Choi Ryonghae kept trying to contact the General Staff Headquarters.
But no matter how many tis he tried, there was no response from the other side.
Boom!
At the thunderous explosion, Choi Ryonghae instinctively ducked.
“Don’t tell those mad dogs are firing artillery?”
The First Vice Director, who had also crouched down, crawled across the floor and spoke.
“Comrade Director of the General Political Bureau, this place is dangerous. We should move the command staff to the underground bunker.”
Grinding his teeth, Choi Ryonghae nodded and stood up.
“Everyone to the bunker! Move!”
Beneath the General Political Bureau headquarters was a bunker prepared for warti.
There were enough food supplies stored there to last at least a year.
As Choi Ryonghae left the command room, nurous officers hurried after him.
However, as he rushed down the stairs, he suddenly had to stop midway.
“Comrade Director! Sothing terrible has happened!”
An officer ca rushing down the stairs behind him, almost flying in his haste.
“What is it now?! Why are you making such a fuss?!”
“It’s bad! Fighter jets have taken off from Oncheon Airfield!”
“What? Fighter jets?”
At Choi Ryonghae’s stunned question, the officer nodded vigorously.
“Yes! The order was issued directly by the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission! The target is here!”
“That lunatic has completely lost his mind! Sending aircraft to Pyongyang? He’s truly gone insane. Hurry! Get to the bunker!”
Choi Ryonghae hurried down the stairs.
When he reached the first-floor lobby, he opened a hidden steel door and descended even deeper.
After going down for quite so ti, he finally entered the bunker and called the officer who had made the report earlier.
“You’re certain about the Air Force being deployed?”
“Yes. We intercepted the communication.”
“That crazy bastard! He really intends to see this through to the end!”
Choi Ryonghae slamd the table violently.
The other officers exchanged silent glances.
Reading the atmosphere, the First Vice Director spoke.
“What will you do? Perhaps we should surrender while we still can...”
“Are you out of your mind?! Surrender? Do you think Jang Songthaek would spare us if we surrendered? Stop talking nonsense!”
“...Even if the army can be dealt with, once the Air Force is involved, we have no chance.”
“Just wait!”
Choi Ryonghae grabbed the telephone in front of him and hurriedly contacted the Air Force commander.
Unlike the other calls that failed to connect, this one went through imdiately.
“This is the Director of the General Political Bureau.”
— You reactionary bastard! How dare you call here!
“Commander. Do not make the mistake of bombing Pyongyang. Aren’t you ashad before the General?”
While Choi Ryonghae tried to speak calmly despite his urgency, the Air Force commander exploded in rage.
— How dare you bring up the General, you traitorous bastard! Just wait! I’ll rain fire down on your head!
“Commander. Since the victory of the Fatherland Liberation War, Pyongyang has never been bombed even once. I will personally eliminate the rebel leader Jang Songthaek. All of this is for the General’s—”
— The General himself ordered every branch of the military to suppress the rebellion imdiately! Stop talking nonsense, you bastard! I knew from the beginning you were hiding sothing! Just wait! The reaper will co for you soon!
The enraged Air Force commander cut the call.
“Commander! Commander!”
Choi Ryonghae shouted, but there was no reply from the dead receiver.
“You bastard!”
He slamd the receiver down with a curse.
“What did the Air Force commander say?”
The First Vice Director asked, but Choi Ryonghae remained silent.
“Director! At this rate we will all die! At least we should save the soldiers’ lives!”
The First Vice Director kept trying to persuade him to surrender.
But Choi Ryonghae said nothing.
With their leader silent, the officers stood there in confusion, unsure what to do.
“Th-the bombing has begun, Comrade Director!”
A mont later, a deafening explosion shook the bunker ceiling.
* * *
After hearing that the Air Force had been deployed, Won Seonghui slowly pulled his troops back.
Even if the strike was precise, the shockwave and debris could still cause casualties.
“Move back quickly!”
Won Seonghui continued shouting orders.
The louder his voice beca, the faster the troops withdrew.
Seeing the Guard Command troops suddenly retreat, the soldiers of the General Political Bureau looked on in confusion.
“What’s going on? Why are they pulling back?”
“M-maybe the Director convinced the rebels to surrender?”
The soldiers inside the General Political Bureau hadn’t heard the news that the Air Force had been deployed.
As their enemy retreated, the dark expressions on their faces gradually brightened.
“Long live the Director of the General Political Bureau! Long live the General!”
But the cheers quickly died down when they saw fighter jets appear in the sky.
“What the hell is that?!”
Missiles launched from the aircraft in their field of vision.
Every missile carried by the squadron rained down on the stunned General Political Bureau.
“AAAAAH!”
“AHHH!”
Before the screams even finished, the missiles turned the headquarters into a sea of destruction.
“Well... that’s quite sothing.”
Watching from a distance, Won Seonghui let out a low whistle.
The fighter jets that had just passed over the General Political Bureau turned back and bombed the site once more before calmly flying away.
Only after confirming the squadron had left did Won Seonghui issue his next order.
Advance into the General Political Bureau headquarters, still covered in thick clouds of dust—
—and arrest anyone still alive.
* * *
The mont I got into the vehicle, relief washed over and I fell asleep imdiately.
“Boss. We’ve crossed the border.”
I barely opened one eye at the sound of Igor’s voice calling .
Rubbing my eyes, which refused to open fully, I looked outside the window.
The moon had already set, and the sun was rising.
It seed we had been driving all night.
“Any problems crossing the border?”
“No. We crossed using the sa route we entered through. Since we had already coordinated with both the Russian and North Korean border posts, there were no issues.”
“That’s good.”
“Were you uncomfortable while sleeping?”
Igor asked with concern, looking at curled up awkwardly in the back seat.
Since this wasn’t the sedan I normally rode in but a military vehicle, there was no point comparing comfort.
“It wasn’t comfortable. But surviving is what matters, so it’s fine.”
“I apologize.”
“What are you apologizing for? Coming to rescue like this is more than enough.”
If Igor hadn’t co for , crossing the border this easily would have been impossible.
When I said that, Igor’s expression relaxed slightly.
“Chief of Staff dvedev is waiting in Vladivostok.”
“Really?”
I hadn’t expected him to co personally.
Even flying from Moscow to Vladivostok took half a day.
“Yes. When we departed, he said he would fly to Vladivostok and wait.”
“I appreciate that. It seems he was worried about .”
I’ll have to give him quite a gift to balance the scales.
Without Russia’s help, Igor wouldn’t have been able to cross the border so quickly to rescue .
“Have you heard anything from North Korea?”
“Nothing yet.”
I nodded and looked out the window again.
Cold wind brushed past the glass.
* * *
At the Black Bear training ground on the outskirts of Vladivostok.
dvedev was waiting there for .
“Mr. Kim! Thank goodness you’re safe.”
As soon as I stepped out of the car, he approached and hugged .
“Haha. Thanks to you.”
I barely survived, and now I’m going to suffocate here.
I pushed him away as he squeezed tightly.
“What are you saying? I’m glad we could help. But next ti you go to North Korea, please be more careful.”
“I never expected those lunatics to try to capture . They’re not people with nothing to lose...”
“If sothing had happened to you, Mr. Kim, North Korea would have disappeared from the map. We would have taken revenge.”
Even though it was clearly an exaggeration, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
I simply smiled.
“Mr. Kim,” dvedev whispered, “the President would like you to co to Moscow.”
“Moscow?”
“Yes. He wishes to et you before you return to Korea.”
When the master of the Kremlin calls, you don’t refuse.
Especially after receiving help like this.
I nodded.
“Very well. Any news from Pyongyang?”
“Not yet. Pyongyang has been completely sealed off.”
“Are you saying the coup might have succeeded?”
dvedev shrugged.
“We received information that fighter jets bombed Pyongyang.”
“Fighter jets? They bombed Pyongyang?”
That was far too large-scale to be called a simple coup.
If a civil war broke out, everything I had planned would happen.
If the Air Force had intervened, then that man might have moved.
“Don’t worry too much, Mr. Kim. Even so, the rebels probably didn’t take control of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the Air Force.”
“That’s not sothing anyone can be sure of. If it’s Kim Jongil, he could move the Air Force. In North Korea, he’s still practically a god.”
Decades of indoctrination were terrifying.
Even if they outwardly pledged loyalty to Jang Songthaek, many would turn the mont they heard an order spoken in Kim Jongil’s own voice.
“Is there any contact with the Russian embassy in Pyongyang?”
Jang Songthaek’s office was very close to the Russian embassy.
If anyone knew his whereabouts, it would be them.
“We managed to reach them through a satellite phone, but...”
“What did they say about Jang Songthaek’s office?”
“The last contact was at dawn. At that ti, they reported no movent.”
“So we just have to wait.”
“Information will co soon enough. Whether the coup succeeded or failed.”
In other words, ti would reveal the answer.
I had no choice but to nod.
“Are we going straight to Moscow?”
“Wouldn’t you like to rest first?”
“I can rest on the plane.”
“Then let’s depart imdiately. We can use the aircraft I ca in.”
“Can my bodyguards and Igor co as well?”
dvedev looked over the grimy bodyguards and Igor’s comparatively tidy team before nodding.
“That’s fine. But they must disarm.”
“That’s unavoidable.”
“Then let’s move. We’ll head straight to the air base. Mr. Kim, you can ride with .”
Before getting into dvedev’s official car, I gave Manager Kim an order.
“Contact Korea and tell them to send my private jet to Moscow. Also inform them that I arrived safely in Russia. Director Ma must be worried.”
“Yes, Boss.”
I got into the car with dvedev.
The vehicles carrying us headed for a nearby air base.
After a ten-hour flight, we arrived in Moscow.
After agreeing to speak again tomorrow, I parted ways with dvedev and returned to my house on the outskirts of Moscow.
“Everyone get so rest. Igor, co with .”
After telling Manager Kim and the guards to rest, I took Igor into the study.
I asked a servant for coffee and sat down on a comfortable sofa.
“Send compensation to the injured rcenaries. Increase the amount beyond the usual.”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it.”
While Igor and I discussed our next steps, the servant brought in two cups of coffee.
After drinking a cup of sweet instant mix coffee, I finally felt that I was truly alive.
Of all things, confirming my survival through a cheap cup of coffee.
I gently held the warm cup and laughed quietly.
“I’ve had every kind of expensive tea, but nothing beats mix coffee.”
After finishing the cup, I started making phone calls.
Nearly an hour passed as I inford people that I had safely arrived in Moscow.
While I was on the phone, Igor’s mobile rang.
I paused my call and looked at him.
Understanding my glance, Igor answered.
After speaking briefly in Russian, he covered the phone and said to ,
“Boss. It’s Chief of Staff dvedev. Your phone was busy, so he called this number. He says it’s urgent.”
I quickly ended my call and took Igor’s phone.
“dvedev. What is it?”
— We just received contact from Pyongyang.
“Really? From Jang Songthaek?”
— No. The ambassador contacted us. It seems the situation has mostly concluded. The communication lines are still down, so the call couldn’t last long. But...
dvedev relayed the ssage from the Russian ambassador.
“So the coup failed.”
For , that was good news.
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