My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 195

But even with those words, Jo Pal-gyu couldn’t shoot. He couldn’t bring himself to fire the gun. Actually, he should have deposited the gun at the police station according to regulations, but he had violated that rule himself.

It was fortunate that the police officer who arrived was someone he knew.

“Detective Kim, please drag these bastards out. This isn’t right. This is our land.”

“Ah, um…”

But that, in turn, became Jo Pal-gyu’s mistake.

‘Just like my senior said.’

-Don’t bring the police from outside; bring them from the Mokpo Police Station. If you’re lucky, you’ll know each other.

In reality, the tacit approval of the police was essential to managing as many as 100 slaves, so that wasn’t wrong.

-And if you make such a mistake, latch onto it.

He didn’t say what to latch onto, but Jeong I-yeon already knew.

“Oh my! Officers, were you acquainted with these people?”

At Jeong I-yeon’s words, spoken as if she didn’t know, the eyes of the gathered people turned to the police. Then, the broadcasting station’s camera began to film them.

“This isn’t right! We asked for support to rescue people, but sending someone you know is a violation of protocol! Or are you planning to kill everyone here on behalf of the police?”

“No, it’s not! It’s not!”

‘Damn it, you stupid bastard.’

Because Jo Pal-gyu acknowledged them here, even the police were cornered. If they admitted to knowing each other, the collusive relationship would be immediately revealed.

“Like in the movies, you call each other ‘brother,’ go to room salons [Korean-style hostess bars] together, put women on your laps, kiss and suck, and pass bags of cash…”

“No, that’s not it! We just know each other’s faces!”

Of course, they did call each other ‘brother,’ but not at room salons. In the first place, there were no room salons in a place like this, only ‘bangsokjip’ [a less formal type of Korean bar]. Of course, they also received cash, not in bags, but in envelopes.

But he couldn’t say that openly. A look of bewilderment began to settle on the faces of the police. This incident had blown up too big.

Whether Jo Pal-gyu realized that or not, he tried to change the subject.

“Whatever the case, this is my land. It’s illegal for just anyone to come in like this. Isn’t it the police’s job to stop this kind of thing?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Strictly speaking, this is a public facility.”

But Jeong I-yeon said firmly. She already knew that 80% of this place belonged to Jo Pal-gyu.

“But this pier isn’t your land, is it?”

“What?”

“This land isn’t yours.”

This pier is an old one. It was built by the government when there were still some people living on this island in the past, so naturally, the ownership belongs to the government.

“Just because you’re the only ones on this island doesn’t mean it’s yours.”

“That’s…”

“Y-yeah, that’s right! You can’t stop people from getting off here!”

“Damn it…”

Jo Pal-gyu’s face was filled with anger at the police’s words. But he couldn’t get agitated here and blow everything up.

“Really? Then get out. Everything past this point is my land.”

The pier belonged to the government, but not beyond that. That was Jo Pal-gyu’s claim. But Jeong I-yeon wasn’t a lawyer for nothing.

“Officers?”

“Yes.”

“I request an emergency evacuation.”

“An emergency evacuation?”

“I request that you rescue the victims of human trafficking being held captive inside.”

At those words, the police let out a long sigh. No matter how incompetent they were, they were still police, so they knew what those words meant.

“Emergency what?”

“If it’s an emergency situation, the police or a third party can enter someone else’s house or land without permission, right?”

That’s what an emergency evacuation is. And with about 100 slaves… no, human trafficking victims, there were enough grounds for that.

“What are you going to do?”

One of the reporters who came with them looked at the police with sparkling eyes.

‘There’s no choice.’

Jeong I-yeon was certain.

‘The moment they refuse the request, the Mokpo Police Station will be shattered.’

Even at this moment, the Mokpo Police Station was being shattered. But that was only to the extent that they could claim they didn’t know.

But now, Jeong I-yeon was demanding the legitimate and fair execution of police duties.

If the police refused that? That would mean they were openly siding with the slave owners who were engaged in human trafficking.

“Let’s go.”

In the end, the police had no choice.

“D-detective?”

“There’s no choice.”

But the police had no choice. They couldn’t side with Jo Pal-gyu in front of dozens of reporters and broadcasting station people.

“Let’s go to the salt farm first.”

The people who led the group to the salt farm. But what was there was not slaves, but a building that had now burned down and collapsed.

“Look. There’s no one there, is there?”

“How could that be? Are you saying the reporter lied?”

“No. Those people aren’t slaves. They’re just hired people. Everyone left because they were annoyed by the rumors.”

Jo Pal-gyu was talking nonsense. Some of the people suspiciously rummaged through the burned-down dormitories.

“What is this place?”

“Ah, it was a warehouse. A fire broke out due to a short circuit.”

There was no way a fire could have started due to a short circuit in a place without electricity, but even if they rummaged through everything, nothing would come out. In the first place, it was just a place to sleep, so there was nothing worth calling a possession, and there was almost no evidence that people had been there.

“As you can see, there are no slaves or anything like that. I’m really 冤枉 [wrongfully accused].”

Jo Pal-gyu said, looking at the police, and the police breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. They could cover it up somehow with this much.

But Park Do-joon wasn’t going to let it go.

“Let’s go this way.”

“What?”

Jo Pal-gyu tilted his head as Jeong I-yeon changed direction.

“Mr. Jo Pal-gyu trusts people too easily.”

“Trusts people too easily?”

“As I mentioned, there was an anonymous tip.”

“An anonymous tip is just a rumor…”

“It’s a reliable tip.”

“Reliable…?”

Saying that, Jeong I-yeon looked at the three people behind her. Then she smiled.

“Yes, a reliable tip.”

And the four people who realized what that meant turned pale.

“Come this way.”

Jeong I-yeon took the lead and made her way through the path. And Park Do-joon and his group moved away from them.

After a while, she arrived at the location of the underground reservoir.

“I heard that the victims are here.”

Seeing that, the four people were now trembling in their hands and feet. But the people ignored them and passed by, opening the lid. It was a heavy iron lid, but with four men sticking to it and struggling, it was not difficult to open. And slowly, light began to enter inside.

“Bring a flashlight! A flashlight!”

At someone’s words, they hurriedly brought a flashlight and shone it down, and in the darkness, they saw slaves huddled together. People stained with grime, unable to wash properly.

Most of their clothes were torn and stretched, barely covering them with what they could no longer wear, huddled together in the darkness. They desperately tried to escape into the darkness, as if afraid of the sudden light.

“There are people here!”

At those words, everyone rushed to that side. Then, one of them approached.

He didn’t know how long he had been in the darkness.

The light of the flashlight seeping in. Because of the backlight, he couldn’t even tell who the person above was.

That’s why his deficient intelligence called out to the person he desperately wanted to meet, the person who would desperately save him.

“M-mom…?”

At those words, people were momentarily speechless. They were at a loss for words at this moment.

It was none other than Jeong I-yeon who broke the silence.

“Look for a ladder. They sent people down, so it must be somewhere.”

People began to search around, and someone lifted a ladder from a distance.

“Here it is!”

The people who brought the folding ladder carefully lowered it into the underground reservoir, and a man voluntarily went down there first.

“Ugh!”

He didn’t know how long they hadn’t washed or how long they had been trapped, but a terrible smell blocked his nose. But he tried not to show it.

“I’ll send them up one by one.”

He tried to take the disabled people out of there. But the reaction was different from what he expected.

“Ugh…”

“D-don’t hit me! Don’t hit me!”

Instead of asking to be saved or expressing gratitude, they were filled with fear and ran away into the darkness, clinging to the walls.

“Please don’t hit me.”

“I’ll do whatever you say! I’ll stay here quietly as you say! So please don’t hit me!”

At the sight of them crying, no one could say anything.

# A Different Sight Than Expected

“What’s wrong?”

Jeong I-yeon, who had returned from the island, was half out of her mind. She had returned to the mainland, but the shock was still not gone from her face.

“I’m just too… shocked.”

“The thoughts and reactions were different, right?”

“Ah, well, that is…”

“I know. You thought that they would cry and cling to you at the fact that they were being saved.”

Not only that, but she thought that the news that they had been rescued would be splashed across the media.

But the time it took to get them out of there was 24 hours. Not one or two hours, but a full day.

“Hoo~!”

Park Do-joon filled her glass with soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] and said.

“It can’t be helped. They are victims. Those guys controlled the victims with violence and threats. If they were non-disabled, they would realize that we came for rescue, but the people there are intellectually disabled.”

When they met strangers, they had bad experiences. They were kidnapped, suffered, beaten, and worked all day long.

“To them, strangers are objects of fear.”

Before they could recognize that they were people who came to save them, the desire for survival dominated them first, and they had to hide to survive.

“So the heartwarming scene that people think of can’t come out.”

They had to bring them food and drinks and open their hearts for as long as 24 hours.

Some remembered their parents’ names and contact information, so they contacted their parents. The families who received the calls rushed over and grabbed them, sobbing for a long time.

And while watching those scenes, the disabled people gradually opened their hearts with the expectation that they might be able to meet their families if they went out, and only after 24 hours were they able to get them all out.

“The victims’ addresses are still being checked, right?”

“Yes.”

“You decided to take on the case?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Park Do-joon nodded at those words and tried to fill his soju glass. Then Jeong I-yeon took the soju bottle from his hand and filled his glass.

“Why did you call me?”

“Huh?”

“No, well, thanks to you, I’m getting famous and it’s good… but even if it wasn’t me, if you uploaded this, the police would be 털 [털리다: be completely and utterly defeated] anyway, right?”

The faces of the police officers at the scene were completely distorted. They never thought it would be this bad.

The media had broken the story, but they thought the media was just exaggerating as always.