Chapter 126

Chapter 126

After thinking about the broadcast content, Kang Soojung, still finding it unbelievable, said to Shin Hae-ryang,

“I knew you went around punching troublemakers. In fact, I’d have to be blind not to know. A guy who was bitching at me suddenly disappears for a month and then gets dental implants. Gets tooth regeneration. Keeps slipping in and out of Hawaii for whatever reason. I know there are guys who won’t listen no matter how much you try to persuade them with words, but you never shared with me that you were destroying things.”

“...I told you it was handled well, didn’t I?”

Seeing Shin Hae-ryang looking flustered, which was unusual, it seemed he hadn’t told Deputy Team Leader Kang Soojung specifically how he had handled things.

“Ichida, was it? You said he voluntarily provided his laptop?”

“Voluntarily... he left it at the cafe.”

“You said you persuaded Suzuki well with words. Was that getting rid of his car entirely?”

“...He’ll behave until he buys a new car.”

“What about the helicopter? This is completely new to me. Wasn’t that an accident due to poor piloting skills?”

“The entire Engineer Team N needed to fall into the sea.”

In between, Seo Jihyuk was stomping his feet at the team leader’s curt answers. He tried to interject his large body between the two to support the team leader, but was pushed back by Kang Soojung’s large hand on his face. (Ugh!) Kang Soojung thought for a few seconds after Shin Hae-ryang’s answer, but then frowned and asked again,

“What was the need for that?”

Kang Soojung seemed unable to think of any reason why people needed to be rinsed in seawater. I, listening from the side, felt the same way. Is there a need to put people in seawater after destroying a helicopter? Shin Hae-ryang answered simply,

“We needed to destroy their electronic devices.”

Watching Shin Hae-ryang answer expressionlessly without any apparent guilt, Kang Soojung sighed and asked wearily,

“Were the actions you mentioned related to the safety of Engineer Team A?”

“Yes.”

“...I’ll save additional questions or reprimands for when we’re back in Korea.”

“Thank you.”

Shin Hae-ryang checked the time on Michael Roarke’s pad, then started accessing the video section through the engineer program. Kang Soojung, watching Shin Hae-ryang’s actions, began the same access on Shin Hae-ryang’s pad. Then, as if recalling past events, she fell into thought and occasionally snapped her fingers. Snap!

“No wonder! Suzuki was going crazy, jumping up and down asking me where I hid his car, and I thought he’d gone mad and kept telling him off for asking us about his car.”

Ah! As Kang Soojung let out a sigh-like groan, Seo Jihyuk, who was next to her, put down the dumbbell and stretched both arms to the sky, saying to Kang Soojung,

“That bastard. He won’t be able to do his hand gestures again while claiming to give people rides at the airport.”

“The result is too extreme. ...I recommended mental counseling to Suzuki, thinking he had paranoia.”

“Deputy Team Leader, you need to know nothing so that when someone asks later, you can answer with certainty that it wasn’t our doing.”

“Are you kidding?! I never thought our team members would go around committing such criminal acts! I even thought the assaults were too much!”

“...Please continue to act like you don’t know.”

Seo Jihyuk slightly turned his head away from Kang Soojung’s glaring gaze. Baek Ae-young took her eyes off the door and approached slowly. The people in front of the door seemed to have already disappeared during the broadcast. With no one trying to enter Ophion, the tension eased a bit. Tumanako and Yoo Geum-yi, who had been half-standing, were now sprawled on the floor. Baek Ae-young approached Kang Soojung and said,

“Don’t people try to be more patient or make more rational judgments in disaster situations like this?”

No matter what, falling for such provocation doesn’t make sense. Be it laptops, cars, or yachts. Even if I had a gun, I should be able to consider the possibility that rushing in might be a trap. Shin Hae-ryang, watching a few men who had sprinted from the East District and were quickly passing through the Central Building, said,

“It seems there’s some reward for living diligently.”

The CCTV footage followed their movements. As soon as the men passed through the corridor connecting the Central Building to the West District, Kang Soojung sighed heavily and pressed the [Yes] button.

As the barrier wall started to descend rapidly, the men in the CCTV began to panic and turn back. However, the barrier wall closed faster. Watching the CCTV, I became curious about the situation in the South District research center and asked Shin Hae-ryang,

“Can we check the situation in the South District through CCTV as well?”

“We can see everything except the research center.”

“Why can’t we see the research center?”

“It seems there have been multiple discussions about privacy invasion and overstepping authority. Only the research center directors can view that CCTV.”

Kang Soojung, looking at the pad her team leader had stolen, asked the thief,

“Why did you need CCTV access at night?”

“...”

Shin Hae-ryang, who had been speaking without hesitation until now, closed his mouth like a clam and remained silent.

“It’s okay. You can tell us.”

When Baek Ae-young answered with furrowed brows, Shin Hae-ryang looked at her once and then slowly said to Kang Soojung,

“Some bastard pulled Ae-young’s hair, and there was a quarrel because of that. It happened below the CCTV angle, they say.”

Kang Soojung gently asked Baek Ae-young. It was completely different from how she spoke to Shin Hae-ryang and Seo Jihyuk.

“Were you up at night?”

“...I couldn’t sleep, so I was on my way to see the night sea.”

“Is your head okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My hair is fine, but I beat the crap out of him.”

Kang Soojung smiled and patted Baek Ae-young’s back, saying as if she was proud. Well done. When Kang Soojung looked at Shin Hae-ryang, he answered slowly,

“When I checked to delete the footage, I found that almost all engineer team leader authorities in the underwater base had been revoked. There was no separate notice about it either.”

“So you swiped the pad as soon as you met the head engineer.”

“That white supremacist wasn’t someone who would be wandering around at that time in the first place. And...”

“And?”

“...He seemed strangely tense when he saw me greeting him and kept glancing at me.”