Part 111
Lee Wan-bok.
It was known that he had lived a century ago, yet his exact history was unknown.
According to theories, he had belonged to the Joseon family, and after their fall, he had promptly changed his name. No one heard from him again until he engraved his name on the family register of the Sukune clan.
That a foreigner from Korea would gain a position within an influential family across the sea was hard to believe.
Furthermore, his descendants came to acquire the entire clan. His youngest son, Tatsuo Sukune, was now the current Chairman of the Leto Group.
However, his name wouldn’t be known, either.
Like his father, there were a lot of blank spaces in his own myth.
“It’s a typical aura exhaustion phenomenon.” The man who had appeared out of nowhere looked down on him.
Oh Yoo-seong.
“But you’ll be glad to hear that she’ll recover. There are no fatal wounds,” the young man added.
Chairman Tatsuo tried to move his Aura and muscles, but he couldn’t. Exhausted by his efforts, he staggered back into his wheelchair.
“You can stand?” Yoo-seong tilted his head. “I had a feeling that presidents of large corporations just used these things as a fashion accessory.” Yoo-seong nodded to himself before continuing. “It’s a very confusing time for me. I did one operation in this country, then I thought I was going to be arrested, but I was called here instead…”
Tatsuo didn’t pay attention to his words. There were bigger questions on his mind.
How could someone fight against Chika yet stand unscathed before him?
Chika Sukune was a monster. He’d thought she would never be defeated. Whatever Tech or however lucky Yoo-seong was, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to win without getting hurt himself.
Tatsuo was shocked by the results. And his misjudgments hadn’t ended there.
His two sons had been fully prepared to face Yoo-seong as soon as the door opened. Tatsuo had not at all expected that it would be a half-insane, blind and deaf Chika who would burst through.
It hadn’t taken long for his daughter’s wild blood attacks to incapacitate her brothers, even her father.
Over Yoo-seong’s shoulder, Chika’s body was still convulsing. It took all of the Chairman’s Tech to reach her subconscious and suppress her movements.
Chika still had a lot of CE left. It would only take one second of Tatsuo losing focus…
“It would be quite a big deal,” Yoo-seong said, seemingly reading his thoughts. “Still, keep your focus. I hope you can listen to my story while doing it. Here goes…”
Yoo-seong lifted a finger in front of Tatsuo. “Do you know why I am here? You should.”
“Look-” Tatsuo’s voice trembled as he spoke in Japanese.
“Speak Korean.” Yoo-seong’s voice was firm.
“I have no idea why you’re here!” This time, Tatsuo spoke in perfect Korean.
At his outburst, Yoo-seong tilted his head slightly. “I don’t like listening to your lies.”
Tatsuo felt the blood rush to his head.
However, despite his anger, there seemed to be no way of getting out of this situation.
“If it hadn’t been for me, someone else would have taken it.” Tatsuo chose his words as carefully as possible. “Do you think it was just us who had eyes on your Tech? It was just a matter of who got there first. If it hadn’t been Leto and me, your secrets would have gone to another company or family. Or even China. At that time, your country didn’t have the ability to take care of your secrets properly.”
“I see…” Yoo-seong nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you for your explanation.”
Pop-!
Yoo-seong pulled an item from his slot.
Tatsuo’s pupils expanded when he saw what was in Yoo-seong’s hands.
“Th-that…” he stuttered in surprise.
It was a small ampoule.
Its shape and size were quite different from the CE ampoules used in Korea and other countries.
This was an innovative model that could preserve CE for a long time or inject a huge amount of CE despite its size.
Perhaps there were more secrets and innovations that the Leto Group kept within this facility.
“That’s not yours,” Tatsuo said.
At this, Yoo-seong began to walk around the room.
“Well, to use your own words. It’s just a matter of who gets there first. Someone else would take it eventually, even if it weren’t me. At this time, you don’t have the ability to take care of your secrets properly.”
“What are you looking for?!” Tatsuo yelled nervously.
“A database on Qi and Tech you stole from the Korean Peninsula. Hand all of it over. Even reprints will do if you don’t have the originals anymore.”
“I don’t have anything like that!”
Yoo-seong approached the wheelchair and leaned in closer to Tatsuo.
Goosebumps ran down his entire body.
At that moment, Tatsuo almost let go of the concentration that was restraining Chika. Of course, Yoo-seong’s sole purpose in coming to Japan was to get the stolen secrets back.
Twenty years.
That was how long Tatsuo Sukune had kept his crime hidden without paying the price.
Yoo-seong looked at him eye to eye.
“I’m going to take a slow look around here. Even if there are no data or reprints here, there are quite a lot of technologies and information that will be helpful, like this ampoule. If I bring them to Korea, it will help us a lot.”
“You’re a thief!” Tatsuo screamed. “You think you can get out of this country after doing that? No, you won’t even be able to leave this facility!”
Yoo-seong stepped back and scratched his head. “I am a person who gives as much as I take.”
“What…?” Tatsuo Sukune was at a loss for words.
Yoo-seong’s expression was serious.
Then he pressed the button.
Auto-Hunt began searching. Before long, Yoo-seong disappeared out of the room.
Only a screaming Tatsuo and his three helpless children remained there.
***
“Kodama!”
As the Chairman’s cry echoed in the hallway, Kodama ran with all his might.
He felt frustrated.
Although Chika hadn’t been able to stop Yoo-seong, he hadn’t thought that he was strong enough to beat the Chairman and his two sons at the same time.
When he reached the Chairman’s room, he saw the smashed door and the scene beyond it.
“Chairman!”
Tatsuo was lying on the floor, his wheelchair overturned.
Kodama immediately moved to support him, but…
Splat-!
He felt the old man’s spit between his brows.
“Useless!” the Chairman said vehemently.
“Well, I have no excuse…”
The situation was much more serious than Kodama had thought. At first glance, it was obvious that the Chairman’s three children were in critical condition.
The Chairman himself was almost on the brink of unconsciousness due to exhaustion.
More than anything…
Yoo-seong was nowhere to be found.
“Call…”
“Yes?”
“Sheriffs! Call them all over here, you idiot! No… that’s not enough. Call Tokyo! Call all the hunters of affiliated groups here. All of them, now!”
“Chairman… do you require hunters?”
Kodama had no question about calling the sheriffs. But mobilizing hunters to catch Yoo-seong would be…
“Are you deaf? I said call them!”
Then the names of from the Chairman’s mouth.
First-class hunters who were famous throughout Japan.
corporations.
Formally or informally, they had received numerous benefits and support by submitting to the Leto Group.
“Right now!”
“But… Chairman…”
Kodama didn’t have the courage to say the words. Instead, he turned his terminal on and showed the screen to the Chairman. It was a report that had come in this morning.
However, the Chairman didn’t seem to care about it.
“What is this about?”
“It is a Storm-class crack, Chairman. Within two hours, in the middle of Tokyo…”
“Then send the minimum number of hunters required! My kids are the only ones in Tokyo, you idiot! Don’t mess around with useless problems! Kodama, don’t disappoint me further!”
Kodama paused to consider.
Rationally, even if it was a Storm-class crack, there was no room for disaster as long as all areas were covered.
In such a situation, it was possible to bring all of Tokyo’s top hunters to this place…
“Ah… I understand, Chairman. Immediately….”
Kodama began dialing.
Leto’s influence was enormous indeed.
Most hunters were preparing to respond to the rift but agreed to drop everything after hearing direct instructions from Chairman Tatsuo.
Before long, the hunters began to move.
***
Just as Yoo-seong was engrossed in a computer screen…
Jiiing-!
Spider web vibration.
Like Hansel and Gretel’s trail of breadcrumbs, he had left spider web threads throughout the facility as he searched for information.
It was a kind of alarm system that would alert him if someone was approaching.
‘Did reinforcements arrive?’ he wondered.
There was no room for Yoo-seong to be optimistic about his situation. Auto-Hunt was sympathetic. Instead of waiting to remove the USB safely, Yoo-seong, through Auto-Hunt’s control, pulled the entire hard disk from the computer.
Then he placed it in a slot.
‘It isn’t safe to go outside.’
With the Leto Group’s influence, there were probably a lot of hunters coming after him.
‘A lot of them could be first-class hunters.’
In this situation, it would be suicidal to meet them head-on or try to escape them. Of course, Yoo-seong had no intention of committing suicide.
Pop-!
He took something out of his slot.
The Sky Scissors.
Booo-wook-!
In an instant, a small crack was created for him.
As soon as he entered it, Yoo-seong took out the Sky Needle and sewed it closed.
Now Yoo-seong was literally out of that world.
However skilled the hunters trying to catch him were, they would not be able to find him.
“Woo!” Yoo-seong took a deep breath.
Then he began running toward Tokyo.