Chapter 12

Beep- Clank-!

Through her hacking, Ok-hee opened every cage door at once.
The people imprisoned inside began emerging.

-Find the elf.

Ok-hee had told him to find the elf, but there was someone more important to Jun-gyeong.
He looked over the people coming out of the cages.
There were several beastfolk and humans, but only one race was represented by a single captive.

A goblin.
Jun-gyeong didn’t know why they had kidnapped a goblin, but the fact that he was alone meant there was a good chance he had been treated separately, just like the dwarf and elf.

Jun-gyeong tilted his head as he read the Book of Karmic Sin.
An unusual profile.
Goblin alchemists normally made narcotics, yet this one was specifically described as producing restorative tonics.
Jun-gyeong approached him and asked.

“Do you know where the dwarf is?”
“The dwarf… Ah, Karzen. He’s somewhere else with the elf.”
“Somewhere else?”
“Yes. I heard they were going to sell them to Japan.”
“What about you?”
“I… don’t know.”

The way the goblin’s eyes darted from side to side made it seem as though he was hiding something personal.
But his personal circumstances weren’t important right now. What mattered was the whereabouts of the dwarf and the elf.
For the moment, knowing that Karzen and the elf were about to be sold to Japan was enough.

“Do you know who they’re being sold to?”

The goblin shook his head.

“No. But I know who’s doing the selling. Those guys are real gangsters. The Saenara Gang. There was an orc fighter with them too.”
“Do you know where they are now?”

The goblin’s voice grew quieter.

“…No. I’m not sure.”

At that moment, another voice reached Jun-gyeong’s ears.

[I know.]

Jun-gyeong looked toward the fading spirit that had yet to pass on.

[Souls exist everywhere. Especially around men like them, who have spent their lives accumulating the karma of killing.]

The old woman’s spirit held out a small bead to him.

[It is not much of a reward for saving my flesh and blood, but I lingered a little longer so I could give this to you. It should help you catch them.]

Jun-gyeong accepted the yellow bead she offered him.

The old woman’s spirit immediately continued.

[Go to the yacht marina. You’ll see a place swarming with lost souls. That’s where they are.]
“Thank you.”
[No. I am the one who should thank you. Thank you. I truly, truly thank you for saving the child.]

In that instant, brilliant light spread from behind the old woman’s spirit, and she vanished into its glow.

Jun-gyeong studied his purification level for a moment before speaking.

“Yacht marina.”
-Ah! Wangsan Marina on Yeongjongdo. You need to move fast. It’s a bit of a distance. I’ll handle the cleanup here too.
“All right. I’m counting on you.”
-Don’t worry.

Jun-gyeong looked over the crying captives, then walked out of the warehouse.

He approached the motorcycle and put on his helmet.

“Wangsan Marina.”

The augmented-reality navigation appeared across the front visor.
The distance from the warehouse to Wangsan Marina was considerable.
Worse, it was rush hour, so the estimated arrival time was fairly late.
On top of that, motorcycle-restricted zones forced the route into a winding detour.

-That won’t do. I’ll mark the shortest route for you.

The route displayed on Jun-gyeong’s visor changed.
Instead of the winding city streets, it now showed a straight route along Incheon Bridge.
The estimated travel time dropped from an hour to thirty minutes.
But on the motorcycle, he could cut that down to fifteen.

The police would try to stop him, but it was the optimal route for the motorcycle.

“I’m counting on you again.”

Jun-gyeong patted the fuel tank twice and started the engine.

Rrrrrrr-, Thum- Thum- Thum-, Vreeee–

At the intersection, Jun-gyeong turned the handlebars toward the entrance to Incheon Bridge.

A patrol car off to the side flashed its lights and blared a warning.
Jun-gyeong ignored it and twisted the throttle.

VREEEEEE- RAAAAAAR-

On the straight road stretching over the sea, the needle on the speedometer shot past 250 in an instant.

VROOOOM- RAAAAAR-

The four-cylinder engine thundered, and the patrol car disappeared behind him in an instant.

Wangsan Marina.
The moment he entered the parking lot, Jun-gyeong saw a mass of souls gathered together.
He hurriedly parked the motorcycle and tried to rush inside, only to find his path blocked by a fence.
Jun-gyeong lightly vaulted the iron fence and ran inside.

Vreeee-

But the yacht packed with souls was already cutting rapidly through the water.

“Ha! Damn it.”

Jun-gyeong could only stand on the dock and watch the yacht recede into the distance.
He didn’t know how to swim, and even if he had, there was no way he could catch a yacht.

“Can you stop the yacht?”
-Impossible. That model’s navigation controls operate through a separate mechanical system.
“Damn it!”

On land, he could have found some way to act. Out on the sea, he was powerless.

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-

Hearing running footsteps, Jun-gyeong turned to see a security guard rushing toward him.
The man had hurried out after seeing him vault the fence and run inside.
As Jun-gyeong’s gaze shifted, a large black yacht caught his eye.
A massive emblem was painted along its side.
It was a black Three-Legged Crow.

“There’s a way.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

-Yes, hyung-nim.

Jun-gyeong’s eyebrow twitched at the form of address, but that was hardly important right now.

“I’m at Wangsan Marina. I can see your yacht.”
-Ah! Yes. Going out for some night fishing? Just show them that card and you can use it immediately. I’ll call ahead too, just in case.
“All right. Thank you.”

As Jun-gyeong ended the call, the security guard approached, flicking his wrist impatiently.
Jun-gyeong slipped his phone into his pocket and casually held out the black card.
The guard took it with a tense expression, then stared at Jun-gyeong in disbelief.

“What is this?”
“You don’t know what it is?”
“Are you drunk or something?”

An irritated sneer spread across the guard’s face.

“Get out. This isn’t a place for people like you.”
“…”
“Do you have any idea how much the boats here cost? Go play with your motorcycle and quit screwing around here.”

The guard grabbed Jun-gyeong’s arm and tried to drag him away, but Jun-gyeong did not move an inch.

“Are you sure about this? You’ll regret it.”
“You’re the one who’s going to regret it if you don’t get out. Haah… Why the hell are you so strong?”

When pulling him failed, the guard gave Jun-gyeong a shove instead.
Jun-gyeong’s brow furrowed deeply.

“What? So what if you glare at me? Wanna get beat up?”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Drinking? Ha! This guy. Yeah, I drank. So what?”
“Are you involved with the Saenara Gang too?”

A flash of unmistakable panic crossed the guard’s face.
He flinched and began stumbling over his words.

“…Saenara Gang? What the hell are you babbling about? Crazy bastard. Get out, asshole.”

Then came the sound of someone running, and both men naturally turned toward it.
The man who arrived was panting heavily, looking back and forth between Jun-gyeong and the guard as he tried to catch his breath.
The guard immediately straightened and saluted him.

“You’re here, Manager.”
“Hahh- Hah- Hah-”

The marina manager was too busy gasping for breath to answer.

“It’s nothing serious. I’ll throw him out right away. Don’t worry.”
“What? Hahh- Hgh- Hgh-”
“He suddenly jumped the fence, so I rushed over to stop him. There’s been no damage yet, and there won’t be. I’ll have him out immediately.”

The guard grabbed Jun-gyeong’s arm again and began pulling.
The marina manager saw what he was doing and shouted.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Sir?”
“Do you even know who this gentleman is?”

The marina manager bowed so deeply toward Jun-gyeong that his head nearly touched the ground.

“My apologies. I ran here as quickly as I could, but I was too late.”

The guard stared blankly at Jun-gyeong.
He had been nervous because he assumed Jun-gyeong was some small-time cop tailing the Saenara Gang, but instead of a police badge, Jun-gyeong had produced some strange black card.
That was why he had treated him like dirt.
But seeing the marina manager bow and scrape before him frightened the guard.
Without knowing what the card was or who Jun-gyeong truly was, he immediately bowed as well.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m not normally like this. It was awfully hot during the day, wasn’t it? I must’ve gotten heatstroke. I didn’t recognize who you were. My apologies.”

Jun-gyeong frowned at the groveling guard.
The marina manager shot the guard a furious glare, then bowed to Jun-gyeong again.

“The navigator will be here shortly. If you could wait just a moment…”
-You don’t need a navigator. That boat can be fully controlled remotely, so I’ll operate it from here.

Jun-gyeong looked at the marina manager and spoke casually.

“It’s fine. I’ll operate it myself. I’ll be back soon, so don’t contact the police.”
“Ah~ Yes. Of course.”

It was the sort of thing wealthy chaebol types occasionally did, so the marina manager nodded, while the guard stared at Jun-gyeong in bewilderment.
Jun-gyeong immediately boarded the yacht.
The marina manager hurriedly untied the ropes, tossed them aboard, and bowed again.

“Have a safe trip.”
“…Have a safe trip.”

The guard followed the manager’s lead and bowed, though an uneasy feeling remained in his chest.
Soon the yacht began moving, slowly cutting through the waters of the inner harbor.

“That guard seems to be connected to the Saenara Gang.”
-Yeah. I froze his accounts for now. I’ll make sure he pays properly for what he’s done.
“You?”
-Yup. Don’t worry about it. Dealing with people like that is my specialty. You might not know this, but modern society has pains worse than death.
“…All right. I trust you.”

When it came to human problems in modern society, Ok-hee was far more of an expert than he was.
And from everything she had shown him so far, she had proven herself a partner he could trust.

Jun-gyeong composed himself and looked out toward the distant sea.
The wind blew in and gently stroked his hair.

The black night sky and black sea blended together until it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.
For a man who had always fought his battles on land, it was an unfamiliar sight.

“This is a view I’d like to share.”
-With me?

Jun-gyeong let out a quiet chuckle.
Whenever he ate something delicious or saw something beautiful, one face inevitably came to mind.
Seol-hui’s face had surfaced in his thoughts.

As the wind brushed his cheek, Ok-hee’s voice came through the earpiece.

-The Saenara Gang operates nationwide. Their main sources of income are drug sales and gambling operations, but it looks like they shifted into human trafficking when the boss changed recently. Their main clients are Japanese yakuza. They seem to have dealt mostly in women before, but this time they’ve expanded the operation. Fucking lunatics. They went after something they never should have touched.
“Drugs… Is that why they kidnapped the goblin?”

An unusual goblin alchemist who made restorative tonics instead of narcotics.
He was probably highly skilled.
It seemed likely they had kidnapped him to force him to manufacture drugs.

-Probably. I’m cleaning up the warehouse now, and there are women in there completely wrecked by narcotic injections.

Grit-

Jun-gyeong ground his teeth and spat out each word as though chewing it.

“Then there’s no need to leave a single one alive.”
-If we leave them alive, they’ll find one way or another to slip through the cracks. They seem to have connections in politics too, and I’m seeing links to prosecutors and judges.
“Don’t worry. From today on, this sea will be their home.”
-I’m not worried about bastards like them. But you do need to be careful about the orc with them. The orc who joined them as a bodyguard is the chief of the Blood Tribe. The Blood Tribe is vicious. They’ll murder anyone or do anything else as long as the money is right.

Jun-gyeong recalled the orcs he had cut down in Hell and chuckled.

“Don’t worry about that either. I’ve faced thousands of them.”

Ok-hee found it strange that Jun-gyeong, who had come from Hell, claimed to have fought orcs there, but she let it pass.
He was the Martial God of Hell, after all, so she trusted his words completely.

After the yacht had been moving for nearly three hours, Ok-hee’s voice came through again.

-You’re almost there. It looks like they’re transferring to another vessel in international waters. I can see a large ferry through the camera mounted on their yacht. I can hack its internal network, so I’ll keep briefing you.

At Ok-hee’s words, Jun-gyeong raised his head and looked toward the distant horizon.
A ship was visible there, smaller than his fingernail at this distance.

Jun-gyeong’s black yacht began picking up speed, and the ship on the horizon slowly grew larger.