Chapter 216: < Protect – Episode 206 – Trip To Europe [2] >

If one asked people who knew Ahn Soo Ho and why they were scared of him, they would have pointed out his outstanding force. However, what was truly scary was his magical ability to make people tell the truth without realizing why.

The inevitable magic of his.

Both common people and trained spies felt powerless in front of Ahn Soo Ho. It was amazing how even former KGB agents and CIA agents surrendered to him. Caroline, who once led Absent Morgan, was a very scary woman. Then what about Christina McQueen? The agents of Absent Morgan were all malicious. And when Ahn Soo Ho made two such women create a soap opera scene, it was Logan who was beyond fascinated.

‘Are all supernatural beings like this?’

That wasn’t the case.

The supernatural beings that he had seen while following Ahn Soo Ho around mostly died when they were shot. There were surely those who were as strong as the Hulk, but their strength was only momentary, not permanent.

There were very few supernatural beings that were stronger than a gun.

But the abilities that his boss showed off were beyond logical reasoning. Just like what Christina asked, it was highly likely that Ahn Soo Ho was just in Hawaii. If he really had the ability to teleport, that would make him the God of modern times.

‘Do I really feel this way?’

He thought that way at times.

Was his loyalty and respect for his boss sincere? Or was he simply being controlled by Ahn Soo Ho’s powers? The fact that he suspected this also suggested that his reasoning abilities were still alive.

Not even Donald Townsend could mess with Ahn Soo Ho. And that wasn’t all. Even the vice president and their party stopped harassing Logan and his party as soon as Ahn Soo Ho appeared. The mercenaries that were caught with double contracts fled and hid, and the FBI, CIA, and NSA were caught up trying to look after the mess.

America was no longer superior.

But those who were leading the country knew that they had to make it seem superior in order to keep their positions. The truth was, the Americans knew, as well. The fact that their country was no longer superior. However, they pretended like it was for the sake of their successive generations and their hope.

But they were miserable on the inside.

“Why?”

Ahn Soo Ho felt Logan staring at him intensely on their flight toward Paris.

“How did you get your supernatural powers?”

“Didn’t you say powers like that are useless?”

“I was wrong.”

It was better to have powers than to not have them.

“I heard people die if they change too suddenly.”

“People need to change in order to not die.”

“Let’s take it slow.”

It wasn’t good to change all at once.

“How’s Richard?”

“He must be itching already.”

“He’s not the type to just lie down and rest.”

Richard was transferred to the top orthopedic surgeon in America.

“Why are they… coming with us?”

Logan looked at Hannah and Christina sleeping in each other’s arms and Caroline who just stared on.

“Because it’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“Yeah. If we left them back in America, they would have fought.”

There was no way the New York duck or the vice president would have left them alone. Fisher then spoke up.

“Townsend promised not to follow us anymore.”

“Do you believe that?”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked.

There was no good mercenary in this world. That was just how it was. Mercenaries who killed people for a living were scumbags. After all, they didn’t even introduce themselves as mercenaries. But politicians were even worse scumbags. They lied on a regular basis and most politicians rarely kept their promises.

There were many politicians who controlled the world, but it was rare to find politicians who were referred to as being great. Whether it was good or bad, politicians climbed the ladder through the media’s spotlight and the public’s interest.

“Holland? That’s too weak.”

It was easy to make Patrick Holland into a terrorist, but it was difficult making the media and public understand that. If this didn’t work, the only card that Townsend could play was the American vice president. However, as soon as the Democratic Party’s mistake got out, their influence was going to be reduced by half. Negotiation as a result of threatening only worked while the secret was maintained.

“Carol will become a type of insurance.”

“Are you saying he’ll break his promise?”

“You don’t trust him 100% either. That’s why you didn’t give him the USB.”

Fisher didn’t respond to Ahn Soo Ho’s remark, and Logan tilted his head.

“He didn’t?”

“Yeah. This is what he did.”

Ahn Soo Ho took out a coin and showed some finger tricks. A 100 won coin and a 50 cent coin switched in and out between his fingers. Logan laughed bitterly.

“They’re probably going crazy right about now.”

“They’re probably flipping desks. Anyway… now that you’re free, how about you come work for me?”

“Thank you, but I can’t do that, Soo Ho.”

In contrast to his hesitation before, he gave him an immediate answer.

“I guess those two aren’t the only ones filming a drama.”

Fisher laughed awkwardly in response. While Kenneth Burn’s love was short-lived, Fisher only looked at and loved one woman for most of his life.

For 30 whole years.

“What are you conspiring to do?”

As soon as Caroline returned, both Logan and Fisher left. Ahn Soo Ho looked at the alcohol bottle in her hands and shook his head.

“You shouldn’t be drinking in broad daylight, Carol.”

“It’s hard for me to be sober right now.”

She forgave her daughter-in-law for killing her son.

‘But easier said than done.’

Ahn Soo Ho couldn’t imagine how it felt to lose a child. It was wrong of him to try to tell her that he understood. It didn’t matter how much of a devil his son was.

Caroline had another sip of her vodka and made a strange expression as she looked at Fisher walking away.

“I’m stupid, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t answer so fast.”

“But you are, Grandma.”

Ahn Soo Ho and Caroline had a 30-year age difference, but they connected in a lot of ways. As someone who spent a long time in the afterlife, it was easier for him to talk to old ones like Hector Garcia or her.

“Tell Fisher that I need some time.”

“Why should I do that? I’m not Cupid.”

“Stop whining.”

“Haha.”

There weren’t many people in the world who could say that to him. Caroline, who had lost her beloved son, felt extra close to Ahn Soo Ho on this day.

Ahn Soo Ho was right.

She was old now.

“Thank you.”

She was mumbling, but he nodded his head. Caroline then came back to her senses and realized why Ahn Soo Ho was bringing the party so far away from America.

“Did Morgan change?”

“All organizations change when the heads change.”

“But this was too fast.”

“Weren’t you the one who said sexual molesters should have their dicks cut off?”

“I was young back then.”

“You were young when you were in your 50s? What are you talking about?”

Caroline changed the subject in response.

“So I heard Garcia’s back.”

“He is… but he’s not in a good place.”

“Why’s that?”

“Aquilan caught him in Germany.”

“Haha.”

Aquilan called himself a man of justice, but he had quite an evil reputation. Hector was in the middle of a tug-of-war with Aquilan in Germany, and the German government couldn’t tolerate that. After all, Hector entered the country with the invitation from Chairman Ginter.

“For what charge?”

“For now… it’s for visa issues.”

“Does the criminal court deal with immigration control now?”

“Since all the laws in Europe are universal… nothing’s impossible without a motive.”

“So he’s going to hold him until he confirms a crime?”

“It could just be a warning.”

It could have been Aquilan’s warning to Hector not to do anything stupid since he had his eyes on him.

“It’s not good to provoke the old man too much. Is he crazy?”

“He’s like that with me, too.”

“What a psycho.”

If he did that to Ahn Soo Ho, he really was a psycho. Caroline put down her vodka with a serious look on her face.

“I need a safe house.”

“A safe house? You should be able to get one on your own.”

“Even I can’t guarantee 100% safety.”

“Because of Hannah?”

“Yeah. I want to make sure my granddaughter is completely safe.”

Ahn Soo Ho stroked his chin and smirked.

“I do know of a good place…”

“You do?”

As he trailed off, Caroline leaned in closer.

“But the registration conditions are strict.”

“Secret number?”

“No, no! I’m going to stop that service soon.”

Ahn Soo Ho was no longer going to accept any more personal requests from VVIPs. He was thinking of continuing it for another 10 years, but Daniel nagged him so much about his finances that he had to look for various modes to get money.

“But…”

He spoke with a polite voice.

“I have a new service called the Emerald Membership.”

Not even the most shameless insurance salesmen offered memberships right off the bat, but Ahn Soo Ho was different. He was capable of even selling desert sand to religious people.

“Are you interested?”

******

New York was hurt once more.

The blackout in the middle of the night followed by a gun battle made the judicial authorities shake with fear. The mayor, governor, and even the president made their relay speeches, but rather than calming down the situation, the citizens questioned why an entire police officer got attacked.

‘What on earth is going on?’

The caution following the New York terrorist attack calmed down following both parties’ begging everyone to have faith in America’s liberal democracy. But once the second terrorist attack took place, the sales of guns skyrocketed once again.

Incapable government

Incapable assembly

Incapable government workers

Incapable politicians

The voices started to call out the incapable system once again. Who to criticize and resent? Rather than expressing rage and hatred toward no target, they preferred to participate in caution protests in order to protect themselves.

1 gun per man.

Videos of fathers giving their teenage children guns for their birthdays went viral on the Internet. The gun industry even made guns that were specially made for children, and in the meantime, the Americans’ interest in guns increased more and more.

The world was living in a world where terror was normal.

But there were still psychos who dreamt of the European romance.

Some of Europe was listed as high-risk tourist destinations as a result of the terrorist attacks, but Paris was still full of tourists. Ahn Soo Ho clicked his tongue. Didn’t they realize that in addition to inflated costs, risks of being robbed, and more, they could become scapegoats of a gun or explosion attack? If they thought that that couldn’t happen to them, they were mistaken.

Ahn Soo Ho sent his party to the hotel. He left Logan behind and headed out on his own. He then sat on the terrace of the 2nd floor of a coffee shop and watched people go by.

France was known for their lattes.

Some said that lattes originated in Mongolia, but to be frank, hamburgers didn’t originate from America either. In France, they only understood lattes as café lattes. The French had so much pride in their culture that they believed that French was the most beautiful language in the world.

As a result, those who couldn’t speak French were perceived as ignorant.

“I can’t agree with that. French is the ugliest language in the world.”

“Well, I can’t agree with that. The ugliest language is actually German.”

The person who refuted Ahn Soo Ho’s opinion was an old middle-aged man. These days in Europe, even men wore makeup as a part of the recent trend. On one side, people died of wars, and on the other side, people competed for better clothes and makeup.

This was the state the world was in.

“They say we’re all going to die, but it doesn’t seem that way.”

“It’s always like that. It’s all a show caused by the media.”

The media was known to cause a lot of fuss all over the world. Once Lemaire finished his coffee, he looked at his watch and then got to the point.

“The strategic assets of Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm were all reassigned.”

“Why?”

“Do you really have no idea?”

Ahn Soo Ho laughed and picked up his cup in response.

‘Pilgrim Heyward.’

K-Bank, Casa Blanca Neuro Bank, and North Africa’s economic union. Heyward was the one responsible for the economic union full of secrets. They were also an unofficial African partner of United Industries.

“I don’t know why, but Angola is splitting up.”

Ahn Soo Ho laughed bitterly inside his head in response.

‘I know why.’

As soon as leading members of Angola disappeared, the subordinates became agitated and some split and attempted to become independent. In the process, there was a fight over who could take more slices out of the pie. And Heyward chose Silk Road, which was the future growth force of K-Bank, which split from the Angola Circle.

They put everything they had into the railroad and gas pipe construction of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The problem was that the vested rights connecting Europe and Asia had been controlled by Russia. There was no way Moscow would just let this happen, and as a result of Russia’s influence, K-Bank withdrew their strategic funding.

But this caused an even bigger problem.

“Muslim isolation.”

“Yeah.”

The strategic funding put into Northern Europe by the African economic union could be divided into two categories. The first was the financial development product included in the Eurozone, and the second was the human resources based on Muslim immigrants. Financial products consisting of 0s and 1s could be withdrawn, but not people.

But the cold-hearted capitalist—Heyward—withdrew without any hesitation, and the Muslim immigrant association previously supported by K-Bank split up as well. Muslims were already perceived negatively in Europe as a result of the terrorist attacks, so once K-Bank withdrew their support, there was an increase of Muslims on the streets.

Extreme confrontation for survival made even the most normal people into terrorists. What many Europeans misunderstood was that people from the Middle East were not meant to be subjects of pity. There was no way that they were gentle after coming out of a literal battlefield.

“Sweden and Norway are both in chaos, and Finland is about to burst, too.”

Issac was right. The European terrorist attacks were just going to keep getting worse.

“And now that Hector is back… a lot of people feel pressured from all the commotion.”

“Is that why you have Aquilan? An Excalibur?”

“We need a crazy hunting dog at a time like this.”

“And screw over Germany while you’re at it.”

Lemaire shrugged. The French were sons of bitches. They were known to say one thing while screwing people over behind their backs. Since they were the types who thought affairs weren’t affairs, they were the most two-faced people on the face of the earth.

Ahn Soo Ho put down his cup.

“D. Punch.”

“Sylvestre?”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked in a long time either.”

“Aha.”

‘Playing dumb, are we?’

“Why are you letting crazy bastards like Ransel run loose?”

“France is a free country. We can’t go against the people’s choices.”

“So you’re just going to leave the crazy bastards running wild?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something, Soo Ho.”

“Go on.”

When Ahn Soo Ho suddenly got up, Lemaire got up with him in surprise. ‘Huh? This isn’t what I expected.’ Negotiations usually involved exchanging deals and coming to a compromise.

“I’ll see you again at this time tomorrow.”

“Soo Ho. I’m sorry, but I’m very busy…”

“Trust me. You’ll have to come see me.”

Ahn Soo Ho just said what he needed to and then disappeared. Lemaire just saw him disappear with a blank look on his face. A man wearing a suit then approached Lemaire.

“Director.”

“Did you put a man on him?”

“Is there a point?”

“Just do it. We need to leave it in the records that we took countermeasures so that there’s no backlash later.”

He had no hope of actually being able to monitor Ahn Soo Ho. He simply needed to do something to exempt him from responsibility. After parting with Lemaire, Ahn Soo Ho went to Champs Elysees and bought presents for his friends, family, wife, and subordinates. Even though he didn’t have an entourage, he was treated in a very friendly manner. That was because he spoke in his fluent French.

Nothing’s happening.

Don’t let your guard down. This is Mr. Guardian we’re talking about.

I don’t know. He doesn’t seem that… Gasp!

What?

Oh, my god! He just saw me.

I knew it. I told you to be careful.

No, I mean… He was looking at me with a telescope!

What?

They were cute.

Ahn Soo Ho noticed the monitoring team around him. He also used the communication network with his antenna to confirm that they were DGSE. Seeing how they put men on him knowing they would get caught, they were just trying to protect themselves. Once he finished his shopping, he shipped all of the gifts to his hotel.

But this was just the start of his shopping.

‘Okay, follow me, my friends.’

In order to complete his Paris collection, he needed some more leg work.

‘First…’

He headed to the Louvre.

‘How much is the Mona Lisa?’

< Protect – Episode 206 – Trip To Europe [2] > The end.

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