Chapter 121: < Protect – Episode 120 – Phillygun [2] >

While Ahn Soo Ho was flipping America upside down, Korea was in a chaotic situation of its own. If the 911 was a warning for the 21st-century war, the New York terrorist attack on November 9th was a way of announcing the peak of the war. In the first round of counting, there were 2900 deaths and 5500 injuries. On top of that, there were also a lot of missing persons who weren’t counted.

The government announced that there was a total of 289 terrorists and 281 of them died at the scene and the remaining 8 was being investigated at the police station. They had so many missiles and explosives that they could possibly stand a chance against the army, so people were certain that they had some kind of support backing them up.

The live broadcast that the terrorists put on at Macy’s Department Store was their way of confessing that they were Muslims. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia denounced the New York terrorist attack and sent their sympathies to America and New York. Even Russia, who never left America alone sent their sympathies, and NATO decided to engage in a group operation as soon as the culprits were uncovered.

However, Korea was in chaos for another reason.

Hey! Isn’t this Ahn Soo Ho? #CaptainAmerica #VictoriaSecret #MacysDepartmentStore

Wow! That’s what I thought, too! That’s definitely Ahn Soo Ho!

Who else could go in there with just one gun except for Mr. Ahn?

That’s nonsense! How could an average person meddle in all of that?

A friend who works with the Ministry of National Defense told me that Ahn Soo Ho used to be a mercenary.

Mercenary? Like for war?

Yeah! Apparently, they call him The Guardian or something like that!

So he really is a guardian angel! Haha! That’s so cringy!

Didn’t you see him use a gun in Monaco? He’s different from any old mercenary!

I saw Mr. Ahn back then when I used to work with the UN! Ask me any questions if you have any!

Not you again. If you worked at the UN, I work at the Pentagon!

Then I work at the White House!

I work at the Blue House!

No! The Blue House is nothing in comparison, you bastard!

Are you looking down on Korea?

Whatever! Why was Ahn Soo Ho at the UN?

Is he the security advisor for the U.S. President? I’ve attended one of those meetings before!

A Korean man as the security advisor for the White House? That’s hard to believe.

I promised to keep quiet, but I’d like to say something as Soo Ho’s classmate! The reason why Ahn Soo Ho dropped out of the Naval Academy was because of this damned country’s vested rights! The old men don’t acknowledge people who aren’t like them! Korea isn’t somewhere you can succeed with skills alone!

Hell Joseon! It’s called Hell Joseon for a reason!

Those who say it’s a great country are all old!

All the young people are having a hard time, little ones! We suffered back in the day, too!

I hate that old man mindset! Old people need to die so that we can live!

That’s all you ever talk about! You’re getting old, too!

Everyone over 70 years old should lose their right to vote!

Hey! When we were young…

Any discussion that started with “when we were young” wasn’t capable of ending even after 50,000 comments. It would probably go on forever. Yoon Chul, who was looking at his monitor knitted his brows. He didn’t upload the post hoping for this kind of response. Kim Soo Jung, who was across of him drinking an Iced Americano, just smiled.

“I told you not to post it.”

“But isn’t this… a little too much?”

“Not at all! That’s just the beginning. You should see the broadcast station’s bulletin board.”

The viewer bulletin board of broadcast stations was no different from trashcans.

“What the hell is Ahn Soo Ho doing out there?”

“You’ve already said that a hundred times.”

Yoon Chul pretended not to be, but he was actually very worried about Ahn Soo Ho. It had been like that since the Naval Academy. He called him stupid for defying the vested rights while also not letting go of his hand. Kim Soo Jung liked Yoon Chul for having that kind of loyalty.

“I asked to see you today… because I wrote my resignation letter.”

“Resignation letter?”

“I’m going to switch broadcasting stations.”

“To where? HBS?”

“Yeah.”

The big deal that screwed over Korea before the New York terrorist attack. Hosoo Entertainment had taken over a broadcast station and started their engines in the real entertainment industry. The ones who felt threated by this tried to find any flaw they could, but all of their attempts failed.

Hosoo Entertainment started off with a fake-sounding name, but as it became more official and reputable, the transition team appointed Director Oh Joo Kyung as the chief director. It wasn’t common for a woman in their 20s to get such a position, but she was definitely more than capable.

“Why? Is Soo Ho going to make you president or something?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

He was just joking so he was taken aback by her response.

“Seriously?”

“Not right away. He told me to start as the news director first.”

“Wow! No way, Kim Soo Jung! Don’t forget about me, okay?”

“What are you saying?”

She went from a producer to a director in one go. That kind of thing was unheard of in Korea.

“You’ll get a lot of internal backlashes though.”

“Yeah, so they told me to come up with a new plan.”

“Who? Soo Ho?”

“No, Director Oh.”

Since Oh Joo Kyung—who was also Ahn Soo Ho’s chief secretary—was involved in pretty much all of his affairs, she was friends with his friends as well. Yoon Chul thought Kim Soo Jung was minding what he was thinking and doing. As long as she didn’t leave him for another man, he didn’t care. But it was true that she had another man. And he recognized his face.

“Han Kyung Il?”

“Long time no see, Chul.”

“Sorry. Soo Ho asked me to.”

Kim Soo Jung apologized with both her hands together.

“Sit down.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t say you’re forgiven though.”

Yoon Chul still acted cold, but Kim Soo Jung who knew him better than anyone noticed that he had already forgiven him.

‘That damned pride…’

The only person who Yoon Chul gave way to no matter what was Ahn Soo Ho. The 8 of them were very close friends, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any clashes of pride.

“Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Thanks.”

Thanks to his reputation as a heroic ambassador, Han Kyung Il officially got promoted. For a man who’s 37 years old, being a fourth-grade official was a big deal. As a result, many things were being said about him. Some people wondered if he was given preference because of Ahn Soo Ho, but the press conference held by Yoon Eun Ji and the other three girls—once they returned—caused a whole another sensation.

As a result, all the negative comments about Han Kyung Il disappeared.

“Are you crazy? You’re not Soo Ho, Han Kyung Il. Are you trying to die?”

“Stop scolding me. I already got cursed at by Soo Ho.”

“Did he hit you?”

“I was too injured already to get hit.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

“Haha.”

Yoon Chul finally loosened up and joked around with Han Kyung Il. Kim Soo Jung just stared on as if she was dumbfounded. She didn’t understand what they were laughing about because their conversation wasn’t that funny.

“What are you laughing at? Anyway, tell me more about Lila’s kidnapping incident.”

“There isn’t much to it. Soo Ho stopped it.”

“Were they just stalkers? Not some kind of conspiracy?”

“Do you think they were targeting Soo Ho?”

“Seeing what he’s been doing out there, he probably has a bunch of enemies.”

“Hm.”

Han Kyung Il hesitated to answer.

‘He probably has more friends than enemies though.’

Because there wasn’t a single person who didn’t cherish their own life. During the days he spent with Ahn Soo Ho, he started to view the world in a different light. The world was big, and the Korean Peninsula was too small for Ahn Soo Ho.

It was true that the world was noisy because of the New York terrorist attack.

But in Korea, people were busy arguing if the person behind the Captain America mask was really Ahn Soo Ho or not. Those who used common sense thought it was all nonsense, and those who were all for it compared the live broadcast footage with Ahn Soo Ho’s footage to back their claim.

“What do you think, Kyung Il?”

“Why are you dwelling on it too much? Just ask him.”

Once he decided to trust Ahn Soo Ho, everyone who used to harass him somehow disappeared.

‘It’s not like one person’s worrying can solve the world’s issues.’

So he decided to resolve all the issues that he was facing one at a time. As soon as he resolved himself in doing that, things seemed clearer. It wasn’t necessary to think about things in such a complicated way.

He took out his phone and looked for Ahn Soo Ho’s number.

The phone started ringing.

“What is it?”

In response to the flat voice that just got straight to the point, all Han Kyung Il could do was laugh.

“Are you Captain America?”

“What?”

“Are you that Captain America at Macy’s Department Store?”

“What are you talking about? I’m busy. I’m hanging up.”

The call ended there. Han Kyung Il looked over at Yoon Chul and Kim Soo Jung and laughed awkwardly.

“He asked what I was talking about. I guess it’s not him.”

******

“What are you talking about? I’m busy. I’m hanging up.”

When James heard him scream in Korean, James looked at him with a confused look on his face.

“Who was that?”

“A crazy bastard I know.”

A crazy bastard who messed with the mafia just to find some missing girls.

“Anyway, I think we got screwed over by that wench.”

While Ahn Soo Ho and James was held back by special agent Emily Karen, Tuvalo made a run for it. The truth was, he was let go on purpose.

‘Birds of the same feather flock together. Bad guys are close with bad guys.’

Illegal weapon dealers were always at war with each other, but on a day like this, it was common for them to help each other in hiding. Tuvalo ran off and hid in a slum in Philadelphia. All big cities had both light and darkness. Just like Harlem in New York, Philadelphia had a slum of their own.

It was a clear example of what capitalism could do.

This slum located in between rich neighborhoods was America’s reality that Americans didn’t want to face. They were those who had the American dream but failed to achieve it. And the ones who had no way to leave the country created their own communities.

“This friendly city sure is friendly. Even the bad guys are friendly toward each other.”

In response to Ahn Soo Ho’s ridicule, James had nothing to say. The place that they arrived at after chasing down Tuvalo was a building that maintained the railroads. Philadelphia was a city of railroads and port laborers. Thanks to the strong sports culture arising from the tough laborers of Philadelphia, “Phillygun” had had an evil reputation for quite some time.

But there was another meaning to Phillygun.

Most people thought the name came from combining Philly with “hooligan”. However, in the mercenary world, Phillygun had another meaning. Just as “gun” suggests, Philadelphia was home to the biggest weapons group on the East Coast.

“They need more weapons in order to dispose of weapons? What a horrible cycle.”

“Yeah. America’s freedom came from the use of guns. I don’t want to deny that fact.”

People talked proudly about the establishment of the country and freedom it provides, but in reality, it was a revolutionary force that succeeded in rebelling. What if they failed? They would have stayed in England. Then where did they get their weapons from? Did they steal them? Or trick people? They could have done that for the first few, but it was impossible to get as much as they had using those methods.

The illegal weapons coming from the black market were called illegal, but 99% were produced with licenses. The only difference was that they were intentionally produced without barcodes. It was the kind of bribery that was legal, and it took place between countries. The way Ahn Soo Ho saw it, America had three national defense strategies.

First, economic subordination.

Second, information raid.

Third, military mobilization.

Economy wise, it was enough to have the dollar currency. The spy strategy of digging up scandals among the powerful people of each country only worsened the CIA’s reputation. And ahead of military dispatch, America provided the locals of the opposing part with weapon loans. While talking about liberal democracy and world peace, they were handing out weapons all over the world.

To those with sense and conscience, this was unacceptable. So in order to avoid controversy, they secretly provided weapons with no barcodes on them. Were they all U.S. made weapons? Of course not. As long as countries such as the Soviet Union, Netherlands, and France had licenses, they were able to make guns anywhere in the States. The biggest weapons dealer in the whole world was America as a whole.

There were no way regulations could be enforced on a national project.

As soon as Ahn Soo Ho entered the building, someone was there to greet him. Seeing how he was in a suit, he wasn’t just a laborer. He recognized his face but didn’t remember his name.

“Mr. Guardian.”

“Everyone moves so fast these days.”

More people started to monitor him when he announced his retirement. As soon as he got inside, he saw multiple armed guards. But it didn’t seem like they were there to apply pressure. It just looked like they were there to stop people from running away. When he got further inside, he noticed a table and chairs. The middle-aged man sitting in the head chair got up and approached him.

“Soo Ho.”

“Jack.”

“You should have told me you were coming.”

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you.”

Jack Spader. He was the head of Phillygun.

“I heard about Michael. I’m sorry Soo Ho.”

“Then you must know why I’m here.”

As soon as Jack flicked his finger, people who were tied up by a rope came out. Tuvalo was one of them.

“What’s the partner’s rule?”

“You’re not the American government.”

There was a partner’s rule that applied to any large-scale search by the authorities, but it didn’t apply this time.

“What to do?”

In response to his question, Ahn Soo Ho looked at another dealer from New York besides Tuvalo and then shook his head. That was the signal. Jack Spader’s guard pulled the trigger without any hesitation. The two of them didn’t even flinch at the body that fell after getting its head blown off.

“Why are you being so friendly, Jack?”

“I’ve met many shooters in my life.”

In response to Ahn Soo Ho’s question, Jack changed the subject.

“There are great shooters who don’t miss their target and the foolish ones that are full of bluff. But even the best shooters didn’t get 100% of their targets. That’s impossible for a human being.”

Even the best shooters missed at least one out of 1000 targets.

“Except for you, Soo Ho.”

“Flattery won’t get you anything.”

“No, no! I don’t want anything from you. All I want is for you to remember my kindness next time we meet.”

Jack Spader knew many shooters, but he had never met a monster like Ahn Soo Ho before. If there were eyes on bullets, those bullets probably belonged to him. The bullets he shot pretty much chased after their targets. Was that how it felt to not be able to run away from death? There was something special to Ahn Soo Ho’s shooting.

“So I prepared one more gift.”

Jack pushed a thick file forward.

“What’s this?”

“Just so you know, I’m a patriot who loves his country.”

He changed the subject once again. Ahn Soo Ho, who was shaking his head, looked through the file and then laughed.

“Stinger?”

“I’m a patriot.”

He repeated that he was a patriot as if he was a parrot. Ahn Soo Ho handed the file over to James. He finally understood the horrible series of events. The finance queen of London and the French African ambassador were too powerful for Jacob Smith to control.

“Soo Ho! This is…”

After looking through the file, James couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Check the president and Fitzgerald’s schedule for today.”

“Wait!”

James rushed to take out his phone. Ahn Soo Ho stared at Jack.

“Was I tricked?”

“You were.”

“I feel like I got stabbed in the back while trying to make a connection.”

“Who would have known?”

At that moment, James turned around.

“The president and Fitzgerald are both in New York! They’re about to give a speech!”

“Why are they crawling into that chaos? Those damned politicians!”

Ahn Soo Ho clicked his tongue.

New York wasn’t going to calm down in just a few days. Their advisors probably strongly recommended against it. It was impossible to have perfect security in that chaotic region. Fitzgerald crawled into New York in order to maintain his popularity as the star of the Senate hearing, and the president also left the White House and headed to New York in order to restore the points he lost because of the Sao Paolo incident.

‘With how unstable New York is, anything can happen.’

This was thoroughly planned out by someone.

‘Scott Davis.’

He had known the truth about his daughter’s death from the very beginning.

‘Did he want to take revenge that badly? So much that he’s willing to end his own country?’

The death of the president’s niece shouldn’t have been concealed. Fitzgerald and his campaign manager shouldn’t have used the poor girl for their political gain. However, the biggest issue was that America lost its sense of justice.

“I prepared the helicopter! We have to go back to New York, Soo Ho!”

In response, Ahn Soo Ho laughed bitterly.

‘I wonder if I’m any different from Scott.’

Everyone had the right to seek revenge.

< Protect – Episode 120 – Phillygun [2] > The end.

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