Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1163

Intercepting (5)

“Those bastards.”

Jung Yo-han’s face contorted.

The dawn approaching winter is an unwelcome time for anyone. The chill that digs into your side isn’t something you get used to easily, so the cold feels even more intense than the actual temperature.

Moreover, when you’re facing the cold wind on the sea, the cold becomes about three times stronger.

Even with gloves on, the tips of his fingers felt numb and stiff. Jung Yo-han wiggled his fingers and looked ahead.

“Those damn bastards, I should sink them all!”

He ground his teeth involuntarily.

In his eyes, he could see the eerie Chinese fishing boats.

The fishing boats, with their paint peeling from rust, were half-submerged in the darkness.

To someone who didn’t know better, they would look like ghost ships, with their bizarre visuals.

However, in Jung Yo-han’s eyes, there was annoyance rather than fear.

If you’re a citizen of South Korea, you’ve probably seen the news multiple times about Chinese fishing boats illegally fishing in Korean territorial waters. They push in so recklessly that it even escalates into diplomatic issues.

But what the public knows is only a small part of the story.

Why?

It’s simple.

People react sensitively to visual stimuli. The issue of illegal fishing boats only really started gaining traction after footage of several fishing boats linking together to confront a coast guard vessel was broadcast on TV, wasn’t it?

However, contrary to what’s shown on screen, the time when illegal fishing is most active isn’t during the day, but at night.

Contrary to their public image, it wasn’t true that Chinese fishing boats looked down on the Korean Coast Guard.

Or, to be precise, it’s true that they don’t pay much attention to the Coast Guard’s crackdowns. But that doesn’t mean they’re nonchalant about encountering the Coast Guard.

Their goal is fishing.

And the moment they’re caught by the Coast Guard and a crackdown begins, that day’s fishing is over. If they return without even retrieving their nets, they won’t even make back the cost of the fuel they used to come all the way out to the open sea.

So, they try to fish while avoiding the Coast Guard’s crackdowns by any means possible. And the method the Chinese fishing boats chose was to turn off all the lights on their boats at night and fish.

It’s something that a person with any sense wouldn’t do.

Pulling in nets in the open sea is dangerous enough that an accident could happen at any time. In that situation, limiting visibility is practically the same as risking your life.

It’s the Chinese fishing boats that nonchalantly commit such insane acts. So, it’s no wonder that it’s difficult to crack down on them.

The same was true now.

Looking at the fishing boats advancing with all their lights off, a sense of dread even washed over him.

It was fortunate that an emergency was issued today and surveillance was strengthened, otherwise, it would have been difficult to even spot the boats.

“What do we do with those bastards?” Chief Inspector Choi Gu-hyun shouted, sounding annoyed.

“What do you mean what do we do? We have to seize them.”

“They don’t seem like they’re going to stop?”

“Those Chink bastards… I feel like shooting them all with a gun. Those Chinese bastards just don’t understand common sense.”

Jung Yo-han looked slightly uneasy at the upper part of the boat.

‘We’re not going to board them, are we?’

As a Coast Guard officer who has to protect the waters of South Korea, it’s not something he should be thinking, but honestly, boarding the boats is a burden.

It’s not like a knife won’t pierce a police officer’s body.

Moreover, Chinese people fundamentally have a different way of thinking than Koreans. When Koreans commit a crime, they calculate whether to resist or not. If the crime is minor, they’re more likely to choose to be caught quietly rather than risk a harsher punishment for resisting.

But Chinese people don’t think like that.

Once they feel like they’re about to be caught, they resist using every method they can.

There were plenty of guys who wielded blades welded to the ends of steel pipes.

On the internet, those pictures are consumed as jokes, with people saying things like ‘Guan Yu resurrected in modern times,’ [Guan Yu is a famous general from the Three Kingdoms period in China, known for his loyalty and martial prowess] but the position of the person who actually has to face those blades is completely different.

There have actually been deaths during crackdowns. There have been countless injuries.

These things happen countless times, but the government can’t issue strong protests because of its relationship with China.

Russia fires on Chinese fishing boats and destroys them, and Indonesia even explodes seized ships at sea, but the Korean government issues guidelines not to harm Chinese people while cracking down on illegal fishing.

‘Are they telling us to do our jobs or not! Shit.’

If they just let us run wild without restrictions, we wouldn’t be so reluctant to board the boats.

But the police in South Korea get disciplined and have their pay docked for shooting a criminal wielding a knife in the leg. There’s even a joke that guns aren’t given to shoot, but to use as a handle to hit people with.

They tell us to subdue guys wielding knives without hurting them, if that were possible, why would we be police officers? We’d be making a fortune as MMA fighters.

“Those bastards, are they really crazy!”

In the end, a curse word burst from Choi Gu-hyun’s mouth.

They kept broadcasting for them to stop, but the fishing boats showed no signs of stopping. They were continuing to approach the coast at top speed.

If a boat that size is going at top speed, it’s impossible to block it. If you try to block it carelessly and there’s a collision…

“…Isn’t something a bit strange?”

“What is?”

“Well, a lot of things are a bit strange? The boats are much bigger than what we usually see, and…”

Jung Yo-han frowned.

“Besides, they shouldn’t be coming this far in. If they’re going to fish, they should go to the fishing grounds, why would they come this deep in? I don’t think this has ever happened before?”

Choi Gu-hyun also looked up at the boats with a renewed gaze.

‘That’s true.’

The scale and method are not typical. It’s become a common occurrence for Chinese fishing boats to form large fleets to illegally fish in order to resist the Coast Guard, but it’s never happened before that they’ve come this close to the land.

‘This is unsettling?’

Choi Gu-hyun narrowed his eyes and looked at the ships.

More than twenty large fishing boats, of a size that couldn’t even be compared to the ships they usually saw, were pushing in. What was even more suspicious was that despite the fact that this many coast guard vessels were surrounding them, not a single person was looking out.

Usually, if they feel like they’re about to be caught, they would panic and turn their bows to try to return to Chinese territorial waters, but these guys were rushing towards the coast as if they were going to die on Korean soil.

“Stop your vessels! This is a warning! If you do not stop, we will open fire!”

The warning broadcast continued from the loudspeaker on the boat. It was so kind that after giving the warning in Korean, they even translated it into Chinese.

Even so, the boats showed no signs of stopping.

“Are they really trying to test us?”

“Shouldn’t we take action?”

“Man, do you think I can’t think that far? Orders will be coming down soon. Just wait.”

“Yes, sir.”

“…Just in case, tell the guys to stay alert. We don’t know what kind of accident might happen.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll relay the message immediately.”

Choi Gu-hyun tightened his life jacket.

‘What are these bastards thinking?’

The deeper they come into territorial waters, the harder it is to escape. It’s impossible to block a moving boat, but if you take a slight risk, you can push against the side of the boat to slow it down.

If you slow it down like that and push in from all sides, they won’t be able to go anywhere. It’s true that they can’t try it now because there aren’t enough coast guard vessels, but even at this moment, the number of coast guard vessels is being replenished.

But he couldn’t understand why they were stubbornly continuing to advance.

That’s when it happened.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

A piercing siren blared.

“What is it?”

Choi Gu-hyun turned his head sharply. Sirens are used to inform criminals that the Coast Guard has arrived. There’s no need to turn on the siren in this situation.

Then why?

BEEEEEP.

At that moment, a sharp beep came from the radio that Choi Gu-hyun was wearing.

[Relaying orders. As of this moment, prevent the opposing vessels from entering the coast. Relaying orders again. As of this moment, prevent the opposing vessels from entering the coast.]

Choi Gu-hyun’s eyes twitched slightly.

Preventing a boat that’s moving at top speed?

“Why?”

It didn’t make sense logically. The deeper they come into the coast, the longer their escape route becomes. If they just drive them inward and prevent them from turning back, they’ll have no choice but to stop, whether it’s because they run out of fuel or their boats are damaged.

But they’re telling us to prevent them from entering?

‘Are they planning to clap for them to run away?’

[Chief Inspector Choi!]

“Yes, Captain!”

Choi Gu-hyun answered immediately after receiving the radio call.

[Orders have been given to stop them even if it means ramming them! It’s okay if the coast guard vessels are damaged. Keep an eye on the guys on the deck!]

“Yes?”

[Hurry! Man!]

“Yes! Understood!”

It was an incomprehensible order, but in the field, the orders of the higher-ups are absolute. Rather than trying to find the right answer and moving individually, it’s much safer and more effective to all move together in the wrong direction.

“Hey! Hold on tight to the safety bar! We’re going to ram them!”

Choi Gu-hyun shouted reflexively.

Now that the order had been given, the coast guard vessels, reinforced with tires on their sides, would push against the sides of the illegal fishing boats to slow them down. So, they had to prepare for the impact…

“Chief Inspector Choi!”

“You bastard, didn’t you hear me! Hold on tight to the safety bar!”

“That’s not it… Look over there! Look over there!”

“Huh?”

Jung Yo-han was pointing to the upper part of the fishing boats with a horrified expression.

Choi Gu-hyun reflexively turned his head.

Choi Gu-hyun’s face turned pale as he looked at the upper part of the fishing boats.

People were lined up on the upper part of the fishing boats, where not even a single ant had been visible just a moment ago.

The deck area felt packed with people. Looking at the black silhouettes standing on the roughly shaking boat without any safety equipment, he felt goosebumps all over his body.

‘What, what are those bastards?’ And at that moment.

“Ugh!”

A sound of air escaping burst from Choi Gu-hyun’s mouth. The people who had climbed onto the deck all jumped into the sea at once.

“No, those crazy bastards!”

They couldn’t hear him.

But he couldn’t help but shout like that. Even though they were close to the coast, it was the night sea at the beginning of winter. If they jumped into a place like that, they wouldn’t last even thirty minutes.

But it wasn’t just one or two people, at least hundreds of people were jumping into the sea all at once.

Faced with a situation that far exceeded common sense, Choi Gu-hyun stared at the scene with a dazed expression.

The sea shrouded in darkness.

People were jumping into the sea from the top of the rusty and old fishing boats that looked eerie. As soon as the person in front jumped, the person behind them would rush into the sea before their body even hit the water.

Splash! Splash!

It wasn’t just here.

The same thing was happening simultaneously on nearly twenty fishing boats. They were so flustered that even the warning broadcast stopped.

Choi Gu-hyun clenched his fist with trembling eyes.

‘What the hell is going on right now?’

The boundary between common sense and nonsense was collapsing here.