Ch.29Chapter 29 – Field Training

Thud. Vroom—

In front of Incheon Port, Inyoung got out of the taxi and watched it drive away.

Her all-black attire easily blended into the dark night air.

The black-clad figure adjusted the strap of the bag on her back, looked around cautiously, and quietly approached the wire fence.

After confirming there was nothing beyond the wire mesh,

“Hup!”

With astonishing leg strength, she leaped over the 2-meter-high fence and landed lightly like a cat. The sudden movement briefly lifted her black hat, revealing the intruder’s face.

It was Shin Jaehyuk.

“Security is way too lax here?”

Only a single wire fence blocked his way to the restricted area, and there wasn’t even a CCTV camera in sight. He had brought various equipment in his bag to bypass security, but it seemed he wouldn’t need any of it.

‘On the other hand, I guess this level of poor security is what makes smuggling possible for gangsters.’

There was still about an hour before the Black Snake Faction’s deal, but he needed to scout the transaction site and terrain first. Jaehyuk opened an Excel file on his smartphone to check today’s transaction location.

“Terminal 4H, huh. Good.”

Tap, tap, tap.

Light footsteps crossed the harbor. He didn’t use his holy power. The subtle glow might risk detection by watchers.

Such concerns proved unnecessary as there was no one near Terminal 4H. The place had the typical appearance of a site after business hours.

Massive containers stacked under enormous cranes. Beyond the haphazardly placed boxes, a docking area was visible.

A cargo ship with its engine off floated in the waters in front of the dock, likely the smuggling vessel. For a smuggling ship, the large “Sujung Shipping” logo on its bow was quite conspicuous.

He took a quick photo with his smartphone. It was to preserve evidence to give to Cha Eunkyung.

Hiding behind a container, he surveyed the deck.

There was no sign of people, and it seemed all cargo had already been unloaded. The containers scattered around were probably the ship’s cargo.

“Not yet…”

Neither party to the transaction was visible. Perhaps they planned to arrive exactly on time. That was good news for Jaehyuk.

“The goods must be in one of these containers…”

Today’s transaction items were “logs” and “supplements.”

This was his chance to find out what “supplements” meant.

Quiet footsteps moved between containers. His steps were silent but by no means slow.

‘The traders would need some kind of marking to identify their cargo.’

Finding that mark would make it simple to uncover what the Black Snake Faction’s secret goods were.

As he moved along examining container walls, he stopped at the last stack of containers.

“This is the last one…”

Two container boxes isolated from the others.

As he circled around them, he discovered something.

“Ah!”

On the front of the container, between the two door handles, was a snake-shaped mark.

The black snake—symbol of the Black Snake Faction.

“—!”

Found it. Jaehyuk quickly lifted the door handle and pushed it sideways.

With a creaking sound, the door slowly opened.

Hot, humid air rushed out through the gap.

And inside were,

“Those bastards…”

Eyes burning with quiet fury gazed at the pile of “logs” inside the container. The carelessly thrown “logs” filled the container up to Jaehyuk’s waist. There appeared to be dozens of them.

Bodies stained blue. Arms, legs, torsos—all covered with blue bruises and livor mortis. It was impossible to tell whether the marks had formed during transport or before.

He clenched his fist tightly.

The Holy Knight’s eyes beheld the cruel spectacle.

How merciless human greed could be.

Tongues cut out,

Eyeballs burst,

Waists twisted,

Intestines spilling out,

White spines exposed,

Limbs broken at unnatural angles,

Such,

A mountain of screaming corpses.

The Holy Knight quietly closed the container door.

His tightly pressed lips suppressed his rage.

As the door closed with a thud, questions arose alongside his anger.

The Black Snake Faction’s actions clearly crossed a line. Even for gangsters, such disregard for human life was extreme.

And if organ trafficking was their goal, they wouldn’t treat the bodies so carelessly. They would carefully package their merchandise. After all, damaged goods would fetch lower prices.

In his past life, Longinus had worked as an inquisitor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. When responding to reports, he occasionally encountered scenes of evil rituals performed by demon worshippers, and the state of sacrificial bodies then resembled these corpses in the container.

“What on earth…”

What was happening here?

Burying his questions in his heart, he moved to the next container. It was the last one. The “supplements” must be inside.

Jaehyuk’s hands gripped the door handles. He lifted the latch slightly and pushed it sideways to unlock it.

Applying gentle force with his arms, the door slowly opened.

“What—”

The container was filled with lidless wooden boxes.

Each box contained a corpse.

The “supplements” were these corpses.

But they weren’t ordinary corpses.

“Green blood…?”

“Supplements” was a code word for demon corpses.

‘Demon corpses? This one too? And this?’

Jaehyuk checked each wooden box in the container. Every one contained a grotesquely formed demon corpse.

Just then,

Vroooooom—

“!”

A sound came from outside the container. An engine.

He quickly poked his head out the door to identify the source.

A truck was approaching from a distance! A cargo truck capable of carrying a container on its back. The truck’s headlights illuminated the dark yard as it cut through the cold night air.

“Tch!”

Jaehyuk frantically searched for a hiding spot.

But the nearest container was too far away.

Unfortunately, the two containers he had checked were isolated from the others.

If he tried to run to cover, the truck’s lights would expose him.

He had no choice.

His hands gripped the handles inside the door.

From inside the container, he pulled the door.

Thud—

Light disappeared through the closing gap.

The Holy Knight was trapped in darkness.

***

Clunk, clunk.

The truck was moving somewhere with the container Jaehyuk was hiding in. Fortunately, the driver hadn’t checked inside. He probably couldn’t imagine someone would be inside.

Jaehyuk whispered to God.

“Light.”

Holy power gathered at his fingertips, forming a small orb of light. The glowing sphere floated around Jaehyuk, illuminating the container’s interior.

Judging it safe while the truck was moving, Jaehyuk thoroughly searched the container.

A corpse with a bull’s head on a human torso, a corpse with mantis-like arms, a corpse with ten spider legs on its body…

Various demon corpses were securely fastened in wooden boxes. They were secured with straps to prevent damage during transport.

“I thought they were dealing in weapons, but why demon corpses?”

The Black Snake Faction was importing demon corpses. Quite a variety of them.

But why?

It made no sense. Known uses for demon corpses included energy resources, weapon crafting, and potion making. None seemed appropriate for a gangster organization.

Moreover, these corpses were unsuitable materials for weapon crafting or potion making. Corpses used for weapons typically had hard carapaces, bones, or claws. Potion making required corpses of demons with powerful regenerative abilities. The demons in the container didn’t meet these conditions.

“Plus, they called these demon corpses ‘supplements.'”

While code words are meant to disguise the nature of smuggled goods, he couldn’t see any connection between demons and supplements.

Taking photos of the evidence with his smartphone, Jaehyuk muttered,

“They’re not eating the corpses, are they? No way.”

He recalled a post he’d seen on an internet forum about a primitive tribe that believed in gaining an enemy’s strength by consuming their body parts. But surely people living in modern civilization couldn’t be that stupid.

Vroom— Clunk, clunk.

The truck continued driving as Jaehyuk pondered.

After some time had passed,

Clunk— Rattle, rattle, rattle.

Suddenly the truck slowed down.

Feeling his body tilt to one side, Jaehyuk opened a map app on his smartphone to check his location.

The map showed a remote corner of Incheon city with sparse buildings. His current location was a building called “Black Snake Bio-Medical Research Institute.” With demon biology research being such a hot topic in the industry, cheap research facilities with such names had become quite common.

Screech—

Finally, the truck came to a stop.

Jaehyuk deactivated the holy spell “Light” that had been illuminating the container.

The container interior went dark again.

The latch on the container door seemed to be opening as the door creaked.

Jaehyuk quickly hid deep in the container, behind a large corpse box. It was a demon corpse with a stomach as big as a mountain, capable of swallowing a person whole more easily than eating cake.

Hidden behind that corpse, with just his eyes peeking out, he observed the outside.

Soon the door opened, and several workers with rolled-up sleeves entered. Clear snake tattoos were visible below their rolled sleeves. Black Snake Faction members.

Outside the container, an elderly man in a white coat was giving instructions. A researcher perhaps? He appeared to be someone of high rank.

The workers, following orders, began unloading the wooden boxes from the container, starting with those nearest the door.

‘If I stay here, I’ll be discovered… Should I just take them all down?’

Force wasn’t an issue. With Jaehyuk’s abilities, subduing a few low-level gangsters would be child’s play.

But he was in a Black Snake Faction stronghold. He didn’t know how many members might be here. If even one escaped while he was dealing with the others and raised an alarm, things would get very complicated.

‘What to do…’

There was no time to hesitate. The workers’ hands were getting closer to him in real time. He needed to make a decision immediately.

Gulp.

Jaehyuk swallowed.

There was one way.

A way to infiltrate that suspicious research facility without being discovered.

‘Shit.’

Jaehyuk took out a dagger from his bag. He stabbed it into the demon’s belly and cut downward. As the abdomen was opened, a massive cavity inside the stomach was revealed. A space large enough to fit an entire person.

‘Shit.’

Jaehyuk crammed himself into it.

***

Fortunately, his master stroke of hiding inside a demon corpse worked without detection.

If he’d been caught after going to such lengths, it would have been truly miserable.

Not that he felt good about not being caught.

‘Shit shit shit shit.’

Curled up like a fetus inside the belly, he felt as if he’d become a baby demon himself.

Worse, his body was soaked with demon fluids, making him feel utterly disgusting.

‘Ugh, it got in my mouth. Fucking hell, this is the worst.’

For the first time, Jaehyuk regretted accepting Cha Eunkyung’s request.

But it was too late to turn back now.

He was in the middle of the Black Snake Faction’s suspicious research facility.

Thud—

The rattling cart came to a stop.

Jaehyuk put his eye to the wound opening in the belly to observe the outside.

It looked like a corpse storage room. Perhaps where they kept materials for research. A fat Black Snake Faction member was organizing the corpse boxes.

‘Just one person! Good. Come a little closer. Just a bit more…’

The fat man approached Jaehyuk’s box, seemingly trying to unload it from the cart.

‘Now!’

Two arms shot out from inside the corpse’s belly and grabbed the gangster by the nape of his neck.

“—! —!!”

Caught by surprise, the gangster tried to scream, but with his windpipe physically blocked, his mouth just gaped silently. His chubby fingers clawed at the arms, but the strong hands choking his neck didn’t budge.

After a moment, the big man’s body went limp. He had passed out.

“Ugh, my body’s all stiff.”

Jaehyuk, emerging from the demon’s belly fat, stretched wide. His muscles ached from being curled up in tension for so long.

“Ah, first I need to do something about this filth.”

Every time he spread his palms, sticky fluid stretched like cobwebs between his fingers. The fluid caked on his clothes would make movement difficult once it hardened.

The Holy Knight murmured,

“By your light, purify this worldly filth…”

As the purification spell took effect, a soft glow enveloped the area. Wherever the light touched, the filth disappeared.

“Much better!”

The purification might have dissolved some of the demon corpses in the storage room too, but since they weren’t his property, he didn’t care.

Jaehyuk first tied up the unconscious fat man with the restraining belt he’d removed from the box and hid him inside. This way, other members would have trouble finding him, and even if the fat man woke up hours later, he wouldn’t be able to move for a while.

Then he checked his outfit and possessions. Clothes, hat, bag. Inside the bag were a phone, Parma’s dagger, some hacking tools for bypassing security, and a mace.

He took out the black mace from his bag. It was a weapon he’d brought in case of combat. Armor, spears, and shields were too conspicuous and bulky to bring.

But that wasn’t a problem. The opponents were just gangsters. With his skills, a mace would be sufficient.

He gripped the smooth, glossy handle of the infernal iron mace. A cool chill ran up his palm.

“Now, let’s find out what they’re doing here…”