Soho

Chapter 195: < Protect – Episode 194 – So what? [1] >

Bang, bang- Bang- Bang, bang-

A group disguised as soldiers that just plundered a village died in the midst of the sparkling fireworks and smoke.

“Where’s that coming from?”

“Agh!”

Something that flew over blew up. It spread and started a fire. They pounced like a wave knocking down a row of sandcastles along a beach.

“Split up! Split up!”

“Agh!”

They couldn’t see anything so they couldn’t fight, and it was as if they were going against some kind of terrifying devil.

“Gasp!”

They ran like crazy.

‘I’m not stupid!’

The only military that had that kind of technology that would allow them to target accurately in the dark was that of the US.

‘Didn’t they see our military uniforms?’

They only obtained the Chad military uniforms because of the US military, so it annoyed them that it didn’t work. Did the US military change its rules? There was only one reason why the strongest military in the world made such slow progress in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Nigeria. It was because of their ethical sense of duty.

‘How could they look for ethics in war? Those Yankees are hard to understand.’

For Africa, which was at war 365 days a year without a break, there was no such thing as ethics or morals. From their viewpoint, the white men who didn’t make kids, women, and the weak into soldiers was something that didn’t make sense. DIdn’t women and children have arms and legs, too? As long as they could pull a trigger, they could do the job. That was what they thought at least.

“Ugh!”

The man who was running away from the sound of guns and explosions got hit on the side and rolled onto the ground. He was then pulled by his neck without any time to come to his senses. As soon as he lifted his head, he was slapped with blinding light. As soon as he could see anything, the first thing that came into view was someone’s shoes.

Someone was looking down on him.

“Mister?”

Logan gestured his underlings to lift him up from both arms and search him. Logan looked through his wallet and then spoke.

“His name is Angtuwan Bowa, Soo Ho.”

“Mister Bowa.”

Ahn Soo Ho brushed off Angtuwan’s shoulders.

“Are you the man in charge?”

“Ye... yes.”

When he heard French, Angtuwan just nodded.

“He must be out of his mind, Logan.”

Logan took out a cigarette, put it in Angtuwan’s mouth and then lit it for him. When he tasted the nicotine, his pounding heart started to slow down. Angtuwan then had the ability to look around with ease. Due to the light shining on his face, he only saw the man’s silhouette, but he did realize that he was in a dangerous situation.

“Are you all right?”

“Ye... yes, Sir.”

He nodded, but less instinctively than before.

“Which tribe?”

“Salama.”

“Salama, Salama? Do you know?”

As soon as he looked back at Logan, he answered,

“Salama is under the group managed by Jaubert.”

“Jaubert?”

“The tribe of the Doba oil fields.”

“Oh, there.”

In contrast to how poor Chad was, they had a large number of oil fields. And on top of that, Uranium ores were recently discovered as well. But since civil wars were serious in that region, it was difficult to undergo mine development. Countries with the most oil had the steepest increase in victims dying of hunger.

“You could have lived an easy life with just the oil fields alone... How greedy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Okay. Did you plunder women and children tonight as well?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t be like that. I’m talking about human trafficking. There’s no way you would have passed that up.”

“No, Sir! Never!”

Angtuwan sprung up. He was also surprised by the mysterious man, but “human trafficking” was a word that was taboo there. They did continue to foster child soldiers, but they didn’t reel them in in order to sell them off. But that wasn’t something to be proud of either. And when it came to human trafficking that went in and out of Africa, they couldn’t avoid Ahn Soo Ho’s watch.

The reason why ICC’s Roberto Aquilan kept an eye on him while not doing anything was because of the Ajula Foundation. During Ahn Soo Ho’s time in Africa, he saved 115,821 people from human trafficking. The reason why he remembered the exact number was because he was still supporting them to this day.

He left the money he earned in Africa with Africa.

The influence of the foundation with such sturdy funding was astronomical. In reality, if Ahn Soo Ho decided to build an empire in Africa, there were going to be many people coming under him.

“Good. You better not.”

“Gasp!”

As soon as he got a glimpse of the man in front of the light, Angtuwan lost sensation in his legs. Luckily, he was being held up from both sides, so he didn’t collapse.

“Angel of death!”

He called him an angel of death in the Chad language. Angtuwan went pale and stepped back. If he hadn’t been held down, he would have crawled away. Ahn Soo Ho shrugged with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“I guess my photos are still going around.”

“They’re becoming more and more glorified by the day. The African kids are even saying you can breathe fire, Soo Ho.”

The true fans of Soo Ho within Africa hung up portraits of him in their homes. But as much as people liked him, there were those that despised him as well. If they wanted to live long, they had to avoid him. The reason why the amount of human trafficking reduced within African criminal organizations was because they didn’t want to face Ahn Soo Ho.

“Mister Bowa.”

“Ye... yes, Sir!”

Angtuwan stood up straight with all his might.

“Run.”

“Pardon?”

As soon as he questioned him with a confused face, Logan took out his gun.

Clack-

Angtuwan started running without looking back. Logan then put his gun away and showed a peculiar look on his face

“He was a scumbag like the rest of them. Why did you let him live, Soo Ho?”

“At times, fresh experiences make the rumor spread even faster.”

“Boss!”

Ahn Soo Ho’s subordinate passed him the satellite phone.

“What is it?”

“They’re connected to a secret number.”

“Which one?”

“Number eight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sir. I checked twice.”

“Connect him.”

The clients with a secret number in the single digits were VVVIPs. Ahn Soo Ho answered with the brightest voice possible.

“Old man. Where are you?”

No.008 was a private line for Hector Garcia.

******

Candula was a place that couldn’t be spotted on a map.

That was because the cartographic society didn’t acknowledge it as a region. If people knew how maps were created and how regions were named, they would have laughed. It was possible that the job of deciding on borders is the highest power one could have in the world. Because the horrors that the militaries of each European country caused in third world countries and colonies were unfathomable.

The businesses that took place tested the limits of humanity. Just by comparing the borders of Europe and the borders of Africa, that difference could clearly be seen. The only continent with straight borders was Africa. But then again, America, Canada, Papua New Guinea, and Central and South America also had some straight borders.

“I don’t’ know who decided on the borders, but they did a shitty job. Don’t you think?”

“They probably thought drawing lines on a map was all it took.”

“Yeah. I’d like to know where on earth they got that idea.”

The homeless Hector Garcia no longer existed. The man in front of Ahn Soo Ho was the same Hector Garcia from the time when he used to control the intelligence world.

“You’re not surprised.”

“Should I be?”

“Maybe a little. But... I guess times have changed.”

From the outside, Candula looked like a small village.

‘Ultra.’

If it was anyone else, they wouldn’t have caught on, but Ahn Soo Ho found traces of the Ultra program in the members of the village.

“Since when?”

“Alleyas Frovesa.”

“Hm?”

“I heard they’re after me.”

“So?”

“That’s weird. It’s not like we’ve ever met before.”

“Assasins are paid to kill people whether they know them or not. I don’t think it’s that weird”

“That’s what’s weird, old man.”

As soon as the old man tilted his head in confusion, Ahn Soo Ho whispered with a playful look on his face.

“The Alleyas guys don’t know this, but I’m their biggest shareholder.”

“Haha!”

Hector laughed his head off. He laughed so loud that it rang through the village, but no one dared to look their way. The old man then put on a straight face.

“Bonnetio Coras.”

Ahn Soo Ho shrugged.

“I’ve known that you were the legendary casino king of Las Vegas named Jack Toms, Soo Ho. Of course, it was probably someone else before you... Are Andrew McKutchen, Jabi Ultawa, Lucy Chen, and Nakajima Shaw also you?”

“You’ve dug around. I won’t say you’re wrong.”

“I’m very surprised.”

Hector clapped his hands.

“How is that possible? How did you accomplish such flawless identity laundering?”

“You’re not so bad yourself either, old man.”

“No, I’m pretty shabby at camouflaging. That’s why I almost got caught.”

“General Ashford.”

“Do you know them?”

“They might just look like crime planners on the outside... but on the inside, they’re a bunch of monsters. Supernatural powers? If anything looks weird in their eyes, they perceive them as monsters.”

“Monsters... Yeah, you have to be a monster to gain power. I once sat on the throne. The higher you go and learn more and more of the world’s secrets, the more unsolvable questions become uncovered.”

The more Hector Garcia climbed up, the more frustrated he became. Once he had power in the palm of his hands, he was completely consumed by endless challenges.

“Is this true power? Is this the power of the throne? I started to doubt it.”

It was true that he could do a lot.

He could have as much money as he wanted. He could have women lining up for him, and he was treated like a king wherever he went. However, the more power he obtained the emptier he felt. Hector undoubtedly possessed a lot of power. He might not be able to kill the US president, but he could kill the men under him, and he was able to pull out the information of the national defense departments of every country. But he still couldn’t say he conquered the world.

“I clearly took the throne, and I was the king of the underworld... but it wasn’t fun at all. And then I realized it 30 years later. That the organizations and powers that I didn’t know of actually controlled the world.”

“A secret organization that rules the world? Hm, that sounds very exaggerated.”

“Maybe.”

“What I’m saying is right. There’s no evil organization like that. They’re all just in it for their own profit.”

The way Ahn Soo Ho saw it, there was no secret organization that conspired to rule the world. That was because if they existed, he would have gotten rid of them first. General Ashford knew very well of that limit.

“Were you hiding from General Ashford?”

“Yeah. The only reason why I was friendly with you was to drive their attention away like bait. I had no other reason. But you became a bigger tycoon than I expected, boy... I mean, Soo Ho.”

“Like bait... I liked you, but I’m disappointed now.”

“We’re suspicious creatures that can only trust ourselves, after all.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah, neither of us trust anyone. Not even family.”

Ahn Soo Ho stared at Hector. He saw a faint soul within him.

‘That means...’

That meant Hector possessed a stone as well.

“Tell me about Ashford, Soo Ho.”

“You must have failed at tracking them down.”

“I saw a lot of their puppets. But I’ve yet to find their head. I wasted my energy every time.”

“I think you should hear it from the man himself.”

“Huh?”

The floor rose up as soon as Ahn Soo Ho finished his sentence.

“It’s impossible to trick your eyes.”

“J-Law?”

Hector was surprised.

Justice-Law was a former assassin for Angola with outstanding marksmanship. But it wasn’t just J-Law who appeared. Hector was even more surprised by the man who appeared with a designer suit that didn’t suit an African.

“Issac?”

“Hector Garcia. Long-time no see.”

“Angola... is General Ashford?”

Issac, also known as Thomas Chenyabin responded with a smile.

“We’ve been called many things for quite some time. Sumer, Babylonia, Mesus, Mason, Illuminati, Commie, Angola... General Ashford is our most recent name.”

“Why?”

“Why did we chase you down? Because you have something we need. But... it looks like you used it.”

When Issac glared at him, Hector took out a black rock from his pocket.

“Are you talking about this?”

“Tsk, tsk! It’s a pearl of a pig’s neck.”

Issac clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Clap, clap-

Ahn Soo Ho clapped two times.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’ve never met the following guest either. Can you introduce yourself?”

The man who snuck in wore a suit like Issac, but it was a white one, not black.

“It’s nice to meet you, Soo Ho. My name is Michael... I mean, Michel.”

“Michel Tobal? Genesis Quantum?”

“You’ve heard from Angelica.”

“I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

“Same here...”

Michel was unable to finish because he flew back due to a heavy impact. A large noise followed.

Boom-

A gust of dirt swept over right afterward. An average person would have been killed by this, but Michel wasn’t a normal person either.

“Hmm, that was quite the greeting, Soo Ho.”

His nice suit turned into tatters, but his hair remained intact. That was what was weird. Michel looked down at his dirty clothes and showed a sad look on his face.

“Aw, I liked this outfit...”

“Stop sounding gay and come here, Michel.”

Michel joined Issac. And then one last person joined in.

“This won’t do. I’m here to establish a balance.”

This person was dressed in a refreshing way that revealed her long arms and legs. Ahn Da Sol, or more like Angelica stood next to J-Law. Were all the immortal monsters gathered to have a meeting of some sort? The first one to act was Issac. In response to his hand gesture, a group of people with different eye colors entered.

“I released the hostages, Hector.”

“You did?”

“Are you disappointed?”

As soon as Issac finished, a bullet went through Hector’s body.

“Gasp!”

“Agh!”

When the old man’s body became shattered, the hostages either screamed or hugged each other. What was more shocking was that despite the fatal injuries, Hector was still breathing.

“Ugh, you son of a bitch!”

“Stay on the ground, dirty man.”

Seeing how he was swearing, he wasn’t going to die anytime soon. Ahn Soo Ho just watched by with a surprised look on his face.

“What is this? Some kind of monster gathering? A homecoming? Someone explain this to me.”

“Before that, we need to resolve some things, Soo Ho.”

The person who stepped up was Issac, who was brave enough to attack the old man.

“I see.”

Someone must have seen the monsters’ feast and pressed the nuclear missile button. Ahn Soo Ho controlled a supercomputer to hack a satellite and used his HUD to track the nuclear missile.

Coordinate clear!

Ready to send!

Ahn Soo Ho flicked his finger.

“Done.”

Even if they fired not 100 but 1 million nuclear missiles, none of them could approach him. His space magic was specialized for shielding. The decisive difference between Ahn Soo Ho and Anna-Anne was that Ahn Soo ho had war weapons of the 21st century while she didn’t.

“Okay! Now talk.”

He was ready to blow everybody into space with nuclear warheads if there wasn’t a proper explanation. In response to Ahn Soo Ho’s gaze, Michel stopped trying to fix his clothes and stepped up. But the report was made not to Ahn Soo Ho but the hostages that were shaking in the corner.

“Hello, journalists. Today, you’ll get the best scoop of your lives.”

Not a single passage of human history was about humans. The ability to look into the future was also considered a supernatural power. All that was recorded in history were those with supernatural powers.

“My name is Michel.”

A very famous name.

“I’m a real archangel.”

< Protect – Episode 194 – So What? [1] > The end.