The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 134

134. Chief Ma

Before Shin Hae-soo’s Special Crime Squad and Jo Ara’s Violent Crimes Team could depart, the group of ordinary citizens in front of them had already set off.

“Weren’t those noisy people behind us cops? Judging by the team leader and violent crimes talk, they all look pretty fit, probably because they’re cops.”

The muscular, handsome guy, never one to back down, chimed in, responding to the friend wearing glasses.

“Being fit has nothing to do with rafting. If you just use brute force, you can injure your muscles.”

“Alright… we just need to trust Jeong-sik, right?”

The handsome guy, called Jeong-sik, nodded confidently.

“Of course, just remember this: push on one, pull on two, and you, make sure the boat stays centered by controlling the tail.”

“I feel secure. As expected of rower Jo Jeong-sik!”

“Not yet, I’m just a reserve, a reserve. Someone might hear. Let’s go.”

The friends looked at Jo Jeong-sik, who was preparing to be a rower, with trust and climbed onto the boat.

“Okay, extend on one, pull on two! One!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Twooo!”

“Wow, it really shoots forward when we do as Jeong-sik says!”

“We might overtake the boat in front at this rate!”

Jeong-sik nodded and pointed at the boat in front with his index finger.

“Haha, we might. Should we try?”

“Really?”

“Let’s go! One!”

“Two!”

“One!”

At that moment, a scream that seemed to tear the eardrums was heard.

“Twooooo!!!”

“Huh, what was that?”

A scream closer to that of a beast than a human; it wasn’t them. Jeong-sik and his friends were startled and looked around. The sound definitely came from behind.

When Jeong-sik turned around, he saw a terrifying group.

“Uwaaaaaa!! Let’s go!!”

“One! Two! One! Two! One, two, three, four!!”

Tudatadatada!

Two boats were creating a spray of water. Their figures were barely visible in the soaring spray, and a rainbow appeared above.

Tutatatata!!

The two boats quickly overtook Jeong-sik and his friends’ boat. Jeong-sik saw madness in their eyes for a brief moment.

As if a storm had passed, they quickly disappeared from sight, and silence returned to where Jeong-sik was.

Only then did Jeong-sik’s friends, who had come to their senses, mutter.

“T, tremendous…”

“Is that the power of the Republic of Korea’s police…?”

“No… I think that boat has a motor attached to it…”

Jo Jeong-sik stared blankly at their backs.

“Jeong-sik, Jeong-sik?!”

“Uh, uh?”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, uh… L, let’s go…”

Jeong-sik’s hands, rowing again, seemed to have lost their strength.

* * *

Splashhhhh!!

A large spray of water erupted where the boats were gathered, and two boats came to a sudden stop.

By a narrow margin, the Special Crime Squad arrived first.

“Haa! Haa! Haa!”

“Hoo, hoo- Haa!”

The two teams, finally catching their breath, were sweating profusely. Only the team leader had a relaxed face, merely wet from the water instead of sweat.

Oh Gyeong took a deep breath and grinned, showing his pearly white teeth.

“It’s the first time since that day ten years ago that we’ve been pushed this hard.”

“T, ten years?”

“What were we doing back then?”

Even with Team Leader Kwak’s question, Oh Gyeong steadfastly looked at the opposing team. A senior detective from Jo Ara’s team met his gaze.

“Hoo, hoo… It’s been only seven years since I tasted defeat… It’s bitter, but not a bad taste.”

“As an enemy, I can’t help but acknowledge you.”

“Heh, I lo… goo…-”

Just before Oh Gyeong and the senior detective could bump fists.

Thwack!

“Stop it! You bastard!”

Team Leader Jo ended it by kicking the senior detective in the side.

Oh Gyeong and the senior detective, forcibly separated, walked in opposite directions, stopped, and then turned halfway, slightly raising their thumbs.

‘Next time again.’

‘Let’s meet.’

There was another person who looked wistfully at their backs.

“Jeong-sik, what’s wrong? A, are you crying?”

“Yeah, I’m, I’m going to quit rowing.”

“Why, why?”

“It’s nothing, sniffle.”

.

.

.

10 years later, during an interview with Jo Jeong-sik, the gold medalist in the 200-meter freestyle-

“I would like to thank those who made me realize the limits of my talent, which I believed in, and lightly gave up my dream on that day of rafting 10 years ago. Jo Jeong-sik was born because of them. Republic of Korea Police… Fighting.”

* * *

After the summer police station get-together, which was like training, Shin Hae-soo and Haru finally returned to their Lead Building home in Gangjin City.

“Hoo… there’s no place like home.”

Haru didn’t even unpack and immediately jumped onto the sofa. Her shorts were so short that the upper part of her white thighs was clearly visible, making it precarious.

Hae-soo covered her legs with a towel.

“Go wash up, let’s eat.”

“Yes, sir!”

At the word ‘eat,’ Haru jumped up as if she had never collapsed.

* * *

The next day, a holiday.

Hae-soo and Haru visited Hwang Jang-soo’s gym in the basement of his office early in the morning.

Hwang Jang-soo, hearing that they had arrived, hurried down to the basement.

“Hey! If you’re here, you should say something. Why has it been so long? Are we going to slack off on training today?”

Haru felt more comfortable with Hwang Jang-soo, who had a similar vibe to Hae-soo, than with the Special Crime Squad people.

She was the first to greet him.

“Nice to meet you, Hwang Jang-soo-nim [formal Korean title].”

“Ah, uh, yes, nice to meet you, Haru-ssi [Ms. Haru], haha.”

Hae-soo answered, wrapping a bandage around his wrist.

“I was supporting Boseong.”

“Boseong? That Boseong? The one you and I went to and took over when we were in high school?”

“Be quiet.”

Hwang Jang-soo leaned against the ring, looking at the empty air and reminiscing about old memories.

“That was our prime, it’s already been 14 years since we were in the second year of high school. Wow… Back then, Hae-soo used to frown like this and slick his hair back….”

The two had gone to Boseong Beach when they were in high school and had a run-in with some thugs.

There were eight thugs, and two of them. They were learning to exercise at the time, so they were very confident.

“Stop it.”

Hae-soo’s face was slightly red, clearly embarrassed.

However, Haru stood still like a doll, blinking and listening intently.

“So, what happened?”

“Ah, so what happened was, it doesn’t really matter how many of those guys there were, we just beat them so badly that they couldn’t even look us in the eye.”

Haru muttered ‘as expected’ in a small voice and nodded.

“Later, someone reported us, and we ran away like crazy because the police came. Ah, there are two police officers right in front of me now.”

“I have no intention of arresting Hae-soo-nim and Hwang Jang-soo-nim.”

“Yes, ah, haha.”

The atmosphere became awkward.

Haru covered her mouth, and her eyebrows curved softly, as if she had made a joke in her own way. She was enjoying it by herself.

Hae-soo stared at Haru for a moment, then turned his gaze to Hwang Jang-soo.

“Aren’t you busy?”

“I’m not busy?”

Hae-soo’s brow furrowed. At that sight, Jang-soo took his back off the ring.

“Ah, it seems like something urgent has come up.”

Jang-soo left like that, and Hae-soo, left alone with Haru, stared at her quietly in the ring.

He remembers Haru’s reaction during the Bae In-sung case. She doesn’t find him trustworthy.

That was quite a shock.

The biggest reason she thinks that way is just one thing. She thinks there is someone stronger than Hae-soo.

“Haru, how old was Ma Gyo-gwan when you last saw him?”

“When I was thirteen, he was about thirty years old. He was young.”

“Then he must be over forty now. Physical age gradually declines after the age of twenty. The Ma Gyo-gwan you were afraid of back then is old now.”

“That’s…”

Haru’s pupils blurred, and she shuddered, shaking her shoulders. Just thinking about Ma Gyo-gwan made her instinctively terrified.

This is also a big mental problem. It’s important to let her know how strong Hae-soo is, but when Haru really faces Ma Gyo-gwan, she may not be able to fight properly due to the psychological pressure. We need to solve this first.

“Tell me about Ma Gyo-gwan, in detail.”

“Ma Gyo-gwan is… not human. I still doubt it. He will never get old….”

Haru’s voice was somehow firm.

* * *

A few days ago, in an old gym.

Six men in black training suits are scattered around, stretching.

Among them was Mr. Yang, the fixer of Ilseong Group.

Mr. Yang picked up his cell phone and rechecked the text message he had received a few hours ago. His fingers trembled slightly.

[Chief Ma: I will visit soon. Please wait.]

Thump, thump-

At that moment, the sound of knocking on the iron door of the gym was heard. At that sound, they all stopped what they were doing and paused.

Swish.

Squeak-

They slowly got up, took out knives from their pockets one by one, and held them up.

Mr. Yang made eye contact with each of them, moved his steps, and turned the doorknob.

Click, squeak-

As he opened the door, a shadow fell over Mr. Yang. Mr. Yang instinctively took three steps back.

Thud, thud, thud.

A huge figure that seemed to be 190 cm [approx. 6’3″], broad shoulders, short hair, a strong jaw, a long scar across his right eye, his eyes were so deep and dark that ordinary people could not properly face them.

Mr. Yang bowed briefly to him.

“Have you arrived, Chief Ma.”

Then he took two steps back and took out two knives from his back pocket. Karambits [small, curved knives], foreign mercenaries’ exclusive combat knives with curved ends.

“How pathetic.”

Chief Ma’s voice was very low and thick, as if speaking from deep within an underground cave.

“Isn’t it better to live in this world even if you roll in a pile of dog poop?”

“Okay, come on.”

Chief Ma reached out to him with his bare hands and beckoned his wrist.

“Ha!”

Mr. Yang rushed at Chief Ma, wielding the karambit.

However, Chief Ma quickly grabbed Mr. Yang’s hand, turned it half a turn, and threw it into the corner.

The men who were rushing in together hesitated because of that action, and Mr. Yang flew several meters and crashed into the exercise equipment.

Kwang, kwang!!

In the meantime, another man stretched out his knife to Chief Ma. Chief Ma grabbed his arm, snapped it, and made him stab his collarbone while holding the knife.

It was a strange sight to stab one’s own body with one’s own knife.

Whoosh-

In the meantime, two other men rush in. Fast movements that are clearly different from ordinary people, Chief Ma grabbed the nape of the man who was vomiting blood from his collarbone and held him up like a shield.

Stab, stab, swish-

His body was soon a mess. Chief Ma pushed him forward and threw him, then grabbed the neck of the man rushing in from the opposite side and snapped it.

Crack, crunch-

Chief Ma is a man with a large build and arms covered with steel-like muscles, but with agility that does not match him.

He quickly subdued the experts with knives with his bare hands.

Stab! Squeeze, hiss-

After cutting half of the last man’s neck with a knife, he threw away the knife and stood in front of Mr. Yang.

Mr. Yang’s arms were already hanging down on the floor. He wanted to grab the knife, but he couldn’t because he didn’t have the strength.

Chief Ma made eye contact with Mr. Yang and opened his mouth.

“Good job.”

Then, with his thick hands, he twisted his neck mercilessly.

Crunch-

* * *

While talking about Chief Ma, Haru’s face had turned pale with fear.

“…Haru, Haru, get a hold of yourself.”

“Yes, yes?”

“We don’t need that useless information, not for me, not for you.”

Hae-soo cupped Haru’s cheeks with both hands, lifted her head, and made eye contact.

“Listen carefully, talk about that person’s skills, fighting style, slowly, specifically, remember?”

“…Yes, I remember.”