You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 585

“Three on the left in the secret passage, support this side!”

As Cha Joo-han’s radio message crackled through, Lee Jin-woo shouted his acknowledgement.

Since the guard with them was armed, they needed to quickly overwhelm him with numbers and rescue So-eun.

The team members surrounded the heavy door, aiming their tasers.

“Opening it.”

Lee Jin-woo placed his hand on the keypad.

4296.

As he entered the password Cha Joo-han had provided, the circular handle, previously unyielding, turned clockwise, and the door swung inward.

Thud!

Lee Jin-woo cautiously pushed the door open with his foot, threw it wide, and aimed his taser inside.

In the cramped space of about five square meters, the guard was holding an unconscious So-eun, a knife pressed against her neck.

Judging by the large carrier at So-eun’s feet, the guard had apparently placed her inside and hidden in this confined area.

It seemed he was preparing to take So-eun out and use her as a shield against the police when he heard the door opening.

“Drop the knife and put your hands up,” Heo Min-woo commanded, also aiming his taser.

However, the guard remained defiant, pressing the knife closer to So-eun’s neck and shouting, “Everyone back off!”

He must have heard about the dispatched police special forces and realized he hadn’t received contact from those who escaped through the secret passage. Yet, the guard showed no signs of surrendering.

It seemed he intended to buy time for Im Hyun-il and the Onodera family to escape.

“Don’t you care if the kid dies?!” the guard yelled at the police, who maintained their aim.

The guards they had encountered while entering had protective gear on their thighs, anticipating taser attacks.

Fortunately, they had learned from the emergency exit encounter that the guards’ calves were exposed, allowing them to effectively use their tasers.

Lee Jin-woo quickly scanned the man’s appearance.

He had thick, green surgical drapes wrapped around his calves.

It seemed he had taken them from the operating room to thwart the police raid and counter the tasers.

“This scene is under control. No one can escape now. Put the knife down. What did the kid do wrong?” Heo Min-woo said rapidly, keeping his taser trained on the guard.

The guard scoffed and shouted, “So what? Go ahead and shoot! Then this kid will die too.”

“Put the kid down.”

“I said, try shooting me?”

As if determined to stall for time, the guard pressed the blade against So-eun’s neck, feigning a deeper cut.

There was no visible wound yet, but the soft skin was pressed against the sharp edge.

Zzzt!

Before the knife could break the skin, Lee Jin-woo fired his taser at the guard.

Considering the guard was wearing a vest, the protective gear on his thighs, and the likelihood that the thick cloth on his calves would neutralize the electrode needles, he aimed for the forearm.

“You morons, you think that will work?”

But the guard seemed to be wearing something on his forearm as well, and the electrode needles failed to penetrate the clothing properly, sticking loosely.

“Should I just slash this and kill the kid? Are you not understanding me? I said back off! Back off, you bastards!”

The guard stood up abruptly, holding So-eun.

And as if to prove his intent, he moved the blade against So-eun’s neck, creating a shallow cut.

A red line appeared on her neck, and tiny drops of blood welled up.

Click!

In that instant, Lee Jin-woo quickly cocked his gun.

Bang!

Without warning, he fired at the guard’s calf.

“Aaaagh!”

*You idiot, I had to try the taser at least once before shooting a live round according to regulations, so that’s why I shot it.*

*…I wanted to say that, but aren’t the police supposed to consider even that kind of person as a citizen?*

I decided to keep it to myself.

“Kkeueueueuk!”

Blood bloomed in a circle around the bullet hole in the green surgical drape.

Clang, clang!

The moment the guard dropped the knife and So-eun in terrible pain, the team members immediately rushed in.

“Grab him! Grab him!”

“The kid first!”

The waiting team members swarmed the guard, pinning him to the floor.

One person climbed on his back, pressing down and twisting both arms behind him to secure him.

Fortunately, So-eun’s head fell into Lee Jin-woo’s arms before it hit the floor.

“I am arresting you on the spot for hostage taking as of 11:07 PM on August 26, 2012. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney, and your statements may be used against you in a court of law,” Heo Min-woo recited the Miranda rights while handcuffing the subdued guard.

“Let go! Kkeueuk, let me go!”

The pain from the gunshot wound must have been considerable, but the guard struggled against his restraints.

While the team members applied pressure to the guard’s calf wound to stop the bleeding, Lee Jin-woo, checking on So-eun’s condition, sent a radio message.

“Victim rescued. Condition good. Appears to be under sedation, presumed to be before general anesthesia. Minor cut on the neck. Hostage situation over, hostage taker subdued with live ammunition, request hospital transport support.”

─This is the operations headquarters. One ambulance each is on standby behind the riot police buses at the main and back gates of the Ribbon Medical Center.

As the radio message arrived from Cha Joo-han, Lee Jin-woo gestured to the team members who had been mobilized to subdue the guard, who were still struggling.

It was a signal to continue searching the left secret passage, a task temporarily suspended to rescue So-eun.

As the team members headed to the left secret passage, Lee Jin-woo immediately sent a radio message.

“Due to resistance, the right emergency exit on the 3rd basement floor is blocked. Please transmit the situation in the stairwell as soon as it is identified.”

They had failed to subdue all the guards who had attacked them while entering the basement, and the emergency exit was blocked.

The best approach would have been to subdue all the guards interfering with their descent, making movement through the stairwell easier, but time was critical due to So-eun’s safety.

Moreover, the police, bound by considerations for the human rights of criminals, had too many constraints even when neutralizing obstacles.

“……”

Lee Jin-woo looked down at So-eun.

So-eun was sleeping soundly despite the chaotic situation.

*Should I say it’s fortunate?*

*If she had been in her right mind, her childhood might have been stained with trauma.*

─Additional personnel have completed the arrest of all security personnel in the right stairwell with additional support, and the suppression of the left stairwell is complete and has arrived in front of the emergency exit on the 3rd basement floor.

It seemed that the additional personnel requested before the entry had arrived.

Then the control room, not yet secured due to the fire shutter, would soon be breached.

“Request support for additional personnel to transport the victim and hostage taker by ambulance.”

─Three special forces and three riot police, a total of six people, can arrive on the 3rd basement floor within 1 minute.

“Transport the victim through the main gate and the hostage taker through the back gate. The hostage taker has a lot of bleeding, so urgent action is needed.”

Heo Min-woo immediately opened the emergency exit that had been locked, and soon six team members arrived.

They helped separate So-eun and the guard and move them to the ambulances, respectively.

─Two medical staff members waiting in front of the secret passage on the 2nd basement floor have been arrested. They don’t understand Korean at all. Presumed to be foreigners.

And then a radio message arrived from the team members searching the 2nd basement floor.

“There’s no one here!”

“There’s no one here either!”

The team members who had scattered into the secret passage also shouted after completing their search.

If no one was found in front of the secret passage, it meant that they had already entered or had given up on going out to the 3rd basement floor.

If they had already entered, they would eventually come out to the exit being monitored by the standby team.

If not, they would be waiting inside the passage, intending to come back up when the police left the 3rd basement floor.

─This is the operations headquarters. There is currently no one visible on the 3rd basement floor.

“Has the location of the three main arrest targets been identified?”

─Still identifying.

“Please confirm the search situation on the ground floor.”

─Twenty additional personnel are searching the ground floor after suppressing the stairwell.

Twenty additional personnel.

Then it doesn’t seem like the ground floor is urgent.

Since most of the entry team ran to the basement, it would be better to leave the ground floor to the additional personnel and continue the detailed search of the 3rd basement floor.

“Is there anyone hiding somewhere on the 3rd basement floor or waiting inside the secret passage?”

─Still analyzing, but there is a possibility that there is no movement detected on the ground floor either.

If there are people hiding in the secret passage, they won’t be able to hold out for long inside.

But since we need to end the situation quickly, it would be good to tighten it from the front and back.

If the police are coming in from behind while they are in the passage, they will have no choice but to escape forward.

Lee Jin-woo instructed the team members in front of the secret passage to enter in pairs.

As a total of 4 people entered the secret passage, there were 3 people left on the 3rd basement floor.

Since the back gate entry team also ran to the basement through the left stairwell, they need to join that side and search the 3rd basement floor.

“Report the location of entry two.”

─Entry two, 4 people are searching the 2nd basement floor, and 5 people have arrived in front of the emergency exit on the 3rd basement floor after suppressing the left stairwell.

“After entering, wait at the end of the central corridor.”

Creak.

The sound of a door opening came from the opposite corridor.

Step, step, step.

Perhaps because of the operation, there were many people, but the footsteps were not loud.

I had exchanged radio messages in advance, and I had received a call that all the guards in the stairwell had been suppressed, but I couldn’t let my guard down.

With only three people left, including the general police officer Heo Min-woo, it is easy to be outnumbered.

Although the probability is extremely low, if it is the enemy again, there may be a situation where live ammunition has to be used again.

Lee Jin-woo assumed a defensive posture and aimed the lamp at the opposite side of the corridor.

“Hoo.”

Fortunately, it was the back gate entry team.

“Are there any seriously injured?”

The leader of Team 2, who commanded the back gate entry team and the support team, asked.

“No, there aren’t.”

“But the others……”

“I sent two people each to tighten up from behind in case there were people hiding in the secret passage, and I was waiting to move with Team Leader Seong when I met him. Any injured on your side?”

“No injuries other than minor ones.”

“Okay. Let’s search the 3rd basement floor thoroughly until we secure the control room. The dangerous situation is over for now, so let’s not be hasty and take it slow.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Team leader.”

After the team members scattered to various places on the 3rd basement floor, Heo Min-woo grabbed Lee Jin-woo when he was about to move with another team member.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but can I go up first? There’s a lot of blood coming from my arm.”

Heo Min-woo said, clutching his forearm tightly.

Lee Jin-woo briefly made him take his hand off and shone the lamp on it.

It was cut quite deeply under the torn T-shirt sleeve.

Lee Jin-woo sighed.

He hadn’t noticed because it was black clothes and the surroundings were dark.

“Why are you telling me this now!”

“I just thought it was a small cut, but now that I see it, the bleeding hasn’t stopped yet. And it didn’t hurt much, so I thought the wound was shallow. I guess I didn’t feel the pain because I was so nervous until I saved So-eun. Haha.”

Heo Min-woo took off his black jacket, wrapped it around the wound, tied it tightly, and acted nonchalantly.

“Don’t go alone, go up with this friend. You never know what kind of guy will pop out from where. Go to the ambulance and get emergency treatment.”

“I understand.”

“Escort Officer Heo to the ambulance at the main gate.”

As he opened the emergency exit and went out with the escort of the special forces member, the sight of blood-stained [회칼, hoe-kal: a type of Korean knife] and steel pipes scattered throughout the stairwell came into view.

“Oh, my.”

It seems that the additional support that came out, as Cha Joo-han said, had arrested all the guards.

The stairwell, which had been bustling with ferocity until just now, was quiet.

─Officer, are you okay?

As he was climbing the stairs, a radio message came from Cha Joo-han.

I had been thinking that he would have hacked the CCTV from the time he knew how to enter the secret space behind the vending machine and even the password, but it seems he really did.

It seemed that he also found out about Heo Min-woo’s injury when Lee Jin-woo shone the lamp.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m on my way to the ambulance for treatment anyway. Don’t worry, over.”

Heo Min-woo answered playfully and entered the 1st floor.

“Don’t move. You’ll be suspected for no reason.”

When he came out of the building, he saw dozens of guards sitting huddled along the 1st floor building, with their arms on their heads.

The police were watching to see if they were showing any subversive movements.

Just thinking about taking all those guys to the police station made me sigh.

The detention center will be full.

“Officer, this way.”

The special forces member urged Heo Min-woo, who had stopped and was watching the scene.

“You seem to be hurt a lot.”

Even though he had tied the wound tightly, blood was seeping out.

“This is fine.”

“Fine? It must hurt a lot.”

“I’ve been hurt before……”

It was when he arrived in front of the ambulance waiting at the main gate with the special forces member.

─Im Hyun-il is in the woods on the right side of the main gate. He is trying to escape on a mountain bike. The main gate support team and the No. 1 side gate standby team are requested to provide support quickly.

Cha Joo-han’s voice rang from the radios of both Heo Min-woo and the special forces member.

Vroom, vroom, woom, woom!

At that moment, a loud engine sound was heard from the woods.