In This World, Police and Heroes Do What They Must(5)

Time is running out. I saw Mina’s face harden like ice after hearing about the terrorism. When Mina met my eyes, she asked as if to confirm:

“Then what should we do? Even if we try to stop the terrorism, according to Canine, supervillains will also be moving, so it won’t be easy to prevent it even with police and military.”

Nationwide simultaneous terrorism. Supervillains following it. It’s a mind-boggling situation even to me.

If I had no solution, I’d just smoke a cigarette here and curse the world. But not now.

“Fortunately, we know a place suspected of producing the superpower awakening drug. If we hit that place before they carry out the terrorism, in the best case we can prevent the terrorism, and at worst we can introduce a variable into their plans.”

No matter how much the police or military are swayed by Sai’s hands, they wouldn’t just eat popcorn and let it slide when told that terrorism targeting water and sewage facilities is about to happen.

At my words, Mina seemed to understand and nodded. Mina, appearing fully recovered, loosened her shoulders and burned with fighting spirit.

Thinking how fast her recovery was, I pondered how to solve the one remaining problem.

Since I’ve already confirmed the contents of the USB, now I just need to go straight to where the laboratory is supposed to be—but the issue is how to infiltrate there.

For transportation, I could borrow a car. Specifically, borrow from the captain. But once we reach there?

Sai is not a fool and will have set up guards.

The place marked as the laboratory location is on the outskirts of Seoul, around Hanam-si, near industrial complexes for textile and chemical industries.

I was surprised they had established a laboratory so brazenly, and also wondered if it was possible to make awakening drugs in such a place.

But just as Minus did, they probably ignored all building design laws with their remodeling and did something underground.

Since it’s an industrial complex with various facilities, it would also be easy to obtain necessary raw materials and pharmaceutical ingredients, and it would be just as easy to plant people there.

Though Mina is with us, it doesn’t seem right to just barge in recklessly.

If we start fighting by charging in head-on to reach the laboratory facility, we might not achieve our goal of stopping the terrorism and might instead scare the terrorists into accelerating their plans.

The best we can do right now, with overwhelmingly insufficient numbers and time, is to infiltrate with a small team like special forces, destroy the laboratory before they can react, and escape.

For a moment, I had the basic and sensible doubt: Am I really a police officer? Is this really what a police officer should do?

But in the current situation, if I worry about such things, I’ll just get exhausted, so instead I pondered how to easily enter that laboratory.

I found the answer from previous experience.

Yes. If the world is going crazy like this, I might as well go a little crazy too.

I’ve thought of one method, so I’ll think more as we go.

I decided to contact the captain to report and borrow a vehicle in a humanitarian way, and urgently tried to leave the building.

Ah, before that. There’s something to do.

I handed over 40,000 won—the last of my savings that I had been keeping for the absolute final moment—to Shin Yu-mi who had helped us so much.

Having apparently realized that things were not going well, Shin Yu-mi, who had been keeping her mouth shut, suddenly saw me handing over money and, curling her lips together, asked:

“Um… what is this?”

“It’s not much, but buy yourself a meal. Thank you so much for helping today.”

“Huh? Um… yes…”

Shin Yu-mi’s face distorts strangely.

The amount is certainly small, but what can I do when this is all I have? I put my hand in my pocket out of embarrassment, clenching and unclenching my fist, and said:

“I know it’s not much. But what can I do? I’m just a poor civil servant.”

“No, no. It’s fine. Rather, weren’t you the one who saved my life today, Detective?”

“Just take it. Go to a sauna or something.”

“…”

At my words, Shin Yu-mi seemed at a loss for words for a moment, rolling her eyeballs, and then squeezed out:

“…Detective. I know you’re trying to keep your previous promise to me. And I also know that dangerous person you mentioned is the one called Sai who appears on the news.”

“So I’m telling you this. Detective. If it’s dangerous, you can forget about promises you made to me. I know that you’re really doing your best and trying not to give up.”

“I know you’re righteous and super cool… and I’m fine living like this too. So if it’s dangerous, you don’t have to fight with such a monster.”

At Shin Yu-mi’s hesitant words, I scratched the back of my head.

While resolving to catch Sai, I had promised Shin Yu-mi that I would definitely catch that bitch Sai.

But to say something embarrassing, if I hadn’t been in danger myself, I would have ignored Sai and pretended not to know.

To save myself. But because I became endangered, I rushed in with the mindset of a mouse trying to bite a cat to survive—I don’t really know about justice or such things.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. Would Sai not have harbored the same feelings if I had ignored her?

It’s already in the past, and I’m not certain, but—ah, damn it.

“I’m not righteous, and even without the promise, I have to catch her to survive.”

“…Ha.”

Shin Yu-mi made a sound like exhaling with a burst of flame.

Looking back, I saw she had pulled down a cap that she seemed to have put in her pocket.

I wonder why she’s acting like that. She seemed emotionally exhausted from wandering alone on the streets, her emotions fluctuating at just a single remark.

It’s pitiful that such a young person is suffering like this. I should quickly catch Sai so this kid can live safely too, damn it.

Clicking my tongue, I left with Mina. After silently observing me and Shin Yu-mi, Mina said:

“Detective… you effortlessly say exactly what people in hardship most want to hear.”

I squeezed the head of the kid who was suddenly spouting strange nonsense in this situation with viselike strength. Unlike usual, I applied strength with full force, strongly, and Mina made a sound pretending to be in pain.

But you know what? When force is applied to an extremely hard object, it’s the person’s hand that gets hurt.

Does it mean that no matter what I do with full force, it’s no different from usual play to Mina? I rubbed my throbbing hand and looked with weary eyes at Mina, who was clutching her head pretending to be in pain, but we were running out of time.

Only one day remained until the large-scale operation terrorism.

After gathering what we needed from the abandoned building, I hurried with Mina to where the Special Investigation Team was usually located.

Then I turned on my phone and contacted the person I could trust most among the police right now—the captain.

The call connected instantly without even one ring tone. As soon as it connected, the captain shouted angrily:

“[ You crazy bastard!! Is that all you do after ramming a police car and running away?! Who the hell is supposed to clean up after you, you fucking bastard!! And what’s with that fucking disguise?! Actually, before that, what the hell were you doing at the press conference?!

Not answering your phone!! And you’re not even coming to work at the station?! Are you crazy?! You are crazy! I knew you were a crazy bastard, but you’re even crazier now!! ]”

I grimaced at the shouting of the bald captain that was loud enough to hurt my ears and checked my phone screen.

I hadn’t realized because I’d kept my phone turned off to prevent possible tracking when buying the prepaid phone, but there were many missed calls from the captain.

To think I’d meet someone in real life who calls in the hundreds—the captain’s tenacity was impressive.

But now was not the time to admire that tenacity.

“Boss. We’re fucked.”

“[ Yes, we’re fucked, you bastard!! I’m going to kill you—!! ]”

“I received a tip that Sai’s followers are planning to attack water and sewage facilities. The time is 5:30 PM tomorrow, sunset.

The supervillains are also moving together. They say they’ll release awakening drugs into water and sewage facilities to create chaos. We need to move quickly, or we’re all fucked. Ah, I’m going to find and hit the laboratory where they supposedly made the superpower awakening drug, so remember that.”

“[ What…? ]”

After quickly reporting the situation and asking for cleanup, the annoyance and venom that had been felt in the captain’s voice seemed to disappear like air from a balloon.

About 5 seconds of silence. The captain made a sound as if inhaling to choose his words, then finally said:

“[ Well, fuck. ]”

Fortunately, he’s not denying reality. I could hear the captain shouting ‘We’re fucked, you bastards!’ to colleagues beyond the phone and moving urgently.

Since I’m moving outside with the resolve to quit being a police officer, only the captain will have to work hard. Although it feels somewhat satisfying, I should refrain from saying such things since I’ll even be borrowing a car.

And that car is—the one in front of us right now.

“And I’m also borrowing a car.”

“[ …What? ]”

“I’m going to the scene using the kids’ car. I don’t have a car either, so I have to borrow one. Understand? I’ll buy you a drink later. Yeah.”

“[ Huh? Wait a minute. This bastard wouldn’t just say this as a joke. Wait. Hold on! Damn it!! ]”

After finishing those words, I immediately unlocked the car door using a hanger I had brought from the building where Canine was buried in the window of the captain’s car. That took about 40 seconds.

And the rest is simple. No need to open the part under the steering wheel and connect wires as in movies, since this person, out of laziness, stuffs an emergency key under the console box.

I took out the emergency key, started the engine, and moved the vehicle.

I heard the captain saying over the phone that he would really kill me if I took the car, but I hung up.

“…How did you pick the car door lock so quickly?”

“I once caught a notorious car thief. His skills were quite impressive. Just gave him a hanger, and he could unlock any car door in 10 seconds, which was amazing, so I learned it.”

“Did you perhaps get something in return…?”

“No. Of course not. He just taught me when I said I wouldn’t hit him.”

“I see…”

Mina looked at the dark sky through the passenger window with cloudy eyes. Then she muttered something like self-justification: ‘Learning is always useful somewhere…’

My brain tried to understand what that meant, but given the situation and lack of time, I decided to ignore it.

After all, considering what I have to do to infiltrate the laboratory, there’s no time to sink into self-loathing.

Let’s see. Vehicle theft and two counts of arson? I thought as I looked at the container I had brought from the building along with the hanger, placed in the back of the car.

….

…

..

.

“Detective, are we really going to be okay?”

“Probably…”

Probably not.

I reflected on what had happened since coming here, faced with a decision.

I pressed the accelerator with all my might and arrived at the destination.

The location was an industrial complex near the mountain where Namhansanseong is located in Hanam-si. It didn’t take that long to get here from Cheonho-dong, but the sun had set during the journey, making it a perfect night.

Nevertheless, lights were on in this area. The atmosphere was indeed strange to be just a simple industrial complex.

It’s understandable that factories continue operating even as the night grows longer. But is it normal for people to be busily moving around on streets without even restaurants, rather than people being in factories?

Judging that there must be something here, I parked the car in a dark shadow away from CCTV and vehicles and observed the situation.

This street, separated from Namhansanseong by a mountain peak, was one with nothing special—factories, lodgings, and people gathered around them.

It wasn’t particularly developed, and I didn’t even know there was such an industrial complex near Namhansanseong until I looked at the map.

But from people in ordinary work clothes to those who appeared to be ordinary citizens, they were busy moving around in this remote place at this hour.

They were moving things on carts or vehicles. It was enough to give the impression of a lively street.

Yet the street itself doesn’t have entertainment facilities, not even a neighborhood grocery store with its doors open. Isn’t that certainly strange?

Considering what’s predicted to happen tomorrow and the laboratory presumed to be here, that overflowing vitality feels quite damn ominous.

But the fact that they’re openly moving things through the roads—does that mean all the facilities in this area are related to the laboratory?

If I had charged in boldly, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything, though Mina might have managed.

Therefore, to enter the laboratory they’ve hidden, I came up with one clever plan. This method was inspired by an ancient military strategy called “Making a noise in the east while attacking from the west.”

Since an outsider like us would be discovered if we try to infiltrate among these busily moving people, according to this strategy, we’ll create a big commotion and use that opportunity to infiltrate.

That commotion would be arson, similar to what I had done at the junkyard before.

“Detective, are we really going to be okay?”

Mina repeats the same question like a broken cassette tape.

Her eyes were dead, and she seemed to be feeling self-loathing, but I understood Mina’s reaction.

Mina is a hero, and I’m a police officer. Yet these two are together trying to prevent terrorism, but the method is arson.

If I were in her place, if Mina suddenly said such a thing, I would have shot first thinking this person must be a supervillain disguised as Mina.

But what can we do? What if Mina uses her power to cause a commotion? That’s good. Then what?

There will obviously be security at that laboratory, and if they hear New Hope has appeared, they will naturally increase their vigilance.

If Mina appears at this timing, they will realize their plans have been discovered and will do whatever they can, and then I won’t be able to do anything alone.

Even if I somehow manage to infiltrate the laboratory, wouldn’t they, not being fools, leave at least one or two superpower security guards inside? That’s why Mina using her power is the worst choice.

But what if it’s not an attack caused by Mina, but a sudden fire in the factory area?

Even those inside the laboratory will be busy trying to assess the situation, and that’s when a gap will appear.

In addition to the lesson learned from the previous junkyard, the military strategy of “Making a noise in the east while attacking from the west” also explains how effective this method is—

But I, Sergeant Lee Munsu, if I really carry out this crazy act today, I will be committing the crimes of two counts of arson and one count of vehicle theft.

I’m probably also looking with eyes darkened by self-loathing, just like Mina.

I secretly hoped that Mina, being a hero, would come up with a brilliant alternative method for me, but Mina also seemed unable to think of a good way to overcome this situation and just looked miserable.

Seeing that reaction, I gave up hope and picked up the container I had brought. Right next to it was a mountain of trash, as is often the case in such remote areas, where factories roughly gathered and dumped their waste.

Hidden in darkness, I poured gasoline extracted from the captain’s car onto the trash mountain.

I had firmly resolved not to do this again after the junkyard, but why am I doing this now?

From the moment I got involved with Sai, this life has been too painful. What did I do so wrong? I wish I could just die.

With various such thoughts, I applied just enough fuel to start a fire without causing an explosion like before, and lit it with my lighter.

Once the fire grows a bit, people will notice and come. Good, now just hide here and then infiltrate the building with the address in the USB—

The moment I thought that, the slowly growing flame suddenly flared up and then made an ominous bang sound.

The trash mountain that had been piled up to my shoulders instantly began to burn brightly like a beacon fire alerting beyond Namhansanseong.

So, damn it.