Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 439

441

“This is Muller from the heavily armed special task force. I’m staying here to protect the operation base.”

Bart stared intently at Beom-seok, surprised by the unexpected voice. To qualify for the special task force, one had to be either an Elf or a modified human. That meant Beom-seok was a modified human. Bart couldn’t understand why such a person would be working in the police organization.

Driven by curiosity, he quietly asked,

“You… you’re a modified human, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“But why did you apply to the special task force? Do you have a strong sense of duty, or some other reason?”

Sensing a potentially problematic situation, Lexter interrupted Beom-seok and Bart’s conversation. This wouldn’t end with just a written apology.

“Muller is a gladiator from the Ministry of Culture and Sports’ rookie draft [a system where promising athletes are selected]. He originally wanted to go pro, but things didn’t work out, so he became a police officer.”

“Hmm, really? Why?”

“He was injured and couldn’t participate in the rookie draft.”

“Oh, that’s too bad…”

“But he’s planning to quit soon and join a professional gladiator team. He recently took a pro test and received a passing notification.”

Bart carefully scanned Beom-seok from head to toe, then nodded. If he was good enough to go pro, that meant he was quite skilled. He couldn’t help but be interested.

“Hmm. Really? I’d like to see your skills later.”

“Yes.”

“Then go and do your job.”

Beom-seok nodded, bowed, and stepped back with a sigh of relief. Even if he got caught, it would only be a matter of embarrassment, but if this incident reached Theresa’s ears, it would be a big problem.

She might doubt his intentions. He said he would give up Angela, but if it became known that he was here less than a day later, she would have no choice but to be suspicious of him.

He had been trying to hide his identity, but he hadn’t been able to catch her tail yet. If that happened, he might have to give up on taking off her mask forever.

In the meantime, Bart and Lexter exchanged information in a serious conversation. Lexter was working in the public relations department, but he had discovered this case and consulted several databases. There was quite a bit of information that Bart needed to pay attention to.

Woo woong. Woo woong.

Several flying cars were landing in the quiet construction site in the dead of night. It was the moment when Inspector Lexter’s instincts proved correct. The kidnappers were trying to leave this place, where construction might resume soon.

Bart, watching a man in a black jumper emerge from the basement passage entrance through the video feed, said to Lexter in a low voice,

“It looks like they’re coming out soon. What’s the situation with the snipers?”

“They’re already waiting on the rooftops of nearby buildings. However, I’m worried that they’re positioned a bit far away because of the kidnappers’ surveillance cameras.”

“That can’t be helped. But it’s okay. The main force is our terror suppression team. The snipers are enough as support.”

Lexter nodded and looked at him.

“Then when do we start the operation?”

“We’ll start the moment they put Mrs. Angela in the car.”

Soon after, as a man carrying the sleeping Angela walked outside, Bart brought the radio in his hand close to his mouth. It was almost time to start the operation. He continued to focus on the hologram video screen, timing his move.

Seeing this, Beom-seok quietly got up from his seat and stood by the door. He was thinking of rushing out if the situation called for it. He could trust the experts and leave it to them, but you never knew.

At that moment, an unexpected variable occurred. Mrs. Angela, who had been asleep, was struggling, as if she had woken up. The kidnappers seemed embarrassed and looked at each other in dismay. Even though she was tied up, they couldn’t handle a modified human who had been a professional gladiator in the past.

– What are you doing! Hurry up and inject her with a sedative!

The moment a man tried to rush at her, a light burst out from the distant building rooftop. The operation had begun. It was earlier than expected, but the kidnappers were in a state of confusion, so the chances of success were very high.

Soon after, countless beams of light from the snipers poured down on the kidnappers, and at the same time, the terror suppression team members began to jump over the fence all at once.

– Damn it! It’s the police! Grab Mrs. Angela quickly!

However, due to the continuous sniping, the kidnappers could only think about hiding behind nearby cover and couldn’t dare to approach Mrs. Angela. Seeing some of their colleagues collapsing and spitting blood, they couldn’t dare to go outside. In the meantime, the terror suppression team was breaking through the cover and suppressing the kidnappers one by one.

– Everyone, return fire!

Gunfire erupted from all directions, and screams rang out. All of them came from the kidnappers, who had been caught off guard. If things continued like this, the operation would be a great success. A smile began to form on Bart and Lexter’s faces. In that short moment, the kidnappers had lost all will to fight.

– Surrender. We won’t hurt you if you do.

However, things didn’t go as planned. Elves have strong bodies, but they have one clear disadvantage.

That was their instinct not to harm human lives recklessly. Of course, it was possible enough for their master, but it wasn’t easy under normal circumstances. So, even in these violent incidents, they only aimed for the limbs and didn’t shoot the head or torso well.

At this, a reckless kidnapper dashed forward with all his might, grabbed Angela, and put a gun to her head.

– Damn it. Everyone, back off! Or this woman’s life is over!

The gunfight stopped in an instant. Most of the kidnappers were incapacitated and arrested, but since a hostage had been taken again, the operation could not be called a success. No, judging by the extent to which Bart’s face was distorted, it could be said to be a failure.

“Damn it! That’s why it’s impossible to do these kinds of operations with Elves!”

Bart’s usual complaints burst out. He knew from experience that Elves were not suitable for these kinds of operations. But there was nothing he could do about it. It was difficult to form a suppression team or special task force with humans.

If criminals committed crimes with physically superior Elves, more problems would arise. Of course, they could hire modified humans, but their salaries were not at a level that the police could afford, and it was unlikely that they would apply for these arduous jobs.

Lexter looked at him with a worried face.

“Then what are you going to do? That kidnapper might try to get out of here using Mrs. Angela’s life as a bargaining chip.”

“What are we going to do! There’s no negotiation with kidnappers. If they continue to resist, we’ll give up the hostage and focus on catching them.”

“But the hostage is Mrs. Angela.”

That was the problem. Even if the hostage was an ordinary person, the problem would be big, but since it was Angela, a celebrity, Bart felt a headache coming on. Still, letting the kidnapper go was even worse.

He looked at Beom-seok, who was stepping back and heading towards the car door, and shouted. He was human, so his moral aversion to killing was not as strong as that of the Elves.

“You! You’re a heavily armed special task force, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Then you must have received firearms training, right?”

Beom-seok glanced at Lexter for a moment and nodded. The heavily armed special task force had to know how to handle firearms, so he couldn’t deny it. He had clearly stated to him earlier that he was a member of the heavily armed special task force.

“Yes, I have.”

“Go and pretend to negotiate and kill the kidnapper holding the hostage! Do you think you can do it?”

Beom-seok chuckled and immediately saluted. That was exactly what he wanted. The reason he was trying to get out of Aaron now was to kill that kidnapper and rescue Mrs. Angela.

“Yes. I will show you satisfactory results.”

Hearing his confident answer, Bart handed him a laser gun and power pack that were nearby.

“Okay. Then go and take care of it quickly.”

“Yes. I’ll be back.”

Beom-seok quickly left Aaron and ran towards the construction site.

The scene was full of kidnappers who were injured and sprawled out. They weren’t bleeding much from the laser wounds, but some seemed to be quite seriously injured.

As Beom-seok passed through this scene, he inserted two throwing knives into the joint between his neck and the back of his head. He had brought a gun, but it was by no means a reliable weapon for him.

No, he doubted whether he would hit the kidnapper or even Mrs. Angela if he shot the gun.

Beom-seok glanced at the anti-terrorist suppression team members hiding behind the countless piles of steel materials and shook his head as he walked out into the open space. If they could have easily killed humans, Mrs. Angela would have been safe, and he wouldn’t have had anything to do in this operation.

“Who are you!”

The kidnapper who was holding Angela hostage and protesting shouted at Beom-seok. In response, he said with a sly smile,

“I’ve come to negotiate.”

The kidnapper’s gaze turned to Beom-seok’s hand. He was holding a laser gun and power pack in his hand.

Despite the very threatening situation, the kidnapper was not very afraid of him. This was because the laser gun and power pack were separated.

Just as an old-fashioned gun without a magazine wouldn’t fire bullets, a laser gun without a power pack was useless. Still, he might have secretly charged one shot. He immediately shouted.

“Then throw away the gun!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Beom-seok threw the gun and power pack far away and said, spreading his hands to the left and right.

“Is that okay now?”

“No, put both hands on your head.”

Beom-seok, with a big smile on his face, clasped his hands together and raised them above his head. Bart, watching this scene on the screen, would be furious, but he didn’t need to care. Inspector Lexter would be there to stop him, and in this posture, he could throw the throwing knives as quickly as possible.

Beom-seok slowly rotated his body once. It was to show that he had no weapons.

“Is that okay now?”

“Yes, it’s okay. Then what kind of negotiations did you come out to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m asking you to release Mrs. Angela.”

“Am I crazy? If I let this woman go, I’ll get caught! I’ll keep holding this woman until I get to a safe place.”

Beom-seok nodded calmly and said,

“Yeah. I can fully understand that. You wouldn’t make such an unreasonable condition unless you were a goldfish brain, right? Instead, we also have one condition.”

“What condition?”

“I’ll go with you to that safe place. That’s okay, right? As you can see, I don’t have any weapons.”

The kidnapper began to think hard. He was definitely not armed, but he seemed to be a member of the special task force. His martial arts skills would be considerable, so it was a burden, and he might have hidden weapons inside that suit.

“What if I say I don’t like it?”

“Then I’ll go back, and the operation will be restarted. You know what that means, right? In fact, our police have already backed down a lot just by doing this. It’s only because the hostage was Mrs. Angela that I even came out.”

The kidnapper’s eyes trembled greatly. Certainly, his words were not wrong. The police never negotiated with hostage-takers. This was already a lot of consideration.

“Okay. Then let us use our flying car, and I’ll allow it if you take off your suit and show that you don’t have any hidden weapons.”

“I can fully agree to that. Our goal is to safely rescue Mrs. Angela.”

With that, Beom-seok slowly took off his helmet. As soon as Angela saw his face, her eyes widened, and at the same time, she screamed as much as she could with her mouth gagged. This was because his hand moved quickly, and at the same time, the kidnapper was pouring blood from his forehead and flying backward as if rotating.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

At the same time as the blood-soaked Angela collapsed, the remaining throwing knife accurately pierced the kidnapper’s chest and disappeared far into the construction site. Judging that there was no way the kidnapper would be alive at this point, Beom-seok rushed to her.

“Mrs. Angela. It’s me. Are you okay?”

Angela nodded her head frantically with tears in her eyes. Her mouth was tied with a gag, so she answered with gestures.

In response, Beom-seok looked around and quickly said. He needed to warn Angela because his identity should never be revealed.

“Mrs. Angela. Others must never know that I am in this place. You must pretend not to know me. Otherwise, I will be in trouble.”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

After hearing the confirmation, Beom-seok put on his helmet and began to untie the restraints that were binding Angela’s body. Soon after, Bart, who had arrived, ran to him and smiled brightly.

He had been uneasy about his strange behavior at the beginning of the operation, but he was so grateful that he was doing so well. He had safely rescued Mrs. Angela and captured all the kidnappers, so it was a great help to his personnel evaluation.

“Hahaha. Muller. You did a great job. If you had such throwing knife skills, you should have told me sooner. Do you know how much my heart was pounding when you put down the gun earlier?”

“I’m sorry. I was in a hurry, so I couldn’t tell you the details of my operation.”

“No. Anyway, it’s good that you did a good job. It was helpful enough. There will be a reward for this later, so you can look forward to it.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Beom-seok glanced at Lexter, who had followed. He was grateful for the reward, but it would be a big problem if that really happened.

Bart would know that there was no special task force member named Muller, so Lexter could fall into a difficult situation. But soon he was relieved and focused on Angela. He was patting Beom-seok’s shoulder and sending him a smile.

It seemed that Lexter had come up with a plan.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Hehe. The news says that schools are closed due to the typhoon. It’s a natural thing, but it makes me feel nostalgic. We didn’t have anything like that back then. ㅠㅠ. We had to go to school no matter what, whether it was a blizzard or a typhoon. Hmph~ Then everyone have a good day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.