Mercenary Black Mamba

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"I should have wrapped this up sooner!" Captain Kim gritted his teeth.

Aside from his main job, the reason why he acted as a carrier for the Tefal faction was that it earned him quite a bit of money. From Gungpyeong, Shandong province was about 400 kilometers away, and Qingdao was only 700 kilometers away. He could earn a month's amount from one or two days of travel. He kept doing it—considering it to be his last time again and again—until he finally got himself in trouble. There was no such thing as free money, after all.

It was too late for regrets. Once the gun was in his hand, his trembling heart finally calmed down.

"Even a Japanese ghost should die by a bullet."

He was a former first-class shooting officer. He aimed at the ominous eyes that were looking into the window and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang—

Clash—

The window shattered. The Tokarev made by the Russian dealer did its job.

Bang—

The door crashed open and flung inwards. The hinges broke from the immense force. A black shadow rushed into the captain's quarters before he could even register the situation.

"Aaagh!"

Surprised, Captain Kim instinctively pulled on the trigger.

Bang—

The shadow slid to the side as though sliding on ice.

Bang bang bang—

He pulled the trigger non-stop.

Whoosh—

There were suddenly 10 shadows as though the man had cloned himself.

Click—

The moment he heard a blank, a hand, no, a firm clasp wrapped around his neck.

He was robbed of oxygen. His head was filled with flashing fireworks. The pale face before him blurred. Instead, the image of his four-year-old child, who was born late, filled his sight. If only he could see his child laugh more.

The hand loosened its grip on him before he lost his consciousness. Captain Kim collapsed and leaned against the console. He didn't dare fight back. The old man picked up the gun that had dropped on the floor.

Craaack—

The gun in his grasp fell apart. Were guns such weak objects? Captain Kim's question was short-lived.

Whoosh—

A long needle dug into his head. The needle dug five centimeters into the center of his brain stem, toward the pons.

"Kuuuh!"

Captain Kim's mind went blank. The pain rushed in from his upper star[1] to his toes. Silver needles, which were the length of his palm, continuously embedded themselves into the naohu point, baihui point, and dazhui point.

"I-am-your-mas-ter," Sai repeated three times and asked.

"Who-am-I?"

"My master."

Drool trickled down the side of Captain Kim's mouth.

"Orokamono!"[2]

Because of his injured dantian, he couldn't control his ki properly. No, the victim's mentality was too weak. It was also the limit of mind control. The captain wouldn't be able to find his way in that state. Sai pulled out the needles. He was going to abandon that person anyway. Temporary hypnosis was enough.

"Let-us-depart."

"Yes, sir!"

Captain Kim grabbed the steering wheel. His mind was blank. All he thought about was fulfilling the order. The old man standing before him felt more familiar than his father, who had passed away a decade ago. The small fishing boat, which carried corpses instead of fishes, was sucked into the sea.

Sai didn't impose any more punishments on Captain Kim, who had fired the gun. Fighting back by shooting was an instinct to preserve one's life. There was no reason to get mad over an instinctive behavior that didn't threaten him. Psychopaths were extremely scary when they're focused on a goal, but they could also be extremely gracious when necessary.

Lee Dae Gil couldn't take his eyes off the deck. A scene from hell was drawn. The one with the shattered head was Flounder, the one with the hole in his neck was Bullet Tuna, the one without a head was Go Dong Pal, and the one with a hole in his chest was Nam Myung Soo. All of his friends, who had been laughing two hours ago about having drinks once they completed the job, were dead. He couldn't tell whether that was a dream or a reality. His mind floated around the deck.

"You-should-tidy-up."

Lee Dae Gil, who had zoned out because he couldn't understand, rushed to stand up. He shoved the four corpses into the fish hold and dragged pails of seawater up to wash the deck. Blood and water flooded down the sides.

Lee Dae Gil became the god of cleaning and erased any traces of the murder as though his hands and feet were motors. He worked so hard that he was sweating despite the cold temperature. The god of cleaning created a miracle by erasing the traces within 10 minutes.

"You-should-go-with-them."

The sashimi knife in Sai's hand flew the moment he enunciated the word "them." Lee Dae Gil, who was throwing the blood-soaked net into the sea, turned around only to have a knife lodged in his throat. Lee Dae Gil fell backward, stiff like a log and unable to scream.

The woman kicked Lee Dae Gil. She was pretty strong. A healthy man flew in the air and landed in the fish hold. The woman slammed the fish hold close.

Bang—

"They were going to become fish food anyway, and they were so willing."

Sai nodded silently. He was planning to get rid of all of them once he came in contact with the black market cargo ship waiting in the sea. Their tragedy had been planned out the moment the Tefal faction took up the request of the Baek-Baek religion's cult leader, Sai Dojiku. Evil would only be eaten up by greater evil.

Sai sat primly on the bed in the captain's quarter and controlled his ki movements. All kinds of thoughts clouded his mind. He'd just fought with commoners with his noble body. That was a new level of pathetic.

"Ugh, Number 37!"

Grit—

He gritted his teeth unknowingly. It was because of that b*stard, Number 37, that he had lost his organization in Korea and was forced to smuggle his way out. That one b*stard had ruined 30 years' worth of his hard work.

How did Number 37 break out of his Soul-Renewing Practice? Chui Do Shik had pondered over that question for several years. Soul-Renewing Practice wasn't merely a hypnosis or brainwashing technique. It was an advanced biological surgery procedure that stimulated both memory and information processing functions, stealing one's memories and awakening one's mirror consciousness. Although he couldn't ignore the subject's regenerative and healing abilities, Number 37 had received the said procedure four times. While it was surprising that his body had endured all four surgeries, the fact that he was able to break out of his mirror memories was even more so.

He had injured his neck and dantian while he was asleep, but he had lost his arm in a state of consciousness. The b*stard possessed perfectly murderous eyes, he had calculated his attack when he swung the ax, and he had completely mastered becoming one with nature—making him a genius who was hateful yet too precious to be lost.

Becoming one with nature was a skill that was a level higher than hiding one's body in spaces. No, it was beyond a skill, and it had been mastered. Even he hadn't reached the level attained by Number 37.

The b*stard was someone who had reached the highest level of his secret technique, although he didn't formally learn them from him. The b*stard had overcome his limits as the genius of Higashi Hongan-ji, torn apart a large leopard with his bare hands, and he could have risen to an unknown level in the last five years.

It was his mistake for being overconfident in the Soul-Renewing Practice. Reflect 1,000 times, and one could still make a mistake. He was growing old, and the b*stard was growing with the momentum of his rising sign. Although he knew more than one secret capable of hindering the b*stard, his potential scared him. He grew anxious at the thought of that b*stard possibly beating him in a few years.

The wind grew stronger. The small boat shook helplessly. His insides turned. A soldier shouldn't be feeling nauseous. He ruled over his insides with his ki, but it didn't disappear. His shattered dantian couldn't provide enough ki.

"I-will-tear-the-b*stard-apart!"

That b*stard was to be blamed for everything that had happened. His killing intent soared. While he was born a human, he, who had become one with the gods and was worshipped as a king with a million in force, had been done in by a mere human. Moreover, by a dog he'd raised. His killing intent soared endlessly at the unfavourable loss and bitter reality.

"I-will-definitely-kill-you!"

His eyes, which were like a shark's, flashed in blue.

Craaaack—

The stainless decoration that lined the wall of the captain's room was crushed like a can.

Uuu… what a scary master. Mary, full of grace, please save this poor sinner.

Captain Kim's legs shook as he clung to the helm. He hurriedly drew a cross and chanted a prayer. He should have visited the cathedral more often when his wife had asked. The only prayer he knew was the Hail Mary.

Sai's gaze lingered on the carrier bag. The 1,000,000,000 yen and 3,000,000,000 won hidden in the cave in Bang Tae San were burned, with nothing missed. He only managed to recover the gold buried underground. There were 150 one-kilogram gold bars in the bag. He had bought the Prada aluminum hard case that was well-known for its durability due to its weight.

Those Cham-goro[3] b*stards were extremely greedy. A large sum of money was delivered to the black market society in Qingdao for his smuggling, residence, and identity laundering expenses. It wasn't as strict as Korea, but it wasn't easy to get into Japan from China either. After changing his identity in Qingdao, he planned to move to a Nihonmachi[4] in Taiwan or Singapore. He could enter Japan any time from Southeast Asia.

If his organization hadn't collapsed, he wouldn't have had to pick such a complicated route. His cult and organization had been uprooted entirely during the four years that he was in hiding. He was being chased down by Interpol and had no protection, which left him with no choice but to pick such a dirty route.

His insides grew unbearably squeamish. The world would laugh if they knew that Sai Dojiku failed to suppress seasickness. He got out of the room and leaned over the side of the boat.

"Ugh!"

He emptied his stomach, turned around, and leaned over the rails again. His insides flipped when he started vomiting. Yellow-faced and breathing deeply, he vomited out gastric juices and grabbed onto the rails. What a sight! It was absurd how he was in such a dogged state. He was filled with murderous intent once more.

"F***, the boat's greasy."

He sighed. He finally found his peace after displaying such a lame sight. Before, he was able to hold out for three days on Awaji Island in the Seto Inland Sea with a single bamboo water bottle. What was he now?

"I'll rip off 1,000 sheets of your skin."

He could never allow Number 37 to go in peace. A human's skin was rather thin. While a hippopotamus's skin was 70 millimeters thick and an elephant's skin was 30 millimeters thick, theirs was only one millimeter. Everywhere else aside from a human's eyelids, hands, and feet had a 0.1-millimeter thick epidermis and 0.5-millimeter thick dermis.

With his ability, he could peel off one's skin more precisely than a dermatome[5]. He was confident that he could peel Number 37's skin five times without seeing blood. It would take 12 hours to peel the epidermis off his entire body, and another 24 hours to peel off his dermis, providing him with 36 hours of entertainment. His body shook from the excitement. His lower body, which had been still the whole time, rose. He turned to the woman. She raised her butt. She sat between Sai's thighs without hesitation.

Sai Dojiku and Hwa Ja's encounter was a result of repeated coincidences. Hwa Ja had come to Poplamachi, a red-light district in Busan, to get heroin while Sai Dojiku had come to Poplamachi to raise money for his smuggling funds. Sai handed over his crystal meth for money despite possessing gold. While the body absorbed the drugs once consumed, gold didn't disappear and continued changing hands. Selling gold could leave behind traces for the government to track him down.

After closing the deal with the organization, Sai came across Hwa Ja, who had been in a dispute with a retailer. The man with the large build struggled to overcome the woman's ki even when she was rushing at him weakly.

What a thing!

He recognized the woman's potential instantly. Moreover, she was a drug addict. Her drugged brain was more than enough to overcome the shock of his Body-Renewing Practice. Although her age was a problem, her stiff musculoskeletal system could be renewed with the Grand Defrosting Flow liquid. He lured the woman to his hotel room using meth as bait and performed the Body-Renewing Practice on her.

As expected, the woman endured his Body-Renewing Practice. He performed the Soul-Renewing Practice on the woman after she lost a part of her memories. Surprisingly, the woman endured the Soul-Renewing Practice too. That was the second human to endure the Soul-Renewing Practice since Number 37. He also liked her name "Hwa Ja," which translated to "Hanako" in Japanese. He was overjoyed to the point of jumping. It was a chicken instead of a pheasant. No, it was a chicken instead of a phoenix!

Hwa Ja, who had received Sai's Soul-Renewing Practice, grew physically stronger and more sensitive. On top of that, her whiplash injury had healed completely. Evil and evil together created a common ground. From Hwa Ja's point of view, her encounter with Sai Dojiku wasn't bad.

While Park In Bo and Jang Pil Nyuh were frantically searching for the missing Hwa Ja, she ended up becoming soldier Number 38 and aiding Sai Dojiku. It was the beginning of a new archenemy.

How much longer?

He was bored. The Korean language had a lot of final consonants. It was difficult to speak with his artificial vocal cords, and he didn't want to talk to a commoner either.

"Captain, how much longer?"

"Only 20 minutes, miss. We've got seven miles left," the captain answered Hanako's question like lightning.

Sai nodded. She was a quick-witted Joseon girl. He'd gained a useful subject, Number 38, at an unexpected place. She had a strong musculoskeletal system, and her corrupted mind was good enough.

The lights flickered in the ink-like darkness. It flashed shortly two times, and twice again for a long time. Captain Kim turned the boat's head in the direction of the signal.

Grrr—

The ladder shook due to the strong waves.

When did I get here?

Captain Kim regained consciousness at the sound of the trembling ladder. He couldn't recall much other than the memory of him firing the gun at the devil-like old man. Anyway, he finally reached the meeting point.

I'm a son of a b**** if I do this kind of work again.

It would be over once he sent the ghost-like man and woman away. He planned on remaining loyal to his task, never working as a delivery man again. He understood the saying, "pine caterpillars should eat pine leaves" down to his bones. When the fishing boat lined its body next to the cargo ship, a rope ladder lowered.

"Good work."

The woman spoke respectfully to him for the first time. It seemed like that devil of a woman knew when to be grateful. Captain Kim bowed.

"Goodbye, mis… kugh!"

He couldn't finish his words. The knife in his neck slid out.

"You b****!"

Captain Kim collapsed as he conveyed his last words. In the end, Captain Kim couldn't return to his original job. Mixing with evil people only led to seeing blood, after all.

Hwa Ja dragged the body and shoved it into the fish hold. There were now six corpses in the fish hold.

"Rest well. You should be well fermented in a few months. I wonder who's going to eat you?"

Hwa Ja casually spoke such horrifying words and slammed the fish hold close.

Bang—

The cargo ship disappeared into the darkness of the sea.

The life of psychopath Hwa Ja, who used to carve constellations with a burning iron rod on her younger cousin's body and wasted the remainder of her life on alcohol and drugs, changed just like that.

Cauchemar de Chad. [6]

That was the title of the report on his oak table. The main character whose gaze was fixed on the said title was Charles Germaine, the Minister of Defense. The great success of the Ruman plan boosted the fame of the Legion Etranger and the DGSE and lowered the military's credit. Germaine wanted to recover the honor of the military.

"Chad's nightmare… he's now the national treasure," he muttered as though he was dissatisfied.

Unlike Bonipas or the Interior Minister, Pione, Germaine had a strong racial prejudice. Rather, he took great pride in the French military. The powerful military met its downfall during the Battle of Algiers in 1954. They were beaten up in the Indochina War, and the troops who were dispatched overseas didn't achieve anything. They were also mockingly accused of being fund-eating hippos several times.

[1] Also known as Shangxing, an acupuncture point.

[2] "Foolish one!"

[3] Chankola.

[4] Japan town. The term refers to historical Japanese communities in Southeast and East Asia.

[5] A medical device for cutting thin sheets of skin for skin transplantation.

[6] Nightmare of Chad.