Inside the tent, there was only a single table sitting there by itself.
Around it stood two n holding AK-47s, and one man seated in a chair.
All of them were wearing masks, and since only one was seated, he appeared to be the superior.
Khamis greeted the seated man warmly.
After exchanging greetings, the two spoke in Arabic.
“Khamis. It’s been a while.”
“You ca in person?”
“I ca to see you. We can talk about the details later—are these the people from Korea?”
Though they spoke quickly, I could roughly understand their conversation.
“This one is the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Korea, and this one is from Black Bear. This one as well—Black Bear.”
“So you kept your promise. No Aricans, I see.”
“Sit down first. Let’s talk while seated.”
Khamis sat in the middle of the long table and gestured toward us.
“You can sit over there.”
We sat down in the seats Khamis indicated, directly facing the kidnappers.
“I’ll handle the interpretation.”
I nodded as Khamis spoke as if it were obvious.
“Understood. But are we really talking like this, with masks on?”
“Well, they’re extrely reluctant to show their faces. Please understand.”
Once their faces were exposed, they’d be arrested for sure. There was no way they could reveal themselves.
We hadn’t co to identify faces anyway, so I decided to let it go for now.
Instead, I asked what mattered most.
“Where are the hostages?”
There was no sign of the hostages anywhere inside the tent.
After hearing my question through Khamis’s interpretation, the masked man replied.
“They’re waiting in the tent next door. Let’s check the money first.”
“Confirming the hostages cos first.”
“Just confirm the money first. Otherwise, this negotiation is over.”
The man threatened us with the hostages’ lives.
With no choice, I sent a glance to Chief Ma.
Thud!
Chief Ma placed the bag containing ten million dollars on the table. Given the amount, the sound was heavy and solid.
The seated man gave an order to one of his subordinates behind him.
“Check it.”
One of the ard n stepped forward.
He opened the bag and pulled out a bundle of hundred-dollar bills to inspect it.
After carefully checking the bag, he turned back and nodded at the seated man.
Resting his chin on his hand, the seated man asked,
“It’s really ten million dollars, right?”
“We’re not stupid enough to joke around with ransom money, so don’t worry. Now let us confirm the hostages.”
Chief Ma closed the money bag again. The man, smacking his lips as he stared at it, jerked his chin.
“Bring them in.”
One of the n went outside.
A mont later, five hostages entered with him.
Each of them had a black hood pulled over their faces, without even eyeholes.
“We need to see their faces. Take the hoods off.”
At my request, the kidnappers roughly ripped the hoods off the hostages’ heads.
Suddenly exposed to the light, none of the hostages could even open their eyes properly, their bodies trembling.
As they slowly adjusted and opened their eyes, the mont they recognized us, they began screaming at the top of their lungs.
Amid four hostages wailing in English, one person shouted in Korean.
“Please save ! I want to live!”
Their faces were streaked with tears, but they were definitely the hostages I had confird in the photos.
“That’s them. Take the money and hand over the hostages.”
Chief Ma removed his hand from the money bag.
After confirming the money, the seated man picked up the bag, and the man who had brought in the hostages shoved them toward us.
“Thank you. Thank you!”
“Thank you for saving us. Thank you......”
The hostages, still unable to process the situation, only trembled as they muttered hoarse words of thanks.
At that mont, Minister Heo Seonggu walked over to Kim Mugil.
“Mr. Kim Mugil.”
“Th-thank you for saving . Thank you......”
Kim Mugil kept murmuring his gratitude like a man in shock.
He didn’t seem ntally ready to have a proper conversation yet. The sa went for the other hostages.
After confirming their condition, I calmly warned the kidnappers who were still seated comfortably.
“Do not ever think about kidnapping Koreans and demanding ransom again. This ti, we paid the ransom and rescued the hostages, but next ti, Black Bear will chase you to the ends of hell.”
“If Koreans don’t co to Iraq, there won’t be a problem. We’ll make the sa demands anyti. So withdraw your troops imdiately and abandon all business in Iraq.”
As expected, these people were not the kind you could reason with.
In the end, only blood and force, fear and destruction, could protect Koreans.
After glaring at the masked man once, I stood up.
“We’ll be leaving first.”
Before exiting the tent, I approached Khamis and held out my hand.
“Khamis. I won’t forget this. If you ever need Black Bear’s help, we’ll return the favor.”
Khamis, smiling like a kindly man, also stood and shook my hand.
I now knew that that benevolent-looking face was a mask.
“It’s an honor. I don’t know if there will ever be a reason to need Black Bear’s help, but I’ll rember it.”
After exchanging farewells, we led the hostages out of the tent.
“Khamis. Bring the weapons we talked about. That’s the reason we accepted this deal, you know?”
Thinking I didn’t understand Arabic, one of the kidnappers spoke to Khamis in Arabic.
‘As expected, they plan to turn the ransom into weapons.’
That was probably why Khamis hadn’t pushed the price down too hard during negotiations.
I glanced around and spoke.
“Let’s head back for now.”
* * *
Igor had finished all preparations and was waiting for contact.
— Hostage rescue complete. Operation start.
How much ti had passed?
Yuri’s voice ca through the radio.
Igor turned on the GPS and checked whether the tracking devices were working properly.
A subordinate beside him was monitoring the equipnt obtained from the U.S. military.
There were two tracking devices attached to the money bag.
“Move out.”
At Igor’s command, the team mbers began moving in perfect unison.
“It’s stopped.”
The money bag had finally co to a halt.
“It’s 150 kiloters from here. The area borders Syria.”
Syria was a country that shared a border with Iraq.
A dictatorship ruled by the Baath Party, just like Hussein.
That said, it wasn’t exactly on good terms with Hussein’s regi.
“How long will it take?”
“Roughly an hour, I think.”
After hearing the report, Igor checked his wristwatch.
“It’ll be dark by the ti we arrive. Set the operation ti to midnight. Check the map and find positions suitable for an ambush.”
“Yes, sir.”
Igor relayed this information to Yuri via the comms.
“This is Igor. Yuri, do you read?”
— Yes. I read you.
“Has the boss arrived?”
— Not yet. We’ve received word that he’ll arrive shortly. Our rcenaries have gone to et him, so he should arrive safely.
“Good. Take care of it. We’ve confird the enemy’s location. Latitude......”
Igor read out the coordinates to Yuri. After confirming the position, Yuri asked back.
— It’s an area bordering Syria?
“That’s right. Any potential issues nearby?”
— None. But if they cross just one mountain, it’s Syrian territory. If we miss them, they’ll likely escape that way.
Near the Syrian border, terrorist groups were scattered everywhere. There were plenty of places to hide.
After organizing his thoughts, Igor issued another order.
“Check the nearest Syrian military garrison.”
— Understood. Please stand by.
Listening to Yuri issuing orders to soone over the radio, Igor checked the GPS device again.
The signal hadn’t been cut—aning the trackers hadn’t been discovered yet.
— Igor.
At the sound of his na, Igor focused back on the comms.
“I’m listening.”
— There’s a Syrian military base 50 kiloters north.
Igor gestured for a map. Taking it from his subordinate, he checked the locations.
“We’ll need a complete lockdown so they can’t escape at all. Contact again if anything unusual cos up. And tell the boss that once he arrives, we’ll be heading to the operation zone shortly.”
— Yes. Good luck. Please return safely.
Igor ended the transmission and put the equipnt down. While he had been communicating with Yuri, they had arrived at the operation area.
He got out of the vehicle, lifted his binoculars, and looked toward the location of the tracking signal.
A small village nestled in the mountains ca into view, with several watchtowers around it.
It was a small camp made up of wooden huts and tent structures.
After surveying the camp for a long ti, Igor rapidly organized the operation in his head.
“Everyone, gather here.”
After assembling the team, Igor began issuing orders while pointing at the map.
“You take ten n and move this way. And you......”
* * *
It was after the sun had completely set when I returned to the Black Bear Iraq branch.
Upon recognizing us, Jessica hurried over at a brisk pace.
“What about the hostages? Did you rescue them all?”
Without saying a word, I tilted my head toward the rear.
The hostages were getting out of the vehicles one by one with the help of soldiers.
They were still trembling with anxiety.
After confirming their safety, Jessica ran straight toward them.
“I’m relieved you’re all safe. I’m Jessica from the U.S. governnt. The U.S. military will be arriving here shortly, and you’ll be transferred to their camp. After a brief investigation, you’ll board a military aircraft and return to the United States imdiately.”
Hearing this, the Aricans finally seed to co back to their senses, bursting into tears of relief.
As if to reassure them, Jessica continued speaking in a gentle voice.
Watching the scene, I let out a small chuckle.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to rescue them safely. The President will not forget this.”
Minister Heo Seonggu, who had been watching the Aricans, approached and bowed his head.
Earlier he had seed rather authoritarian. As expected, he hadn’t beco the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for nothing.
He had no hesitation in expressing gratitude and bowing his head.
“It’s nothing. I’m Korean as well. Thankfully, we were able to rescue them without any casualties.”
I called out to Kim Mugil, who was blinking in confusion as he looked around.
“Mr. Kim Mugil?”
At my call, Kim Mugil flinched and approached awkwardly.
“You’re Mr. Kim Byeonggeun’s son, right?”
Apparently he hadn’t expected his father’s na to co up here. Kim Mugil’s eyes widened like saucers.
“D-do you an my father sent soone?”
What power would a rural man running a bicycle shop in [N O V E L I G H T] Busan have to send people all the way here?
Realizing how strange that sounded, Kim Mugil gave an embarrassed smile.
That expression was identical to the man who used to push his bicycle behind , and I couldn’t help but smile faintly as well.
“No. I owe your father a small debt. Well, that’s not the only reason I got involved in this, but you can hear the details from Mr. Byeonggeun after you return to Korea. My na is Kim Muhyuk. Please follow the Korean troops now and prepare to return ho.”
Just as I couldn’t rember Kim Mugil, he didn’t rember either.
I lightly patted his shoulder as he listened with a dazed expression.
“You’ve been through a lot. Don’t co to dangerous places like this again. No matter how good the money is, it only ans sothing if you’re alive.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
“I was only the interdiary in the negotiations. Don’t thank —thank the Korean governnt and President Yoon Changho. Before you leave, the minister beside you will probably give you a scenario. Follow it exactly during the interview.”
“Understood.”
After finally calming Kim Mugil, who kept bowing repeatedly, I spoke to Heo Seonggu.
“Minister, you worked hard flying all the way here as well. Please return ho now with Mr. Kim Mugil. I apologize for the inconvenience, but please make sure the scenario is prepared as planned so that my na isn’t ntioned.”
“This kind of thing is what I always do. Very well, I’ll be going now.”
Heo Seonggu left the Black Bear Iraq branch with Kim Mugil, escorted by the Korean troops.
A short while later, the U.S. military arrived and took the rest with them.
“Hah...... You did well, Charlie.”
I stared intently at Jessica, who had greeted from my side.
“Why are you looking at like that?”
“Aren’t you leaving too, Jessica? It’s over now. There’s nothing left for you to do here.”
“It’s not really over yet, is it? Rescuing the hostages with ransom is one thing—but now we have to deal with them all. Right?”
She really was thorough.
She understood perfectly well that if the kidnappers weren’t eliminated, the ransom we gave them would turn into weapons.
“That’s true. Let’s go in. Just don’t interfere.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t.”
Jessica scoffed lightly. Seeing the condition the hostages were in must have made her angry.
As she said, the hostage rescue was over, but this matter still had to be properly concluded.
Now, it was ti to wipe out the kidnappers completely.
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