Ch.172Chapter 172. D-5

“Fuck.”

BANG!

Two men flew in as the table flipped over.

Two more jumped up from behind the sofa.

And one each pounced from both corners of the entrance.

A total of six men in black clothes were rushing at me with pistols in their hands.

I thought I was completely fucked.

BOOM!

“Ugh?!”

Just then, something brushed past me with a thunderous noise.

Acrid dust filled the air.

Through it, I could see a black vehicle stopped right in front of me.

The car door slid open.

“Jinsoo! Get in quickly!”

“Ah, uh…!”

The one reaching out from the open door was none other than Bob.

I instinctively grabbed Bob’s hand and climbed into the car.

Soon the car reversed, revealing the completely destroyed entrance of my home.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The assailants who had fallen back opened fire as they gave chase, but the car windows only suffered minor scratches.

Soon police patrol cars joined the pursuit with sirens blaring.

“Kid. Hit the brakes.”

“Yes sir.”

Screech…!

As the car came to a sudden stop, the patrol car following closely behind crashed into it.

After confirming the patrol car was disabled with deployed airbags, our car smoothly headed toward the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Even when things quieted down, I couldn’t calm my nerves.

Too many things had happened too suddenly.

“What the fuck is going on? Who the hell were those guys?”

“Jinsoo. Before you hear this, promise me one thing.”

“What promise?”

“Promise you won’t run off on your own after hearing this.”

“Why would I run off?”

“Just promise first.”

“Fine. I promise. I’ll promise, okay? Just tell me already! I’m dying of anxiety here.”

“Sigh…”

Bob sighed and then spoke.

“About 10 minutes ago, one of my men saw police officers controlling traffic near your house. They were blocking cars from entering the residential area. But they let two black vans through naturally. Finding it suspicious, he hid and watched. Men in all-black clothing jumped out of the vans and entered your backyard.”

“Then, what about Cuss?”

“Soon after, they came out carrying a squirming body bag…”

“Fucking hell.”

Suddenly my mind went blank.

The fact that they had police protection meant they were a government agency.

Did they take Cuss because they discovered her identity…?

“Turn the car around.”

“I can’t.”

“Then let me out here, you bastard.”

“No. You just promised not to run off on your own.”

“Motherfucker! Why not?”

“Because they’re after you too, idiot! If you go there, you’ll be captured! These people put someone in a body bag and kidnapped them—do you think you’ll get legal protection if they catch you? Shouldn’t we figure out how to rescue Cuss from the outside, you thick-headed bastard? Think before charging in!”

“Damn…”

Bob was right.

I wasn’t thinking rationally.

How was Bob staying so calm when he knew even less about the situation than I did?

I took a deep breath and tried to think.

Three years.

They finally found Cuss after three years.

But they didn’t use regular police—they disguised themselves as suspicious men and secretly took Cuss away.

At the same time, they tried to kidnap me too, since I likely knew Cuss’s identity.

This meant they didn’t want to publicize this incident.

Why?

Well, Cuss appeared to be an ordinary girl on the outside.

Rather than causing controversy, it would be cleaner to capture Cuss, quietly dispose of her, and silence anyone who knew her identity.

“Ah!”

“What is it?”

Come to think of it, Juliane had also received a call—telling her to come to work.

I hurriedly grabbed my phone and made a call.

“Hey! Don’t make calls! They’ll track your location!”

“Just one call! Damn it, just one! It’s urgent!”

“Damn it. Make it quick. Kid, head to the warehouse. We need to switch cars.”

“Yes sir.”

With trembling hands, I listened to the ringing tone.

Please answer. Answer. Answer, please.

-Jinsoo?

Ah. Thank goodness.

“Juliane! Listen carefully. Black-clothed men just broke into my house and took Cuss away. I think they’re from the FBI or NASA. I almost got kidnapped too, so be careful—”

-Urgh…!

“Huh?”

The call suddenly disconnected.

.

.

.

“Excuse me? You’re going to arrest me?”

In front of the Department of Justice building.

Juliane, surrounded by men in suits, wore a bewildered expression.

What they presented was none other than FBI credentials.

After careful examination, Juliane concluded they weren’t forgeries.

“What are the charges?”

“We can’t tell you that yet.”

“Then I can’t comply with the arrest.”

“We’d like to ask you to come with us voluntarily.”

“What could this possibly be about…”

Juliane had no choice but to comply with their request.

Working in the same field, she knew it would be troublesome for them if she refused to cooperate.

She hadn’t done anything wrong, so this must be a misunderstanding.

She thought she should go with them and cooperate with the investigation to clear up the misunderstanding.

“What are you doing?”

“You need to be handcuffed.”

“Then this is an arrest, not a voluntary accompaniment? If you want to handcuff me, bring a warrant!”

“…”

But something seemed off about the agents.

They claimed it was voluntary yet tried to handcuff her…

Juliane tilted her head in confusion as she got into the back seat of the car.

It was indeed an FBI vehicle.

This didn’t seem to be an elaborate prank.

What kind of training were FBI agents getting these days…

“This is quite unpleasant. You do know I’m an investigator with the federal prosecutor’s office, right?”

“…”

“When this is over, I’ll have to audit your investigation procedures. I wonder how you can demand voluntary accompaniment without even telling me the suspected charges…”

“…”

Creepy bastards.

None of them were willing to answer.

Juliane habitually observed the agents’ movements.

The agent sitting beside her was looking at a display, the one in the passenger seat was fiddling with a radio, and the driver was hard to see because of the seat.

Ring ring ring…

“Don’t answer that.”

“Why not?”

Juliane ended up asking in an irritated voice.

Now she couldn’t even answer her phone?

This seemed like an absurd demand.

Ignoring the stern warning from the agent next to her, Juliane answered the call.

“Jinsoo?”

-Juliane! Listen carefully. Black-clothed men just broke into my house and took Cuss away. I think they’re from the FBI or NASA. I almost got kidnapped too, so be careful—

“Urgh?!”

At that moment, the agent from the passenger seat leaned over and fired a taser.

Juliane moved her head to avoid the rapidly approaching electrodes, but one grazed her neck, momentarily paralyzing her body.

Click!

Just as she reached out with her right hand to grab the taser, she felt pressure on her wrist with a clicking sound.

Looking down, she saw handcuffs on her right wrist.

The other end was attached to the agent’s left hand.

“You bastard!”

“Hnngh…!”

Bzzzzt!

While the agent in the passenger seat was reloading the taser, the one next to her thrust an electric shock device at her.

But the shock device was blocked by Juliane’s prosthetic hand, causing no damage at all.

Whack! Whack!

Tossing aside the shock device, she delivered two quick, powerful blows to his face.

The agent immediately lost consciousness with a bloody nose.

“Q-quickly…!”

Bzzzzt!

The reloaded taser fired.

Two electrodes flew and hit their target precisely.

The agent briefly looked relieved but his expression quickly hardened.

The electrodes had landed in Juliane’s outstretched palm.

No matter how high they turned up the current, Juliane just stared back expressionlessly.

Thwack!

“Ugh?!”

Juliane’s kick struck the driver’s seat hard.

The agent’s head slammed into the steering wheel and spun around.

Screech… CRASH!

“Urgh!”

A jarring sensation.

The car crashed into a roadside tree and stopped.

Both the driver and passenger seat agents were knocked unconscious after their heads hit the airbags.

As smoke rose from the severely crumpled hood, Juliane groaned in pain and stretched out her leg.

BOOM…!

The door was ripped off and tumbled onto the road.

“Huh?”

Wiping blood from her head as she got out, Juliane finally noticed the handcuffs on her right wrist.

With each step she took, the blood-covered agent was dragged along.

“Damn it… Where is it?”

The problem was that she couldn’t find the key no matter how much she searched the agent’s pockets.

Soon, sirens could be heard in the distance.

She needed to leave quickly…

That’s when the agent’s hand came into Juliane’s view.

“I’m sorry…”

Crack.

With a horrible sound, the agent’s thumb was dislocated.

Through the gap created, Juliane was able to slip out of the handcuffs.

Finally free, Juliane started running with the dangling handcuffs.

She didn’t know exactly what was happening, but she needed to escape for now.