Ch.231Chapter 9. The Syndicate Prepares for All Situations (1)

After hearing Nguyen’s decision.

Following Rai Chai’s guidance, we took photos and had tea at a nearby café—Yoon Hye-ra and I separately from Rai Chai and Nguyen—then headed to our reserved accommodation with Yoon Hye-ra.

“Excuse me, Nguyen.”

“Yes.”

“Nguyen? Are you Vietnamese?”

“Ah. May I reveal who I am?”

“To someone like Rai Chai, yes.”

“I am this person.”

“!!!!”

Screech!

The car suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Fortunately, there were no cars behind us, so we could continue forward without issue, but Rai Chai stared at Nguyen, who had removed his ectoplasm mask, through the rearview mirror with his mouth agape.

“My goodness. Good heavens. To think I’ve been having tea alone with this country’s most righteous hero. My goodness, how could this…!”

Come to think of it, Nguyen enjoys popularity in Korea on par with Lord of Radiant Wings, so Rai Chai’s sudden braking made sense.

“Ha, haha. Well. Haaaa. First, sorry about the sudden brake. I was so surprised I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s better than sudden acceleration. It’s fine. It’s Nguyen’s fault for taking that thing off without warning.”

“…You talk about Nguyen so casually. Are National Intelligence Service agents supposed to be viewed as ‘mere’ people? Ah, don’t tell me. I don’t want to hit the brakes again.”

Rai Chai indirectly refused to hear about Yoon Hye-ra’s and my identities.

He probably has his suspicions, but he wouldn’t be able to guess our villain names or ranks accurately.

“…Phew. I never thought I’d see a day like this in my life.”

Rai Chai was still wagging his tongue in disbelief.

“Um. Maybe you should put it back on.”

“Understood.”

“…And I’ll keep speaking to you the same way. If I suddenly start being formal because I know your identity, others might catch on.”

Rai Chai took deep breaths and practiced self-suggestion, while Nguyen put his ectoplasm mask back on, revealing his white teeth.

“So, Director? When you called my name….”

“I had something to say to Hero Nguyen. Driver, please go slowly.”

After the car slowed down appropriately, I took out a used tablet.

“Hero Nguyen. How many hours have we been together now?”

“…Half a day, about 6 hours I’d say.”

“That’s right. 6 hours. A person of interest has been walking around without their Thailand Watch for 6 hours, so Laplace must be getting anxious by now.”

“……!”

Not Taegeuk Watch.

Thailand Watch.

Though manufactured by Korea’s Haeguneul Group, the flag displayed on the watch glass is Thailand’s flag.

“Where is your Thailand Watch now?”

“…At home. Today, I took a day off.”

“So you came prepared. Excellent.”

And naturally, Nguyen joined us without wearing his Thailand Watch.

“But your opponent probably knew your intentions and movements. They lost track of you as soon as you left the airport. And now they’re frantically searching for you.”

I pointed to the cars and motorcycles passing by us.

“COSIAN officers and various plainclothes police are looking for you. It’s quite obvious. People searching for the missing Nguyen and those he’s contacted.”

Not only COSIAN officers in academy uniforms, but also food delivery people on motorcycles, convenience store employees, and even traffic police were all checking people.

“There’s a police officer over there, Rai Chai. Just drive normally. Tell them the truth.”

“……I’ll trust you.”

Screech.

Rai Chai stopped in front of a police officer controlling traffic and rolled down his window.

“What’s the matter?”

“A villain has hijacked a vehicle and escaped, so we’re conducting checks. Please cooperate.”

“My goodness. What’s the point of stealing a car these days….”

Rai Chai grumbled as he presented his Thailand Watch, and the police officer matched it with his own.

“Mr. Rai Chai…. Why are you in this area?”

“I took some customers on a food tour. A newlywed couple from Korea.”

“Sawadee khap.”

I greeted the police officer with the traditional greeting, and he was startled when he saw me.

“Oh!”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just my first time seeing a Korean use a Thai greeting.”

“…….”

Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.

Somehow Yoon Hye-ra was tapping the seat with her knee from behind, making me feel like I was trolling.

It’s unfair.

How would speaking Korean to police in Thailand be less suspicious?

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

“A Korean newlywed couple… why is the husband in the front seat?”

“Ah, that’s because.”

“We had a fight.”

Yoon Hye-ra said in a grumpy voice, looking only out the window.

“This so-called husband was ogling girls in uniforms….”

“Ahem. Honey. I’ll talk to you at the hotel. I didn’t say anything to those girls.”

“Didn’t say anything? I saw them flirting with you, and you say you didn’t say anything? Do you want to die?”

“…You may pass.”

“Honey. Can’t you hear me? Hey! How long do you think I’ll put up with you meeting other women?”

“No, I mean….”

“That’s enough.”

“That’s enough.”

The checkpoint was safely passed.

Rai Chai and Nguyen wagged their tongues at us as we immediately changed our expressions.

“…That was acting, right?”

“Of course it was acting. I would never get angry at oppa like that. Right, oppa?”

“Surprisingly true.”

It was all an act.

A sophisticated performance to make the police officer pass us through the checkpoint before getting annoyed by a newlywed couple starting a fight on their honeymoon.

“Anyway, let’s continue from where we left off. The reason I revealed Nguyen’s identity and talked about your disappearance was because I wanted to ask about your resolve as a hero.”

“Resolve…?”

“Yes. How will you respond to Laplace’s scheme to find you? The uniformed COSIAN officers among pedestrians are gradually disappearing. The villain alert will sound soon.”

“Villain alert…?”

“Yes.”

Beep beep beep.

As soon as I finished speaking, a villain alert started sounding from Rai Chai’s Thailand Watch.

[…Villain sighting on the street. Estimated rank, A-class. Heroes in the vicinity are requested to respond immediately. I repeat. A villain…]

“This is one of the classic methods. A very vicious tactic of taking civilians hostage to lure out a hero in hiding.”

“……!!”

“Soon, the villain will take civilians hostage. Look….”

[Hahahahaha!!]

A one-eyed villain in prison clothes was laughing while holding a uniformed COSIAN woman by the neck on a building rooftop.

[I have returned, Phuket!]

“That guy is…!”

“The villain ‘Phupatpong.’ A villain who lost one eye to Nguyen and was imprisoned.”

“…Laplace, that bastard…!”

Perhaps thanks to my hint, Nguyen immediately realized the background of how the villain he had captured escaped from prison and suddenly appeared in the middle of Phuket’s streets.

“You’re telling me to step up now, right? Right?”

“That’s right. What will you do? If you throw off that mask now, Rai Chai’s location will be immediately detected. Then we, who are traveling with Rai Chai, will also be caught.”

“…….”

Nguyen’s eyes began to shake greatly.

Rai Chai was silently holding the steering wheel waiting for the signal, but the veins on his wrinkled hands were standing out.

“Villains always force heroes to make painful choices. It’s unfair but inevitable. Villains are always like that to heroes. So, what will you do? Will you go save that woman, or will you keep your identity hidden until the end?”

“…….”

“There’s no time for indecisive contemplation, Hero Nguyen. That villain is targeting you, and if you don’t show up, he’ll go on a rampage.”

[Come ouuuuut! Nguyeeeen! Let’s settle our score from that day, here and now!!]

On the rooftop.

Phupatpong was holding only the hostage’s neck extended beyond the roof.

If he let go, she would fall from the dozens of floors high building and die instantly.

“Whether Laplace made a plea deal, deliberately loosened guard supervision to induce a prison break, or it’s truly a coincidence, everyone will wonder why you don’t appear in this situation. Then… even civilians will start looking for your whereabouts.”

“…….”

“Will you step up or not? If you don’t choose within 3 seconds, I’ll do it my way—”

“I’ll step up.”

Nguyen removed his ectoplasm mask.

“But please make sure Rai Chai doesn’t get involved. Somehow make it look like I appeared from somewhere else….”

“Good choice.”

A hero is…

Someone who pursues justice even when placed in unreasonable situations.

“But Nguyen. You don’t need to step up. The hostage in that man’s grasp is a COSIAN officer.”

“What does that…?”

“It means it’s not just any random hostage, but a staged act to lure you out.”

“Is that true…?”

Nguyen’s eyes began to waver.

“Is this… not just your deception to reassure me?”

Perhaps because there was a woman being tormented by a villain right before his eyes, Nguyen began to doubt my words.

“If I ignore that woman, are you certain Phupatpong will release her safely?”

“…….”

“Director!”

“Of course she won’t be safe.”

Yoon Hye-ra answered coldly in my place.

“Even if it’s staged, that man will hurt the hostage. Whether agreed upon or not, he’ll continue his destructive behavior while harming the hostage.”

“Then…!”

“But the director definitively said you don’t need to go out. Do you know why?”

Yoon Hye-ra grinned and pointed outside.

“Because we won’t create a situation where you fall into a dilemma and have to step up.”

“What do you—”

[Arrrrggghhh!!]

The villain Phupatpong’s scream echoed.

Having lost his hostage, he fell down the building clutching his shoulder, while the hostage was rescued by someone who suddenly appeared.

“That person is….”

[Getting into trouble as soon as I arrive in Phuket. Really now.]

Nguyen lost his composure looking at the woman in a black suit holding the hostage.

“Why is that person in Phuket…?”

“To make your absence less noticeable, we naturally had to deploy another A-class hero, right?”

“……Damn. I never thought I’d see that person here.”

Rai Chai shouted in ecstasy as he watched the A-class hero who subdued Phupatpong.

“[Tran Hung Dao]!!”

Affiliated with the Vietnamese Special Administrative Region.

A hero dispatched to Malaysia.

“There are no borders when it comes to protecting people. Whether someone shouts like that or not, it doesn’t have to be that specific hero who steps up.”

A+ class. The King of Tran Hung Dao.

Also known as “Tran Hung Dao.”

“Nguyen, I called her to support you.”

Of course.

A hero who cooperates with the Syndicate.