Chapter 211
Having extracted the true meeting location through torture, Yoo Ho-chan and his group gathered more men and set off.
“Finally… finally, Baek In-hwi…”
Yoo Ho-chan’s excitement was palpable.
He had learned that the meeting the captured executive had mentioned was a general assembly of all Baek In-hwi’s lieutenants, led by Baek In-hwi himself.
The man he had been so desperately trying to catch was finally within his grasp.
He trembled with anticipation.
“Sixty of us will raid the meeting and contact the Public Security Bureau simultaneously. We should be able to subdue them without any problems.” They hadn’t notified the authorities in advance, worried about potential leaks through Baek In-hwi’s informants within the PSB.
“If we miss this opportunity, we might never catch him. We have to be meticulous.”
“Of course. But…” Yoo Ho-chan said with a worried expression, “Do you think they’ll be armed?”
Cheon Ji-an smiled confidently.
“It’s the opposite. Do people bring weapons to a meeting with the president in Korea? Baek In-hwi wouldn’t allow his men to carry firearms, except for his bodyguards. And for security reasons, the number of guards would be minimal. It shouldn’t be a problem. And even if it is…” He patted his chest. “…I have this.”
Yoo Ho-chan chuckled. “What’s that? I’m not supposed to know.”
He smiled at his attempt at humor. “You’re adapting well.”
“It’s for justice. Evil doesn’t play by the rules, so why should we? We have to fight fire with fire.”
“That’s the spirit, Prosecutor Yoo! That’s why we chose you! You’re the perfect man for this job!”
“It’s nothing, really.”
He smiled brightly.
“I’m… excited.”
Fortunately, the meeting place wasn’t far from where they had captured the executive. He had agreed to meet with Moon Gil nearby, thinking it wouldn’t take long, and they had used that opportunity to extract the location of the meeting.
They arrived at an old, dilapidated building, isolated on the outskirts of the city. There was no need for a stealthy approach this time.
They had 60 men.
“Attack!”
Cheon Ji-an’s men stormed the building, clashing with the guards outside.
Gunshots rang out, and there were casualties on both sides, but Cheon Ji-an’s men quickly gained the upper hand, overwhelming the guards with their superior numbers.
“Let’s go.” Yoo Ho-chan, surrounded by dozens of men, kicked open the door to what appeared to be the meeting room. “Where’s Baek In-hwi?!”
The room was filled with dozens of men, their fists clenched, but as Cheon Ji-an had predicted, they were unarmed. A man sat at what appeared to be the head of the table.
“…Who’s asking?” he asked.
“Baek In-hwi! Baek In-hwi! You’re Baek In-hwi!”
The man chuckled after a moment of silence. “Prosecutor Yoo Ho-chan.”
“It’s over, Baek In-hwi! You have the right to remain silent… Never mind, this is China!” Since this was happening in China, he had no authority to arrest him.
He could request extradition later. But before handing him over to the Chinese authorities, who would be arriving soon, he wanted to have his say. He walked towards Baek In-hwi, and the men in the room tried to stop him, but his men blocked them. He finally stood before Baek In-hwi.
“Baek In-hwi.”
“Are you sure it’s me?”
“If it’s not you, then who is it?”
“Let’s say it is me. Why?”
“Why? Why?!” He grabbed him by the collar, his face red with anger. “Don’t you feel any remorse for what you’ve done?! If you had even an ounce of decency, you wouldn’t be asking ‘why’!”
Baek In-hwi, his collar in Yoo Ho-chan’s grasp, said with a calm expression, “Why should I feel remorse?”
“What?”
“What have they ever done for me?”
“They’re human beings…”
He laughed. “They’re human beings with money. They can afford to lose a little. Do you know about the people who are truly suffering? The ones who are struggling to survive?”
“So you’re saying what you did was justified?”
“It’s pointless to argue with you.” He chuckled. “Fine, I’m Baek In-hwi.”
A thrill shot through Yoo Ho-chan at his confession. “The ends justify the means.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I had to become a monster to catch a monster like you, you bastard!” He punched him in the face and then, still not satisfied, climbed on top of him and continued punching.
“Do you know how many people have suffered because of you, you bastard?!”
“Calm down, Prosecutor Yoo,” Cheon Ji-an said, trying to restrain him. “He’s already caught. He’ll face justice.”
“No, he deserves more. A psychopath like him deserves to be punished severely.”
“Of course he does, but you don’t have to dirty your hands. We’ll take care of it.” He snapped his fingers, and his men rushed forward and started beating Baek In-hwi.
“…”
“They all have a grudge against him, so they were eager to cooperate.”
He smiled.
“Congratulations, you caught Baek In-hwi.”
“It’s a fitting end for a villain,” Yoo Ho-chan said, watching Baek In-hwi and his men being taken away by the police.
“Indeed,” Cheon Ji-an replied.
“I wanted to ask him why he did it.”
“I’ll ask him for you later.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Cheon.” He extended his hand.
“The pleasure was all mine, Prosecutor.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He suddenly looked worried. “Does China have an extradition treaty with Korea?”
If there was no treaty, Baek In-hwi would be tried in China, not Korea. He wanted to see him stand trial in a Korean court, but Cheon Ji-an shook his head. “Unfortunately, there’s no extradition treaty between our two countries.”
“Damn it!” He had been so focused on catching Baek In-hwi that he had forgotten to check. “Don’t worry, Chinese law is harsh. He’ll be punished.”
“I hope so. What if he bribes his way out?”
“That won’t happen. The person I’m working for won’t let that happen.”
“Ah, so now that Baek In-hwi is caught, your boss will reveal his identity, right? But what’s his grudge against Baek In-hwi? Why is he so determined to catch him?”
“A… past grievance, you could say.”
“Can you at least tell me his name now? He’s my benefactor. I’m curious.”
“Alright, I think it’s time.”
He smiled brightly.
“His name is Wang Myeong.”
“My apologies for being late,” a man said, entering the meeting room with an embarrassed expression.
“It’s alright, have a seat,” I said with a smile. After he sat down, I continued, “Baek In-hwi has been captured.” The latecomer whispered to the man next to him, “Who was captured?”
“There was a secret operation to eliminate the Baek In-hwi persona. One of our men, disguised as Baek In-hwi, was captured.”
“I see.”
I chuckled. “Baek In-hwi is no more. Past sins can’t haunt us if they’ve been punished. The captured ‘Baek In-hwi’ will receive a harsh sentence, but we’ve already made arrangements with the Chinese government. He’ll be imprisoned in a luxury prison for political prisoners, so he’ll be fine.”
The “executives” who had been captured were fourth and fifth-generation heihaizi, who didn’t even know my face.
The guns were loaded with blanks, and the torture was staged. We had sent Yoo Ho-chan away under the pretense of a time constraint and then faked the interrogation.
It was all a performance for Yoo Ho-chan, to make him believe he had captured the real Baek In-hwi. It was so elaborate that he wouldn’t suspect a thing. “I’m Wang Myeong now. The one who orchestrated Baek In-hwi’s downfall. Who am I?”
“Wang Myeong!” they shouted in unison.
“Be careful not to use the wrong name.”
Baek In-hwi, the villain who had caused so much chaos in Korea, was gone. Names didn’t matter to me. Wang Myeong would eventually be replaced by another name, another mask, and his crimes would also be “punished.”
The world would believe that justice had prevailed, and Baek In-hwi’s legacy would fade away.
But I would still be here.
“I am me. We are us. The world will be deceived again and again. We’ll do whatever it takes for our future, for the prosperity of our descendants.” I stood up and shouted, “Who are our enemies?!”
“The world!” they shouted back.
“That’s right! The world abandoned us first! They condemned us to suffer at the bottom of society, while preaching about justice and protecting their own privileges! Why should we follow their rules?!” I slammed my hand on the table.
“We have our own justice. Our own happiness. Other people’s happiness is meaningless to us. They’ve taken enough from us. Now it’s our turn to take!”
We were all from the bottom of society, even lower than the so-called “common people.” We had experienced the worst of society.
“Taking is justice! Being taken from is evil! We won’t let them take anything from us! We’d rather die!”
“We’d rather die!”
I looked at them. “Today is a good day. Let’s eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow!”
“Woohoo!”
Food and drinks flooded the room.
“Drink! Enjoy!” I walked around, pouring them drinks, and Li Yang, who had been quietly following me, said, “Chairman.”
“What is it?”
“We have a call from Cheon Ji-an.”
“Give it to me.” I took the phone and said cheerfully, “Hello?”
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Wang Myeong, it’s Cheon Ji-an.
“Good work. Is everyone alright? No injuries?”
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Everyone’s fine.
Both sides were working for me. They had put on a good show for Yoo Ho-chan, but no one had been seriously injured. “Tell them they did well. And there’s good news coming soon.”
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I will.
“Anything else?”
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Prosecutor Yoo was hitting him too hard, so I had our men take over. He seemed to have a lot of pent-up anger.
I chuckled. “He did. Anyway, good work. Get some rest.”
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Oh, and Prosecutor Yoo said he wanted to ask Baek In-hwi why he did it, why he went so far.
“He said that?”
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Yes.
I smirked.
“Why? Because… that’s how it ends.”