The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 193

< #193. Meeting Masil Jang >

A hush fell over the room.

Kang-beom narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps forward to confirm his face.

“Detective Kwak… Soo-cheol?”

At his words, Detective Kwak bristled again, barking like a chihuahua.

“No honorifics? Can’t you see my rank? Can’t you see my age? Does the Korean police force run on muscle-based seniority? Then is *he* your senior?”

Detective Kwak grabbed the youngest musclehead’s arm, only to be pulled and end up hiding behind him. Kang-beom chuckled at the sight.

“Still frail as ever.”

Detective Kwak popped out from behind the musclehead again, baring his teeth.

“And you’re still as rude as ever. Anyway, I’m the boss, so don’t you dare act up and just stay put in that corner.”

But Kang-beom didn’t back down, approaching Detective Kwak as he spoke.

“I didn’t hear about a separate commander being dispatched. Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

“Should I be blamed for what you didn’t hear? Did anyone *not* hear that I was coming?”

Detective Kwak raised a hand, looking around at the Gyeonggi team and the Gangjin team. No one raised their hand.

“See? You guys are outcasts. Now get lost.”

Kang-beom flinched, reluctantly turning back towards his team, muttering under his breath.

“Tsk… this isn’t a normal case, so the commander is important…”

“I can hear everything, you little punk. If you have a problem, get lost. I can handle it with just these guys.”

Only then did Kang-beom subside. Still, he didn’t stop muttering under his breath.

Detective Kwak piled the on-site materials about the freaks’ attack on the desk and spoke to the Special Task Force members.

“…So, we’ll divide into two teams to investigate. A field team to track the freaks’ traces, and a team to get information from Ma Jin-gang, who was their target. And-”

Detective Kwak was still talking when Kang-beom cut him off.

“I’ll go to Ma Jin-gang. Getting criminals to talk is my specialty.”

Team Leader Jo muttered at Kang-beom’s words.

“He probably just doesn’t want to work in the field. He’s got the soul of a loser, despite his looks.”

“Pfft.”

“Heh!”

Although she spoke quietly, Team Leader Jo’s words were clearly heard by everyone due to the silence. Her team members, as well as Kang-beom’s, couldn’t help but snicker.

Kang-beom’s face flushed red as he jumped up from his seat.

“What? Hey, what did you say?”

“How dare you call our team leader ‘hey.’ You’ve been rude since earlier.”

“The team leader’s like that, so the team members are like that too. Should we start with a beating?”

At that moment, Detective Kwak slammed the desk hard with the documents.

Bang!

“Hey! Both of you stop it. We’re not just catching some serial killer here; we’re dealing with an unprecedented criminal organization. Eleven police officers have died. Get your heads straight and focus.”

“Yes, sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“Tsk…”

As Kang-beom suggested, the Gangnam team decided to go meet Masil Jang, and the Gyeonggi team decided to look for traces of the freaks.

“And you guys… how come there are so few of you? It’s awkward to even send you anywhere.”

Oh Gyeong-i muttered at Detective Kwak’s words.

“Well, someone left.”

“Ahem, anyway, you guys split up. Anyone want to go with the Gangnam team?”

At Detective Kwak’s words, Hae-soo eagerly stepped forward.

“I’ll go.”

He didn’t want to be on a team with a troublemaker like Kang-beom anyway. When Hae-soo stepped up, the youngest member bowed his head slightly, expressing his gratitude.

“Okay, then the youngest will go with Team Leader Jo, and Oh Gyeong-i will stay with me. I’m scared.”

“Yes, sir, Special Task Force Commander.”

* * *

On the way to the detention center in the Gangnam team’s van.

Kang-beom, sitting across from Hae-soo, crossed his arms and scanned him up and down.

“Violent Crimes Unit 4… Did you just work out because you had nothing else to do? That kind of muscle is useless in a real fight.”

Even though Hae-soo was a fairly well-known figure in the police force, there were far more officers who didn’t know him unless they looked up police articles.

The Gangnam Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit 1, which was just as busy as the Gangjin Police Station, didn’t know Hae-soo at all.

Hae-soo stared at Kang-beom dryly before turning his head to look out the window.

Kang-beom assumed that he was intimidated by his aura and couldn’t even look him in the eye, so he smirked and continued.

“Hey, just be honest with me. You have connections, right? Like a police commissioner’s kid or a congressman’s backing. You were told to go to the Gangnam team and just take credit, weren’t you?”

Hae-soo was taken aback. He hadn’t used connections, but they might have been used. It was true that everyone else on the teams, except for the Gangnam team, had a former police commissioner as a father or a congressman backing them, so he had nothing to say.

*So this is Gangnam Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit 1; they have some sense.*

“Looks like it’s true since this punk isn’t saying anything. I really can’t understand the higher-ups in Korea. They put rookies like you in these situations and expect things to get resolved… Hey.”

As Hae-soo continued to avoid eye contact and only look out the window, he leaned forward, bringing his face closer to Hae-soo.

“Hey, you should make eye contact when an adult is talking to you, you rude bastard.”

Annoyed, Hae-soo had no choice but to make eye contact with him.

*He doesn’t avoid it. There’s no wavering in his eyes. Dry, yet with a hint of a wild, beast-like instinct hidden deep within.*

Kang-beom flinched without realizing it, interpreting it as defiance and distorting his face.

“Look at this punk, he’s got some pride… Hey, I’ll say it once. When we go to meet Ma Jin-gang, don’t act up and just stay in the corner. Don’t get in the way. Got it?”

‘Hmm.’

Not just anyone, but Masil Jang, the superhuman with the physical ability to take down those freaks barehanded in a short amount of time.

Would he really listen to the words of a rude detective he’s meeting for the first time and give him answers?

Hae-soo smirked, imagining Kang-beom and his team in a difficult situation.

“Laughing?”

“Well, yes, good luck.”

“This punk…!”

Just then, the youngest member of the Gangnam team, who was driving, said.

“We’ve arrived.”

The van stopped, and Kang-beom pointed at Hae-soo with his finger.

“We’ll see you after we get back.”

The Gangnam team got out of the car and entered the detention center.

The Special Task Force, a coalition of the Gyeonggi, Gangjin, and Seoul Violent Crimes Units, was created with the help of several police commissioners and congressmen.

As such, its investigative authority was on a different level from that of ordinary Violent Crimes Units.

Even with just one phone call before departure, they were already being given a free pass and even escorted to the visiting room.

The visiting room had a sofa table with two one-person sofas on each side, for a total of four seats, and there were five team members including Hae-soo.

Hae-soo volunteered to stand against the wall in the corner, and the youngest member who had been driving and his senior stood up and waited according to their rank.

Kang-beom waited quietly for about three minutes before complaining.

“Damn it, they should have had him waiting when I said I was coming. Is it right for the Korean police to wait for a criminal? Huh?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Knock knock, squeak-

At that moment, the door opened and a guard appeared. Behind him was Masil Jang, who was a head taller than the guard.

The guard opened the door and stepped back, and Masil Jang walked in alone.

Thud, thud, thud

The moment his footsteps were heard, the air in the room became heavy.

Masil Jang’s eyes, slowly turning and checking each of the detectives’ faces one by one, were like a beast searching for prey.

Usually, handcuffs are removed when entering the visiting room, but the fact that he was exceptionally wearing two handcuffs on his wrists added to his threatening image rather than reassuring.

“Ugh…”

A groan of unknown origin lingered in the air.

Whether it was due to the rumors or his inherent aura, the oppressive energy emanating from Masil Jang overwhelmed the Gangnam team members without exception.

One team member reflexively stood up from his seat and offered it to Masil Jang, and someone had to sit next to him for smooth suppression, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do so and stood far behind him.

Thump-

Masil Jang sat down on the sofa as if burying himself in it. Then, he finally noticed Hae-soo standing against the wall in the back corner and slightly raised the corner of his mouth, nodding subtly as if to say he understood the situation.

Kang-beom was also slightly overwhelmed by Masil Jang’s aura, but he went even harder to pretend he wasn’t.

“You criminal bastard, you’re so slow. Should a detective have to wait for you?”

At Kang-beom’s words, Masil Jang leaned back on the sofa, lowered his head slightly, smiled softly, and then raised his head again to make eye contact.

At that moment, Kang-beom flinched at the glint in his eyes.

“This isn’t the attitude of a detective who came to me because he wants to know something.”

“Ha, this punk… Where are you trying to pull this intimidation tactic in front of a detective? Hey, you’re mistaken. We’re the Special Task Force. You can’t forcibly end the meeting even if you want to. Should we start a fight here?”

Masil Jang slowly leaned back on the backrest again, raised his head, and looked around.

His movements were strangely slow, but they made you focus. Like a large fish in the sea.

His deep, heavy voice echoed in the visiting room.

“Are you sure?”

Kang-beom fell for Masil Jang’s concise provocation. No, Kang-beom acted even bigger to hide his fear from himself. The rude Gangjin Police Station detective was there, as well as his own team members.

If he gave in here, he would have to follow them around for the rest of this joint project.

“Oh, I’m seeing a criminal who’s lost his mind for the first time in a while. It looks like we won’t be able to talk nicely today. Let’s start with a beating.”

Swoosh-

Kang-beom jumped up from his seat, picked up the glass ashtray on the sofa table, and struck Masil Jang’s forehead.

Thwack-!

Masil Jang was watching it with his eyes, but he didn’t avoid it and took it head-on.

Two streams of blood flowed down from Masil Jang’s forehead.

“Team Leader, Team Leader, please be patient!”

“Team Leader!”

“You, you sit down too!”

It was a spectacle.

Masil Jang hadn’t made any moves, but one of the team members, already frightened, checked him.

Kang-beom became even more agitated as the team members tried to stop him.

He pushed the team members away and picked up the metal folding chair leaning against the side of the sofa and swung it at Masil Jang.

Crack!

Masil Jang raised his hand and blocked this one slightly.

The chair was bent into an L-shape from how hard he swung it.

Masil Jang looked at the blood on his pants and muttered softly.

“I think this is enough…”

Snap-

The two handcuffs that had been binding his wrists snapped like toys. He slowly got up from his seat and picked up the folding chair that Kang-beom had swung.

At that moment.

Grab-

Someone grabbed Masil Jang’s wrist. He turned his head to check and saw that Hae-soo had already come close.

“Let go.”

Even if there was a secret agreement with Hae-soo, this was a very shameful incident for Masil Jang, who had never been treated like this before.

He was already a death row inmate who had killed dozens of people. Killing a few more wouldn’t change his sentence.

He would cooperate out of betrayal and anger towards Teacher Cheon, but he couldn’t tolerate this.

He was thinking of killing the detectives in front of him to set an example so that the detectives who came to him next would be polite.

Rip-

He twisted his arm to the side to shake off Hae-soo’s hand. But it didn’t move properly. Rather, his skin was pushed, and a red wound formed.

Masil Jang slightly widened his eyes and looked at Hae-soo’s hand.

It was impossible for him to exert this much strength already, not long after his hand was broken.

“Hey, hey, you bastard, come out!! Who are you stopping right now?!”

At that moment, Kang-beom’s shout from behind snapped Masil Jang out of his thoughts.