperately, but he paid no attention. An explosion would happen soon, so creating distance was the top priority. The person who had to survive here unharmed was, of course, himself, the lieutenant.

The vibrations felt under the wheels grew stronger and stronger, and then a thunderous sound rang out. Although air is clearly formless, it was such a massive explosion that one could feel cracks forming in it. The bike skidded greatly from the heat surging from behind. Lieutenant Kim quickly hid behind the body of the bike, curling up as much as possible. The explosions continued relentlessly as the boiling oil met the drugs.

Black smoke danced in waves. It was as if a black curtain had been drawn only over the warehouse. Even the helicopters seemed to have difficulty securing visibility, unable to approach any closer and just circling in place. Lieutenant Kim, who had been observing the situation while holding his breath, soon got up from his spot, giggling.

“What are you going to do now?”

Cracks began to form in the outer walls of the warehouse, unable to withstand the heat. It would take some time for it to collapse completely, but nothing useful could be salvaged from inside. Kim Seok-cheol stood up his heavy body, patting his palms covered in soot. His waist and knees ached from moving nimbly for the first time in a long while. Now all that was left was to order the men waiting outside to quickly pretend to be suppressing the fire.

Just as he took a step forward, straightening his cracking back, a chilly wind blew fiercely over his crown. As if it had been waiting for Kim Seok-cheol to move, the lead helicopter was soaring even higher. After rising higher and higher like that, the aircraft suddenly pulled back. As if stepping back before taking a running start. It wasn’t even completely changing its route… it was an incomprehensible movement.

“…What’s this?”

But then something dropped from the helicopter that had shown strange behavior, which was probably carrying Ki Tae-jeong. What was fluttering in the strong wind seemed to be a rope. Lieutenant Kim Stared up at the sky, dumbfounded. Surely they’re not thinking of coming down on that? Even with the longest rope, the height from its end to the ground would easily exceed 3 meters. No matter how monstrous Ki Tae-jeong was, he was still human, not a robot. It’s natural to get hurt falling from that height without any other equipment. No, successfully climbing down the rope in the first place was the challenge. This wasn’t some rappelling training exercise.

“That crazy, crazy bastard…!”

Kim Seok-cheol’s mouth gaped open in shock as he was about to give orders outside while holding the radio. The figure dangling on a thin rope was moving recklessly, literally flowing down as fast as water. The helicopter had retreated earlier, perhaps to consider the wind direction, and the tilted rope was now precisely aimed at the top of Kim Seok-cheol’s head.

At a glance, it didn’t seem like he was wearing a parachute, but Ki Tae-jeong moved towards the ground as if there were stairs in the air. Eventually, the man dangling at the end of the rope let go without a hint of hesitation. His falling body gracefully swam through the black smoke like cutting through water. That was all. Not only did he land safely, but he looked so nonchalant that Kim Seok-cheol could only blink. Ki Tae-jeong, who had defied gravity so calmly, rose up his long body in a sinuous motion. It was like a dark tiger coiling up, preparing to pounce on its prey. The shadow of black and red flames flickered across the surreally handsome face.

“You m-monster…”

That’s not human. How can a person do that? Kim Seok-cheol unknowingly muttered, almost sobbing. Ki Tae-jeong approached, step by step, throwing away his leather gloves that had been torn from the friction. Far from being injured, only a few strands of his combed-back hair were disheveled. Coming right up to Kim Seok-cheol’s face, Ki Tae-jeong just looked down at him without saying a word.

“Ugh…!”

After briefly observing his pathetic state, Ki Tae-jeong kicked Kim Seok-cheol’s shin quite hard. The man fell to his knees without even letting out a scream. Seeing his hand twitch in a bizarre shape as it touched the ground, it seemed he had also sprained his wrist while falling.

“Ugh, kuh, uh…”

“Do I need to personally instruct you on how to greet your superior officer, Lieutenant Kim?”

Ki Tae-jeong mocked Kim Seok-cheol, asking what the meaning of rank insignia was if he didn’t understand it at his age. The man’s sculpted face twisted into a crooked smirk. His beauty, radiant enough to seem almost unreal, was laced with a venomous charm. His features were so absurdly flawless, to the point where one might want to question God about the reason for molding such a creature and pushing it into the midst of ordinary people.