When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 147



Only Krnovel

147. Treasure Hunt

Lee Gil-sang received an ‘invitation’ from an unidentified masked person.

The reason for the invitation was as expected.

The goal is to integrate the four major organizations and take control of the underworld of Korea and put him in charge as the new manager.

Then, Lee Gil-sang chose to go to France without hesitation.

His original purpose as bait was to make contact with the organization behind the scenes.

The address was a castle in France, exactly the same place Oh Hyeon-seong had discovered.

However, while he was staying in downtown Paris to prepare for the operation, he was suddenly caught by French government hunters who raided the car.

So, I was locked up in a prison in a faraway foreign country.

“Well, okay. It was a good decision to keep my mouth shut and not tell anyone that I was locked up in a cell right away.”

Oh Hyun-seong nodded his head and said.

“But you know, you did whatever Han Soo-yeon told you to do without saying a word to me. Didn’t you clearly ask me to accept you as her subordinate?”

“Ah… No! I didn’t know that either! Of course I wanted to tell you first, but the deputy director said that we had already discussed it and told me to pack my bags quickly…! I only found out after I got here!”

Lee Gil-sang, who was sitting on a chair, waved his arms wildly and spoke.

It must be unfair to him, what he just said was true without an inch of falsehood.

Since Han Su-yeon was like that, I thought Oh Hyeon-seong would have known as well.

“That’s what they say… What do you think?”

Oh Hyun-seong suddenly turned his gaze.

The cell phone sitting on the small table had its screen lit up and the speakerphone on.

“… How did you end up there, senior?”

After a moment of silence, Han Su-yeon’s voice was heard.

“I have some personal business to attend to.”

“After almost 6 years without any record of entry or exit, suddenly in Paris?”

“French farm equipment is famous.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard this story…”

“That’s not important. Didn’t we clearly say that we should solve this together?”

Oh Hyun-seong spoke in a voice that was somewhat cold.

An unidentified mastermind who controls criminal organizations around the world.

It was a project we planned together to chase down guys who were suspected of being involved in various incidents, starting with the theft from a domestic relic storage facility a few years ago.

For Oh Hyeon-seong, they were the ones who stole his equipment from his active duty days from the relic storage, so he thought he had to see them in person.

But she tried to exclude him from the plan without saying a word.

“I didn’t want to involve you, senior. As you know, if you’re exposed to danger in a foreign country, I won’t be able to do anything if something goes wrong.”

“Since you’re already involved, don’t hide it and tell the truth. Everything you know.”

A short sigh came over the speakerphone.

But soon, a photo was sent to the cell phone that Oh Hyun-seong was holding.

When I opened the photo file, a picture of a wall with a gray swirl pattern appeared.

“It’s the symbol of a secret society called the Eye of the Vortex. Do you remember?”

“Of course, it seems these guys were indeed involved.”

The ‘castle’ that Oh Hyeon-seong discovered was a stronghold used by those guys.

Many of the hunters within the castle were either members of a secret society or outsiders controlled by the organization.

“Senior, you said you saw a masked hunter?”

“I saw two of them. A man and a woman. Even at first glance, they didn’t look ordinary.”

“He must be one of the twelve leaders within the secret society. The exact level is unknown, but it is estimated that he is at least close to a national power-level hunter.”

“… 12 people?”

“There are also over 100 employees staying in the castle, and they are all high-ranking hunters.”

Oh Hyeon-seong couldn’t help but laugh when he heard her story.

A high-ranking hunter means someone with at least level 10 or higher skills.

The absurd story that all the butlers and maids who stay and work in the castle are high-ranking hunters.

“… This is ridiculous.”

Where on earth did they get that talent pool?

Even the governments of major countries are using all means possible to gather high-level hunter talent, so how does a secret organization that cannot even reveal itself acquire such talent?

It was a number that Oh Hyeon-seong could not understand at all.

“The organization is much larger than we had anticipated.”

“Whose head is that?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet. It’s the same with other intelligence agencies. It seems that there is a person that the Saintess side has an idea of, considering it to be their territory, but that’s not accurate either.”

“Okay… Okay. Organize all the materials you have and send them to me.”

“Senior. There are people rushing into this case from all sides, not just us. It could get messy at any moment. There’s no need for a senior who’s already retired to get involved in something like this. Our agents dispatched with Lee Gil-sang will handle it well.”

Han Su-yeon tried to persuade him.

Gil Sang Lee, who had been locked up in prison due to an unexpected variable, was also scheduled to be rescued by the dispatched agents.

After making contact as written on the invitation, I was going to find out their identities.

If we can just understand the organizations that were previously unknown, it would be easy to bring them down.

But Oh Hyun-seong answered simply.

“Okay, withdraw all the management staff, I’ll handle it.”

“… what?”

“And for the time being, the potatoes are confiscated. You can survive on just steak.”

“Huh? Hey… Wait a minute, senior!”

Stop.

Han Su-yeon’s urgent voice could be heard, but Oh Hyeon-seong mercilessly hung up the call.

This is a senior’s consideration for his junior, telling him to eat a lot of expensive, top-quality synthetic meat on this occasion.

*

“It’s not a mess.”

Oh Hyeon-seong muttered while reading the materials.

As Han Su-yeon said, they weren’t the only ones targeting the secret society called the Eye of the Vortex.

Although it was not apparent on the outside, it was discovered that foreign intelligence agencies were swarming in from all directions.

Recently, a number of national treasures were smuggled across the border into France.

It wasn’t something that had accidentally trickled into the dark, it was all stolen from foreign governments over the past few months.

In the same way that the Korean relics repository was raided.

But clearly there were differences.

In Korea, only a few pieces of active equipment used by Oh Hyeon-seong were stolen, whereas in other countries, important relics that were considered core were stolen.

As a result, intelligence agencies from other countries rushed to recover the stolen artifacts.

‘It’s a wonder that he’s still hanging on despite having drawn so much aggro.’

A secret organization that has been keeping itself completely hidden until now.

I couldn’t understand what was going on in my mind when I came up with this idea.

‘Anyway, thanks to that, the stakes have increased absurdly.’

At least ten national treasures within the castle.

If you think that the agents of each country will just split the spoils amicably after defeating the villain, you are very naive.

Although they must prioritize recovering the stolen relics, they will also try to somehow secure and smuggle other national treasures.

Because national treasures are an asymmetric force that can have a significant impact on the security of the country in question.

‘I’m more curious as to what kind of guy would do something like this… Well, I guess I’ll just have to check it out myself.’

*

“I… I can fool you pretty well, right? If I get caught…”

“Just don’t be nervous. Then there won’t be any problems.”

Oh Hyun-seong, who was holding the steering wheel, said while looking at Lee Gil-sang, who was stiffly sitting in the back seat.

The date of the banquet written on the invitation.

Oh Hyeon-seong was heading to the castle with Lee Gil-sang.

Of course, it is clearly different from its original appearance.

‘At this point, there’s no way I’ll be caught just by my appearance.’

He put on the custom-made mask that Arthur had ordered and disguised himself as one of Lee Gil-sang’s subordinates.

Originally, there were supposed to be four or five agents from the management office together, but now there were only Oh Hyeon-seong and Lee Gil-sang.

“There are so many people here.”

Oh Hyun-seong muttered while glancing outside.

A line of luxury vehicles entering the castle.

They too were able to enter the castle with a simple procedure, parked their vehicles, and headed to the banquet hall.

Some people entered the castle a few days early, but on the day itself, they intentionally entered late as the time was running out.

When infiltrating, if you spend too much time there, the chances of being caught increase.

Keep your words short and your time short.

This is the basic rule to follow in this type of operation.

“How magnificent…”

“Your tastes are indeed sophisticated.”

Although it was an old castle, it had been well maintained, and the interior was truly admirable.

Squeak!

As I entered the banquet hall, which was so spacious that my mouth fell open, I saw that, indeed, many people were gathered in their seats.

Wherever you look, there are only top-level hunters.

All of these guests were leaders of various criminal organizations.

“Three… my goodness… how can all these big names be in one place…”

Lee Gil-sang, half-asleep, muttered while trembling.

A world full of infamous monsters.

Excluding the American continent, there were giants and legends from all over the world gathered in one place.

Of course, Oh Hyun-seong ended up laughing in vain.

It’s hard not to laugh when you see these three or four-star people flexing their muscles and acting like big shots.

In his eyes, they were just ordinary criminals.

Instead, his gaze was turned elsewhere.

‘Certainly… a lot of people have gathered from all over the place.’

Among the gathered petty criminals, there were some who seemed sharp and well-trained.

They were agents from another country.

Even though they had changed their appearances like that, Oh Hyeon-seong was able to read the subtle differences.

Of course, there will be some who don’t notice it at all.

If there were so many people mixed together like this, there would be many talented people in the world that even his intuition couldn’t catch.

Oh Hyun-seong accepted the champagne that was served, blending in naturally.

“How can the King of the Dark World of Korea act like such a country bumpkin?”

“ha ha ha…”

In contrast to his leisurely appearance, Gil-Sang Lee is very fast-paced.

Lee Gil-sang, who had never experienced a party like this, let alone infiltrating enemy territory, had been acting awkward since a while ago.

But now it’s time to get used to it.

“I need to get moving soon.”

“Yes? Where are you going?”

“I need to go look around somewhere else for a bit.”

“Didn’t the host tell you not to leave the banquet hall?”

“What good will it do you listen to what the bad guys say?”

Oh Hyun-seong turned his gaze.

Ever since he entered the castle, he had been secretly activating the Rudra Ring he had been wearing.

Thanks to this, traces of several national treasures within the castle had been visible to his eyes for some time.

“You stay in your spot, and if anyone comes looking for you, give them some time to find you.”

“Ah… yes!”

Oh Hyun-seong sneaked out of the banquet hall.

Anyway, from here on out, if we get caught, we won’t be able to make any excuses.

He took off his cumbersome face mask.

“Let’s take a look at what they’ve built up to occupy such a flashy castle.”