Free Web NovelI checked the email Igor had sent from the Myeongdong office. There were photos and videos attached. While the files were downloading, I read through the report Igor had written. The video file was quite large—it looked like it would take a while to finish downloading. I decided to check the photos first. The face of Gulbuddin was clearly captured in one of them. His face was smeared with blood, but it was unmistakably the same one I’d seen in the old pictures.
When the download finally completed, I played the video. It began with a scene of the team entering a building. The sun had only just started to rise; darkness still outweighed the light. The screen was dim, but bright enough to make out what was happening.
I paused the video and pressed the bell to call Manager Ma from outside. It seemed better to have an expert like him watch it with me. Soon, he opened the door and came in. I gestured for him to come closer.
“This is a video Igor sent. I thought it’d be better to watch it together. Looks like footage of Gulbuddin’s execution.”
A faint spark crossed Manager Ma’s eyes. He nodded slightly and sat beside me.
When I resumed the video, short exchanges in Russian filled the speakers.
Soon Igor appeared on the screen.
— Kill everyone who comes out.
The moment Igor gave the order, hundreds of bullets tore into the entrance. The muzzle flashes lit up the surroundings so much it almost looked like daylight. When Igor signaled with his hand, several mercenaries rushed through the shattered doorway.
Then gunfire erupted from inside for the first time. It didn’t last long—apparently, it wasn’t much of a firefight. The mercenaries had already overpowered them.
Igor entered last. Passing through the doorway into a wide living room, the floor was strewn with bodies. Most had been killed in the initial barrage; there wasn’t a single movement. Igor walked past the corpses without pause and began to climb to the next floor.
Occasionally, stray rifle shots echoed like desperate struggles, but Igor’s footsteps remained calm. Even just watching the video, the gunfire made me flinch.
“In real combat, doesn’t the gunfire make your ears ring?” I asked.
Manager Ma tore his eyes from the screen and looked at me. “At first, yes. The sound overwhelms you until your ears go numb. But after a while, you get used to it—especially if you’ve had to sleep on battlefields. Humans adapt to anything.”
“What about you, Manager Ma?”
For a moment, the image of him shooting the Cheongpunghoe chairman in my stead overlapped in my mind, along with the ringing of that gunshot echoing in my ears.
“It’s been a long time since I graduated from the field,” he replied quietly. “But I’d say I’m still like Igor in that regard.”
“I see.”
Smiling faintly at his calm answer, I turned my attention back to the video. The mercenaries were clearing each room one by one. Before long, only one large door remained—what looked like a master bedroom.
— This is the last room. We couldn’t find Gulbuddin anywhere else.
Igor gave a slight nod, and the mercenaries opened fire on the door again. After a brief barrage, they kicked it open and stormed in.
In a corner of the spacious bedroom, two women were crouched with their heads buried in their arms, trembling. In front of the bed lay several men bleeding out and motionless.
The mercenaries checked the faces of the corpses and shook their heads.
— He’s not here. freewebnσvel.cøm
— What? What do you mean he’s not here?
Igor shouted in anger. The mercenaries approached the trembling women. They aimed their guns and questioned them, but the women didn’t seem to understand Russian. They only sobbed and whimpered in Pashto.
Eventually Igor stepped forward himself. Even as they trembled uncontrollably, the women’s eyes were fixed on something else. Igor followed their gaze and turned his head in that direction.
A dry chuckle escaped him. Under the bed, a shadow shifted faintly.
The mercenaries dragged out Gulbuddin, who had been hiding under the bed, and forced him to kneel before Igor. Seeing him still in his pajamas made me laugh in disbelief.
His men had fought and died to protect him, and he hid under a bed to save his own skin. Pathetic.
— Gulbuddin.
Igor called his name in a flat tone. Gulbuddin muttered something in Pashto, but Igor kicked him with his boot. A dull thud sounded, and Igor pressed down on his shoulder.
— Don’t act smart. I know you speak Russian.
— P-please... spare me. Please.
— Don’t you feel sorry for your men who bled because of you?
— Please, spare me. The Taliban made me do it. I didn’t know anything.
Igor gave a mocking laugh and replied coldly.
— Bullshit. Do you know how many of my men died because of you? And now you’re begging for mercy?
— I’ll tell you everything! Everything I know! Just don’t kill me!
Igor asked him a few questions, and Gulbuddin answered obediently. But he really didn’t know anything—not even who had ordered him to attack me. He’d just participated in the operation with the Taliban. He knew nothing about me.
Judging there was nothing more to gain, Igor raised his rifle and aimed it at Gulbuddin.
— Please, spare me! I beg you!
Gulbuddin clutched at Igor’s leg in desperation. Igor coldly kicked him away and pulled the trigger.
Gulbuddin’s twitching body went still in an instant.
— Kyaa!
The women screamed and crawled toward him, clutching his limp body and sobbing, shouting at Igor in words I couldn’t understand—but their voices were heavy with grief and fury. Igor stared for a moment, then turned away.
— Take Gulbuddin’s body and return. Hand the women over to the U.S. troops.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar—mass murderer of Afghanistan, leader of terrorists—met a pitiful end.
“Phew...”
For some reason, it didn’t feel real. It was like watching a movie. Gulbuddin, one of the masterminds behind the attack on me, was now dead. I still didn’t know who had ordered it. But as a warning to anyone else thinking of threatening me, it was enough.
“So Gulbuddin’s dead after all.”
“Yes, Boss. Congratulations.”
“I’m not sure it’s something to celebrate... but it feels refreshing.”
I shut off the computer and rose from my chair.
“When is Chairman Yoo arriving?”
“He just called—he’ll be here soon.”
Yoo Seongjin wasn’t the type to waste time. No sooner had I said that than a knock came at the door.
Manager Ma opened it, and Chairman Yoo stood there.
“It’s been a while, President.”
“Chairman Yoo, welcome.”
I smiled warmly, walked over, and gave him a light pat on the shoulder.
“Let’s sit. There’s a lot I need to ask.”
As soon as we sat down, I started with the question that had been on my mind.
“How are things progressing in Japan?”
I had assigned Yoo Seongjin as the intermediary between the Russian mafia and the Black Dragon Society. Initially, my plan was to make them fight each other to weaken both sides. But as things developed, it became clear there was no need for them to spill blood; there was more than enough for both to share.
Japan’s underground was an enormous market. If both forces were properly anchored there, Japan wouldn’t dare act rashly again.
Yoo Seongjin began speaking slowly.
“The Black Dragon Society has already started a war with the Yakuza. I heard there have been sporadic skirmishes.”
“Sporadic battles...”
If civilians were caught in the crossfire, the Self-Defense Forces would have justification to intervene. What I wanted was chaos in Japan—chaos so severe that Korea, its neighbor, wouldn’t even be able to pay attention. Sporadic skirmishes wouldn’t cut it.
As I frowned, Yoo added quickly, “Usoyan is holding back. He’s only supplying weapons. The ones actually clashing with the Yakuza are Black Dragon members. A few have already been arrested by Japanese police.”
“Only supplying weapons? That’s not what was agreed.”
“Yes. Hao Xun already protested on our behalf, and I spoke with Usoyan directly. But he just made excuses and kept delaying sending his men.”
So, he was pulling back already, before the real fight even started?
“Are you saying his men never entered Japan?”
“No. Enough of them have already entered.”
“Then how come there’s no conflict yet? How is that possible?”
When preparing this operation, drug shipments from Russia and China into Japan had already been drastically reduced. The market ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) had tightened. To release that pressure, chaos was needed—but instead, he was holding back?
“Manager Ma, call Usoyan.”
Ma picked up his phone and began dialing an international number. While he did, I turned to Yoo again.
“How about Hao Xun?”
“He’s following your orders precisely. For him, giving up the Korean market means he has to seize Japan no matter what. He can’t move freely in China, so even sharing Japan with Russia is still a better deal.”
I nodded slightly. Hao Xun couldn’t afford to go against me. He’d already joined hands with Hu Jintao—he couldn’t risk alienating me now.
“Boss, Usoyan’s on the line.”
“Put it on speaker.”
Manager Ma switched to speaker mode, set the receiver down, and placed the phone on the table.
“Usoyan?”
— Hello? Manager Ma! What’s with the manners, calling at this hour? It’s the middle of the night in Moscow...
He sounded irritated—probably woken from sleep. Bold for someone who hadn’t even done his job properly.
I cut him off coldly.
“Usoyan, what do you think you’re doing right now?”
— ...
“Usoyan!”
— Ch–Charlie?
“That’s right, it’s Charlie. What do you think you’re doing? Ignoring my orders—you must be living comfortably.”
I could hear him swallow hard over the speaker.
“I’m pretty sure I told you to begin already. Did my message not get through? Or are you so comfortable now that you think you can ignore me? Which is it?”
— N-no, that’s not it. There were... some circumstances...
“Then explain. If I don’t find your excuse convincing, you’d better be prepared for what comes next.”
He’d definitely start spouting nonsense. I had to crush his spirit from the start.
“I released you for one reason—to throw Japan into chaos. If this is how you act before even starting, how am I supposed to trust you?”
— I’m sorry.
“If you’re sorry, then why do it? Tell me why. Are you waiting for the Black Dragon Society and the Yakuza to destroy each other first?”
Pressed further, Usoyan hesitated, then spoke in a trembling voice.
— ...That’s not it.
“Then what is it? You know full well what happens if you disrupt my plan.”
Silence fell for a moment. I could almost hear him struggling to come up with an excuse.
“Speak. I can’t decide what to do with you until I know why.”
— The truth is... there’s some discord within the organization. They don’t understand why we have to split things evenly with the Black Dragon Society. We’re supplying all the weapons, so why should we shed blood too? So...
“Ridiculous. The operation hasn’t even begun, and you’re already fighting over scraps? Save your turf wars for later.”
It wasn’t just his subordinates’ greed—Usoyan himself was surely thinking the same. I could understand, since the Russian mafia wasn’t a single unit like the Black Dragon Society but a coalition of several groups. But that didn’t mean I could let it slide.
“Start immediately,” I said in a cold voice. “This isn’t a request—it’s a warning. Chairman Yoo’s orders are my orders. When he says go, you go. When he says stop, you stop. Understood?”
