Boy Monster Chapter 99

Jae Eunho, who was examining the situation inside and outside the factory, parted his lips slightly.

“They’re fast…?”

Breaking his expectation that the terrorist group would respond submissively to the provocation out of a desire to save their own skins, they shattered it completely. The inside of the factory was thick with a hazardous gas that would paralyze the respiratory organs and cause death upon mere inhalation. The cyborg psychics had put gas masks on the hostages and were herding them in front of the production equipment.

Of course, the operation over at the gambling house raided by the police had been successful. Except for a few human traffickers who had fled, everyone was apprehended, and the evidence was secured intact. Corpses torn apart by dogs and corpses beaten to death were discovered behind the gambling house. The problem right now was the factory that the enemy had targeted. The factory, packed with civilians, had turned into a battlefield.

“But… even if that perverted terrorist group had been monitoring the news trends. Isn’t this an affair where they shouldn’t immediately dispatch cyborgs to carry out a hostage situation? What on earth is the reason they moved so recklessly and this quickly?”

Choi Jungkyung threw a question at Hyeon Jaewoong, who was muttering with his brows knitted.

“Now, Military Academy cadet Hyeon Jaewoong. I shall present a surprise test question. This is a golden opportunity to win the favor of Captain Jae Eunho, so special caution is required for your answer.”

“…Yes!”

“A terrorist organization that has already had many things exposed to our side has crossed the line again and carried out a headlong attack. Is it simply because they are reckless and empty-headed?”

Hyeon Jaewoong, who was thinking deeply, brought forth his answer.

“…No. It is because they had the certainty that their target is here.”

As Jae Eunho shrugged his eyebrows, showing he liked the answer, Hyeon Jaewoong continued speaking with a voice full of great confidence.

“This is a back mountain in Gyeonggi-do. Unless they had tailed us from the very beginning, it is a location where they cannot immediately scramble out. But, our coming here was a classified operational secret. We didn’t even reveal it to our own team. Nobody knows except for a small number of high-ranking officials. There is someone who leaked the secret that the final target, Captain Jae Eunho, is here… is there noooot…?!”

Hyeon Jaewoong let out a shout involuntarily at the weight possessed by the content of his words. His analysis was accurate. Rather than the possibility that they carried out the attack based on guesswork, the possibility that someone definitively tipped off Jae Eunho’s current location was overwhelming. There is a helper for the terrorist organization among the high-ranking decision-makers……!

“Amazing, Military Academy cadet Su Hwelju 1st Dan Hyeon Jaewoong. You will become an S.E.T.U agent who leaves his name down for generations. Just like me.”

Choi Jungkyung tightly hugged Hyeon Jaewoong and ruffled his hair. Becoming proud, Hyeon Jaewoong brought up a counter-operation. To the fellow who was trying to act cool to be helpful, Jae Eunho threw a chilly comment.

“Properly grasp the scene before presenting a solution.”

“Yes.”

His face had turned bright red when he blocked his mouth with his palm. Jae Eunho entrusted the operational directions to the two for a brief moment.

“I will find out who the spy bastard is through resonance from now on, so please grasp the scene and respond. Saving and evacuating the civilians comes first! Arresting the cyborgs is a lower priority. As for the few gamblers who fled, we released search dogs so they will be caught shortly.”

Although he had obtained circumstantial and physical evidence that there was a spy among the higher-ups, Eunho’s expression was not bright.

Following Sa Hwelju, who gave no response, his feelings at encountering this kind of affair were disastrous. It was bitter because he thought to himself that there was so truly no fellow to trust and rely on in this field. At any rate, right now was an opportunity to catch that spy.

Just in time, a phone call arrived from Deputy Director Oh Jigeun. Jae Eunho, who answered the phone, snapped aggressively.

“Who is it. The perverted terrorist group’s helper.”

—I know. It’s clear that the secret has leaked. Right now we are tracking the location of everyone.

“Hurry, hurry! Who else knows the fact that I am at the scene right now.”

It seemed Deputy Director Oh Jigeun had also deduced the circumstances and quickly grasped the alibis of those involved.

—Me, you, Choi Jungkyung, Hyeon Jaewoong, the doctor, Chogwang, the Director of the NIS, the President, the National Security Advisor, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I have been directing the operation from the TF bunker since precisely yesterday. The Director of the NIS, the President, and the National Security Advisor had a continuous emergency meeting and then went to the press conference room. Chogwang is not at the Blue House, but we confirmed he is on an external volunteer service schedule through the CCTV captured after speaking over the phone with the secretary of the Ministry of Justice.

“What about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

—His location cannot be grasped.

“Cannot be grasped, does that mean he disappeared? When and why did he leave his post?”

—We don’t know yet. And he cannot be reached.

To think he pushed for biological weaponization that diligently, as expected…! Just as he firmly gritted his jaw, one more unexpected name came out.

“And finally. Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi.”

“…What did you say?”

“Around the time your acting dead came to an end, that vampire also regained consciousness.”

“What, there is no way….”

Why? Why does he regain consciousness as he pleases? There is no way Sa Hwelju would have saved him out of the blue? Had Sa Hwelju not taken his life? Does that mean Shi Taehyun didn’t kill and then revive Lim Geonhwi?

“He asked for your location first, so I let him know…… don’t tell me….”

How he came back to life was a secondary issue.

Don’t tell me it’s Lim Geonhwi. Don’t tell me.

Jae Eunho quickly executed resonance away from people’s eyes. Since Eunho could now resonate with anyone without a control release procedure, even a high-ranking government official could not defend against him as he pleased. When he searched Lim Geonhwi’s consciousness, unexpectedly, it was inside some warehouse, not a hospital.

Upon entering his mind, his current field of vision with a tablet PC screen turned on was visible. It seemed to be a secret email account. Eunho controlled his mind to make him press an email with a suspicious title.

<There Is contact. is left no nothing send? there to>

However, Lim Geonhwi at the moment he was trying to touch the email was strange. The inside of his consciousness was chaotic enough that Eunho could not control it as he pleased. A tremendous amount of dread and focus could be felt.

Just as Jae Eunho was trying to grasp the inside of his consciousness more broadly, the emergency radio of the commando captain burst out. Because his focus was broken, the resonance was interrupted.

—Apprehension of the gambling ring party scattered across the back mountain is complete! However, the factory situation is severe! The psychics are identified as seven people up to now, but they have already occupied the entire factory! There are 58 hostages in total. Suspects who fled from the gambling house and civilians are mixed together!

It was fortunate that he had made the special forces and the Army division standby nearby in advance. Jae Eunho immediately ordered the mobilization of the standby troops. Dozens of troops surrounded the factory and began the counter-operation.

However, right now when he had to resonate with Lim Geonhwi and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff immediately, the confrontation situation inside the factory gradually became severe.

—We have completed sniping one cyborg…! But they killed a hostage, a hostage!

“Shit…!”

A painful exclamation trickled out from the three men simultaneously. Jae Eunho commanded again.

“Wait, halt the operation! The hostages are in danger. I will perform mind control, everyone cease entry, retreat, and wait.”

The current crisis was more urgent than verifying the spy. Jae Eunho, who was about to resonate with the entire back mountain right away, suddenly regained his rationality.

Ah! Let’s be careful. Right now, nobody knows the fact that Jae Eunho’s ability has been unleashed! Even if just for appearances, he must request a control release. Upon requesting the Level 1 release, permission dropped quickly.

—Sa Yeonri No. 38 Jae Eunho, Level 1 control release. Yes. It has been permitted. However, a message has been delivered to finish it within 5 minutes because the Blue House press corps press conference will begin soon.

“They’re bullshitting.”

Choi Jungkyung criticized heavily. While the control of Jae Eunho’s ability is released, the brainwaves of a small number of high-ranking officials automatically change into a theta state. It was a defense mechanism that operated like a switch being turned on and off. Because they appear as if they have fallen asleep or fainted on the outside, digesting official schedules is bound to be impossible. At any rate, right now Jae Eunho did not even have the leisure to scoff at their demands.

He had to quickly find the enemies in the factory and put them to sleep. It was when he resonated with the factory located under the pitch-black darkness, on a deep ridge of the back mountain far away from the city.

The enemies’ consciousness was not sensed.

Damn it. They already knew about the weaknesses related to brainwaves as well. It could be conjectured that it was a mechanized body by artificially suppressing biological brainwaves.

“……They can’t be sensed. There are no brainwaves. Perhaps there could be more than the 7 people already identified. They might be swarming in even more even now. Ha, which informer poured everything out to those perverts…? Which son of a bitch was it…?”

Jae Eunho, with his brows stiffened sensitively, pondered over the next plan.

“Resonance and control of the enemy is impossible. I will direct the entry operation again, so stand by.”

Hyeon Jaewoong spoke with a disastrous voice.

“Even so, they wouldn’t kill all 50 hostages, right? What is it that they want? To take the Captain….”

“No. They’re going to kill them all.”

“…….”

“Their objective is not just my abduction. If they lure me out and catch me, it would be a jackpot for them, but they also know by now that they cannot abduct me easily. Therefore, they are going to kill all the innocent civilians.”

This is a threat. They are speaking like this. Beyond ‘Hand over Jae Eunho,’ they are saying, ‘We will cause this kind of large-scale slaughter at any time. Helpless weaklings and ordinary people will continue to die. Someone’s father, mother, unnie, younger sibling, daughter, son. The ones in a hurry are not us. You, Jae Eunho, will have to come find us on your own feet, won’t you?’

—Delivering the opinion of the Special Warfare Command deputy commander. Even if we minimize the damage to the hostages by conducting long-range shooting after entering in a counter-terrorism formation, too many casualties will occur on our side. They die right upon entry…!

“Current casualties?”

—There are six gunshot casualties alone, and it seems everyone has died. The enemy psychics are disguised as hostages and causing confusion. Friend or foe identification is difficult!

“Check the shadows. Maintaining shadows can be difficult upon disguise.”

—Because it’s dark, shadows cannot be checked, and besides….

Choi Jungkyung bit his fingertips restlessly with an anxious look.

“I saw it inside the train back then. Those psychics had absolutely no shadow changes during disguise. Because they are machines, there are no mental mistakes or errors.”

“Oh right, what about the guy who was flying mortars at the helicopter?”

Come to think of it, the guy who allegedly attached himself to the helicopter is quiet. Choi Jungkyung answered while gesturing his head toward the outside of the helicopter window.

“Originally, the manual says we shouldn’t commit direct murder with Poong Hwelju psychokinesis. But they started the dogfight without a manual over there first, didn’t they? It’s fine, right, Captain? I lured him toward the abandoned railway tracks and gave him a slight pinch.”

“Of course, of course. It’s the fault of the person who died from being pinched, of course.”

Far below, at the entrance of the abandoned railway tracks, a corpse with a crushed ribcage was sprawled out. When Jae Eunho and Choi Jungkyung exchanged a wink and a smile, Hyeon Jaewoong looked envious. If I also do better, I could match paces with the Captain perfectly like that…! It was a longing expression.

Jae Eunho, who was staring into the mountains, came up with a solution. It was a measure that even the special forces officers could not think of.

“The substation! Since it’s next to a large-scale factory, there must be a substation.”

“Why the substation?”

“Black out the substation to cut off the entire surrounding power grid. Paralyze communications and satellites completely. Because those bastards will be controlling the cyborgs through the satellite internet network, block the communications so they cannot send command signals.”

“As expected of the Captain!”

Choi Jungkyung picked up the phone with an excited voice. In front of Jae Eunho, who was setting up countermeasures while mentioning a defense system and nationally important facilities that he had never even heard of usually, Hyeon Jaewoong did not know how to close his open mouth. A twenty-year-old man’s pure affection blazed up, and his infatuation became all the more rock-solid.