NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 38



Only Krnovel

His name is King-3

In the dark cave, I looked around the hostages with the help of a single gas lamp, trying to find the main character in this hostage situation, Ms. Lucy Aldrich.

Most of the hostages in the cave seemed to be treated well and had no problems, but one middle-aged woman who looked quite old was groaning and sweating profusely as if she was uncomfortable somewhere.

‘Lucy Aldrich… She was here.’

I took a quick look at the face and it was the person I was looking for.

“Doctor? Are you a doctor?”

“For now, that’s it···.”

At that moment, the woman next to the lady grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her.

‘What power···.’

I reflexively braced myself against the force pulling me, but the other person pulled me back as if nothing had happened.

But it felt strange to pull it with force.

‘No. This wasn’t pulled with force···?’

When I looked down because of the foreign feeling in my leg, I saw that her foot was touching mine.

‘what?’

It could have been dismissed as a mere coincidence, but there are no coincidences in this world.

“Hurry up!”

The woman with impressive sparkling blue eyes even in the dark cave brought me, who was lost in thought for a moment, to Mrs. Lucy.

“Please look after Madam! She has been feeling unwell for the past few days, and now she lies down all day, shivering all over!”

“······.”

Seeing Mrs. Lucy’s condition, which seemed more urgent than expected, I put aside my questions about the blue-eyed woman for a moment and focused on Mrs. Lucy in front of me.

Being a doctor is just a disguise, it’s not my job.

I was used to dealing with people effectively, but not so much at saving them.

The only things in my bag right now were not medicine or medical equipment like a stethoscope, but a bulletproof vest that could block a few bullets and the Gyeongseong-1 I brought from Shanghai.

“Do something. Please!”

“Hmm.”

Seeing the desperate look on her face, I sat down next to the woman who had collapsed.

But that didn’t mean I could fix people, so I just watched from afar.

‘They say assembly is the reverse of disassembly… So what if saving a person is the reverse of killing them…?’

I looked around at my wife lying on the cold, bare floor, thinking of such ridiculous things.

It felt a little strange that only this person was groaning while everyone else was fine.

Of course, the others looked a little better than the lady here, but it seemed like everyone was unwell, knowingly or unknowingly, because gurgling sounds could be heard here and there.

But none of them were in such a bad condition that they couldn’t move an inch like Mrs. Lucy.

‘What’s different?’

If we were to find a difference, it would be that of these three, Mrs. Lucy appeared to be the oldest.

‘cough?’

Come to think of it, there was no light coming into the cave, so it was difficult to see ahead without relying on small torches and gas lamps.

And the inside of the cave was cooler than the outside, and it was so humid that water dripped from the ceiling.

It was midsummer, so everyone was wearing thin clothing and it seemed like it would be a perfect time to lose body heat.

‘Is it hypothermia?’

Of course, this might not have been the right answer, but now was the time to do something to help the fallen lady walk.

That way, we can somehow escape from here, join the punitive force waiting at the bottom of the mountain, and save Lady Lucy’s life.

“I think it’s hypothermia.”

“Hypothermia?”

“You’re feeling like this because your body temperature dropped for a moment. You’ll feel better once you go outside where it’s warm.”

“But there are kidnappers outside.”

“It won’t happen anymore.”

“yes?”

I left her frozen and carried the groaning lady out of the cave.

“Now, just a moment!”

“what···?”

“Can I go out?”

As I carried the lady out, a woman who appeared to be her acquaintance followed me out, and the other hostages followed us out of the cave.

They squinted their eyes at the sunlight they had not seen in a long time and raised their hands to block the sunlight.

Soon, the hostages, who had somewhat adapted to the sunlight, saw the corpses of the bandits with painful faces as they ended their lives.

“Oh my god!”

“What, what is this···!”

A woman who appeared to be an acquaintance of the lady asked me with a face full of doubt.

“What about those people···.”

“It’s because you all drank too much.”

“Drinking too much?”

Instead of sweet wine, the wine bottle was filled with tangy puffer fish blood.

I just gave a bribe to the people who were watching me on my way into the mountain.

These foolish thieves seemed to have completely believed that the puffer fish blood was a high-quality liquor imported from France and drank it without any hesitation.

And he ended his sinful life by being poisoned by the poison contained in the puffer fish’s blood.

“How could that be···.”

The woman’s blue eyes trembled.

It seemed that the sight of people dying one by one was not very good for the mind and body of a young girl who did not know the ways of the world.

‘That’s what happens when a girl who doesn’t know the ways of the world is right.’

When I looked at her actions, thinking that they were acting, something seemed strange.

“Okay, for now, let’s just think about getting out.”

“······.”

The woman neither confirmed nor denied.

He just followed me behind without saying a word.

The others also realized the seriousness of the situation and followed quietly with their mouths shut.

‘Two minutes left.’

When I came in, I left bombs here and there to avoid the eyes of the thieves.

Bombs hidden throughout the mountain will explode in the warehouse exactly two minutes later.

I haven’t properly tested the bomb I received from Uiyoldan, but I don’t think it’s as bad as the one at Jongno Police Station last time.

Because the bombs we brought this time were much smaller than the ones used at Jongno Police Station for concealment purposes.

‘If bombs explode from all directions, the thieves will be confused, so we’ll take advantage of that opportunity to break through the main gate.’

If possible, it would have been better to have prepared a truck or something in advance and taken the hostages out all at once, and it would have been neater and more manageable, but···. In this vast China, finding a truck was secondary, and finding someone who could drive a truck was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The majority of trucks rolling around in China belong to companies or trading houses, and so do their drivers.

So I couldn’t get a truck.

‘I have to hit it with my body.’

My plan was this.

The bombs scattered here and there in the mountain explode all at once, and when the bandits fall into confusion, they quickly take control of the main gate and take out the hostages.

And I stay behind to buy time for the hostages to get down the mountain safely.

That’s the end.

‘Phew.’

I hid in a somewhat secluded place and put the lady down.

Then he took off the doctor’s gown he was wearing and covered it over the lady.

Then the blue-eyed woman looked up at me with an expression as if to ask, “What are you doing?”

“Weren’t you supposed to get us out of here…?”

“That will happen.”

Wang Jin put his bag down on the floor.

And then he took out a bulletproof vest and a gun from inside.

The bulletproof vest was an improvised bulletproof plate made by compressing the iron plates left over from making the Gyeongseong-1. Since it was hastily made just for here, its bulletproof performance had not been verified, and it was incredibly heavy.

Still, it was better than not having anything at all, so I brought it with me.

‘If it’s okay, I should sell it.’

I was planning to try it out today, and if it performed well, I would try supplying it to other places or give it to the independence army in Manchuria.

“Why are you suddenly pulling out a gun?”

“Things are going to get a bit rough from now on.”

Finally, he checked his gun and then his watch.

’30 seconds.’

Now there really was no time.

Finally, he put a magazine in the gun he was holding and spoke to the trembling hostages.

“In a little while, you will hear a loud noise and the entrance over there will open. Then, run down the mountain without looking back. Do you understand?”

“······.”

There was no way to know if anyone understood since there was no answer, but things went as planned.

As the hour and minute hands of the clock pointed to exactly one place, a loud explosion filled the mountain village.

“Whoa!”

The explosion was bigger than I thought.

******

Shandong Province, the center of China’s industry, politics, and trade.

The one who rules this place is Tian Zhongyu, a close associate of Cao Kun, the powerful figure in the Beiyang government of the Republic of China, and known as the King of Shandong. He was in charge of handling the kidnapping incident that occurred this time.

The pressure from the great powers and the nagging from above were squeezing Jeon Joong-ok’s neck, and the bandits were stalling for time by demanding his resignation and a huge compensation.

Jeon Jung-ok wanted to use force to wipe out the mountain herd, but he could not do so under the pressure of the great powers who pretended to be concerned about their own people but were desperate to exploit China.

The Western powers were threatening to double the indemnities handed down from the Qing to the Republic of China if any trouble occurred to their citizens in this incident.

So Jeon Jung-ok had no choice but to be careful with all her actions, and she ended up in a situation where she had to watch out for the thieves as a member of the punitive force.

“The punitive force is too busy keeping an eye on the bandits to look out for the safety of the citizens…. I know things don’t always go the way I want them to, but this is….”

“There are many people at the top who are concerned that the situation is protracted, so the President will make a decision soon.”

“That scarecrow?”

Jeon Jung-ok shook her head as if it was nonsense.

“It would be better to trust Master Cao Kun or Wu Peifu rather than that scarecrow, after all, those two people don’t want this matter to be prolonged.”

Jeon Joong-ok recalled the letter she had received from Jo Gon (Chao Kun) a while ago.

The letter contained the message that the Kingdom of Italy, tired of waiting due to the prolonged situation, was gradually declaring its intention to intervene directly.

If the great powers intervened in this matter, the Beiyang government would be called a fool who could not handle even one thing like this properly and brought in foreign powers, which would in turn be detrimental to their own legitimacy.

“Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

“What do you mean?”

“A decision will be made soon from above.”

Jeon Jung-ok felt that the time for punishment had come.

“Can the soldiers be deployed right away?”

“As the situation has been prolonged, military discipline has become somewhat lax, but we can deploy at any moment.”

“Okay… very good.”

Jeon Jung-ok had to risk her life on this matter.

In any case, since this incident occurred on his own territory, he could not avoid responsibility.

So, from his perspective, the answer was to somehow establish himself and cover up this problem.

“Just in case, let’s check the soldiers again.”

“All right.”

“If we’re going to do this, we should also try to get the soldiers’ mental state back on track.”

“Yes, we will re-establish military discipline and check the condition of the soldiers once again.”

“Okay, then thank you for your hard work···.”

At that time, Jeon Jung-ok was burning with the will to fight.

Suddenly the ground shook, his barracks shook, and a loud explosion was heard.

A sudden earthquake caused Jeon Jung-ok to fall to the floor.

“dismissal!”

“Umm… I’m fine.”

Jeon Jung-ok left the barracks, shaking off the dirt from her hands.

Then, from the mountain range in the distance, a cloud of dust rising high into the sky and a flame rising equally high came into view.

“Did the explosion occur on the mountainside?”

“It seems like that…!”

“shit.”

Jeon Jung-ok began to rack her brain to understand the situation.

‘Why did the explosion occur in the mountain?’

This could be seen as a mistake made by thieves while handling weapons or explosives.

As the situation became prolonged, the thieves would have had to prepare for any eventuality.

But like any other thieves, they were probably all addicted to alcohol and opium, making it difficult to control them properly.

So, I thought that it was something that happened accidentally while I was working.

‘For something like that, the explosion seems too big…?’

Jeon Jung-ok swears that she has never seen such a huge explosion before.

Jeon Jung-ok had been in the military for quite some time and had fought in several battles.

That’s why we’ve already seen shells exploding and explosives exploding on the battlefield many times.

But I don’t remember ever seeing an explosion that shook the ground so far away and made such an ear-splitting roar.

‘This is truly an enormous explosion. It could be said to be a work of art.’

Jeon Jung-ok was secretly amazed by this tremendous explosion.

If this explosion had occurred in friendly territory, this would not have been possible, but since it occurred at the hands of the enemy, it was possible.

“Your Majesty, what should we do?”

“Hmm···.”

Jeon Jung-ok hesitated for a moment at the adjutant’s question.

There has not yet been an order from higher ups to suppress them by force.

But if such a large explosion had occurred, the inside would have been in chaos.

Therefore, if we were to lead our troops and attack them alive now, the subjugation would be as easy as eating cold porridge.

‘Are the gods of heaven and earth helping me?’

There was no way to know that.

But one thing was certain.

“The enemy is in trouble, and if they fall into confusion, the hostages’ lives will also be in danger.”

“Yes!”

Jeon Jung-ok calmed her pounding heart and gave the order in a serious but not too heavy voice.

“The enemy is trapped on all sides. Generals and soldiers, enter this battle with a determined spirit.”

“I obey your orders, Your Majesty!”

Just like the starting signal for a race on the sports day, a bomb exploded in the mountains and soon after, Jeon Jung-ok sent out his troops.

Although it was his arbitrary action without any orders from his superiors, he was more confident than ever.

‘The thieves won’t pay attention to the hostages anyway. So, let’s kill all the thieves who are struggling now and rescue the hostages…’

The situation was one of great benefit to Jeon Jung-ok, as she gained more status and took home the treasures from the mountains.

Of course, it was necessary to assume that the hostages would be rescued by the punitive force… Who else would be here besides themselves?

‘I guess my luck is starting to turn around now!’

Jeon Jung-ok smiled happily as she looked at the pillar of fire rising in the distance.