Kang Chan placed both of his arms over his knees, then leaned back against the wall.

Even though they were flying over as fast as they could, there was a chance they’d only find Kim Hyung-Jung’s corpse. Kang Chan breathed out deeply while remembering Kim Hyung-Jung. He knew how betrayal made his blood boil.

It somehow felt like he returned to reality after having a good dream, yet on the other hand, he felt like he was still dreaming.

“Whoo!”

Kang Chan stepped on the cigarette to extinguish it, but when he raised his gaze, his eyes met Gérard’s.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Gérard asked Kang Chan.

“That’ll be great.”

When Gérard nodded, the young member that had been sitting with him went to prepare coffee. He soon wafted the peculiar smell of instant coffee as the member brought over three paper cups.

Kang Chan took a sip of the coffee, then bit on a cigarette again.

Chk chk.

“Whoo.”

Gérard was blatantly looking at Kang Chan.

“Get some rest,” Kang Chan told Gérard.

“I’ll be okay with not sleeping for a day.”

“The members become anxious if the captain’s nerves are on edge, so relax. However, if a situation comes where you feel like it’s dangerous, then be on edge. Let them know if they can rest or if they should be nervous through your expression, the way you talk, and the aura you give out,” Kang Chan explained.

Gérard tilted his head and looked at Kang Chan.

Kang Chan finished drinking his coffee and extinguished the cigarette on the paper cup. He then put the cigarette butt that he had placed on the floor a moment ago in the paper cup as well.

He was starting to feel exhausted.

‘Should I get some sleep?’

Two hours of sleep would be enough.

Kang Chan looked at the rollaway beds while thinking of lying down.

“Do you know why I applied for this operation?” Gérard suddenly asked a question.

“Hey, Captain!” Kang Chan called and looked at him, smirking. “If you want to keep the chick next to you alive, then quickly put him to bed and get some sleep, even if it’s just for a bit.”

Kang Chan laid down on a cot and secured himself by pulling the magazine that was hung around both sides of his waist to the side as much as possible. He then covered his eyes with the beret. A moment later, Kang Chan heard Gérard saying, “go to sleep!”

Kang Chan soon fell asleep.

***

Karaaang. Whoooosh!

Kang Chan opened his eyes to the sound of the plane’s propellers and the feeling of the altitude changing rapidly. After he shook his head and sat on the bed, he couldn’t help but smirk.

The time he had spent in Korea completely felt like a dream.

When Kang Chan raised himself up and brought back a bottle of water, Seok Kang-Ho then Gérard raised themselves up.

The lights of the cabin flickered twice.

“Phew!”

Seok Kang-Ho approached Kang Chan and tousled his hair. Kang Chan then opened the bottle of water and poured it out on Seok Kang-Ho.

After noisily washing his face, Seok Kang-Ho poured water on Kang Chan in return. Kang Chan washed his face as well and drank the remaining water.

Whoosh.

The paper cup that Kang Chan had placed beside him fell toward the other side and rolled away as the plane took a wide turn. Its engine rang out loudly, and the altitude fell rapidly.

Thud.

The wheels touched down on the ground. Kang Chan didn’t know who their pilot was, but the fucker had really bad flying skills.

Kaganng.

As it made a loud noise, the plane slowed down on the runway. It was as if it was screaming. Kang Chan quickly examined the members. It was easy to tell who was afraid during moments like this.

None of their expressions changed except for the youngest.

Brrrr.

The door of the plane opened. With Kang Chan’s nod, Gérard led the members and ran out.

The helicopter that was waiting for them was the CH-47 Chinook.[1] It was shaped like a sausage and had a propeller on the front and back of its body.

After Seok Kang-Ho boarded the helicopter, Kang Chan got on it last. The helicopter immediately rose up from the runway.

Two members distributed C-rations[2] to everyone. This wasn’t something that they should refuse.

Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho cleanly went through the bread and biscuit, chocolate bar, and even the canned fruits that were inside the C-rations.

Ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu-.

Over the deafening noise of the helicopter, Kang Chan shouted “Map!” toward Gérard.

Gérard seemed to have guessed what Kang Chan had said based on his mouth’s movements. He walked toward Kang Chan while taking out a map from the left pocket of his top. “Why are you asking for a map now?!”

“We should tell the members when we’re marching up the mountain!”

“Why?!”

Kang Chan glanced at Gérard. “Telling them where to hide in case of an emergency would be ideal! Why ask when you already know the answer!”

Gérard laughed, seemingly dumbfounded.

On the map that Kang Chan had spread out, the Onon river and the Sükhbaatar area had been marked in detail, and the location of the enemies had been stamped with a red dot.

“Captain!” Kang Chan called. When Kang Chan turned around and looked behind him, Gérard brought his head closer to Kang Chan’s.

“This place next to this river shall be ‘alpha’! The heart of this mountain is ‘beta’! If we lose each other due to unforeseen circumstances, then just hide and stay near whichever of these two is closest to you at the time! I’ll go find you no matter what!” Kang Chan explained.

Gérard took a deep breath, then asked Kang Chan, “Are all Korean people like you?”

“What?”

“I asked if all! Korean! People! Are like you!”

Kang Chan smirked, then gestured to Seok Kang-Ho with his eyes. “Daye and i Are going to form groups! If possible, put the members that can speak Algeria’s languages into his team!

“I’m going to go crazy!”

Calling ‘Dayeru’ as ‘Daye’ was a mistake. Gérard looked like he suddenly got slapped.

“Captain!” Kang Chan called.

Gérard didn’t answer. He only looked back at him.

“Question what you’re curious and suspicious about later! Our first priority right now is the members’ lives, followed by this operation’s success! Your goal is to have all the members here right now in this helicopter when the operation ends! Got it?!” Kang Chan asked.

“Alright!”

“Have the rookie beside you no matter what!”

Gérard nodded as he tightly clenched his teeth.

Ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu.

It took them forty minutes to divide into groups and examine the terrain.

They saw a ‘Ger’[3] from time to time within the endless earth, but they couldn’t see anything now.

After about ten minutes, they saw a small river.

Kang Chan felt on edge, which hadn't happened for a long time. His eyes met Seok Kang-Ho’s as he was turning his gaze, and Seok Kang-Ho grinned. His eyes were glinting. “Relax your eyes. You’re going to scare these people!”

Kang Chan could understand what he was saying based on his mouth’s movements. He smirked, then looked at the members. It looked like they were all nervous upon seeing Kang Chan and his senses on edge.

Ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu-.

The helicopter took a wide turn and went farther away from the riverside.

Kang Chan quickly examined the terrain stretched out as far as the eye could see. It felt less rugged than what he thought the map portrayed.

The wind was cold, but Kang Chan liked it because it made him return to his senses.

“Captain!”

Kang Chan widely separated his index and middle finger and pointed to the back, which meant that they should be on the lookout for danger before they got out of the helicopter.

When the members looked at Gérard…

“From now on, the God of Blackfield will command the operation!” Gérard yelled, “The second group will receive Dayeru’s orders!”

Six members nodded in response to Gérard’s orders.

Ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu-ddu.

The helicopter gradually glided down to the ground.

Seok Kang-Ho glanced at Kang Chan. It seemed like he wanted to know how Kang Chan was feeling about this.

Whooosh.

The back door opened…

Bang.

And the helicopter landed.

The two armed guards nodded toward Kang Chan, who then gave Gérard an eye gesture.

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“Let’s go!” Gérard yelled.

They rushed forward.

The sound of military boots and the ‘click’ from the weapons could be heard despite the noisy engine.

“Daye!”

Seok Kang-Ho ran out with Kang Chan’s second nod. After Kang Chan left, the two members that had mounted guard followed behind him. They were running at their full speed.

Standing in the middle of this plain and warily observing their surroundings was no different from just offering their necks to their enemy for target practice.

As they ran seven hundred meters, those who were nervous started to breathe faster.

People had to habitually run at least seven kilometers regularly to run seven hundred meters at their top speed in this kind of situation. Otherwise, they’d fall behind.

And people would say that the weights of the gun and weapons that they were holding and had hung around their shoulders weren’t that big of a deal?

A newbie would never know the feeling of such weight doubling up for every hundred meters they ran at full speed.

“Run!” Kang Chan yelled.

“Huff Huff! Huff Huff!”

Sure enough, the newbie was already out of breath. He was too nervous.

Kang Chan quickly searched through their surroundings. He couldn’t trust anyone.

He wasn’t even thinking of Lanok. If anyone that knew of this operation, even those that flew the helicopter and left just a moment ago, said anything, then Kang Chan would experience having a bullet go through his neck again here.

An enormous amount of money paralyzed everything about a person.

Kang Chan didn’t feel anything.

Seok Kang-Ho was running as well. He was the farthest away from Kang Chan.

“Captain!” Kang Chan called.

When Gérard glanced at Kang Chan, Kang Chan directed his fist to the front, straightened his index and pointy finger, and signaled for Gérard to go left and to go right.

They had now ran halfway toward their target.

Kang Chan ran to the new recruit’s side and yelled, “Hey! You son of a bitch!”

He swore in Korean, but he managed to directly convey his emotions.

Startled, the newbie glanced at Kang Chan, then turned his gaze to the front.

1. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a military transport aircraft that was developed by an American rotorcraft company Vertol, and was manufactured by Boeing Vertol. Specifically, it’s a tandem rotor helicopter that's among the heaviest-lifting Western helicopters and was introduced in 1962 ☜

2. The C-ration, Field Ration, or Type C, refers to prepared and canned wet combat ration that was intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food or packaged unprepared food of mess halls or field kitchens was unavailable or couldn’t be cooked or when a survival ration was insufficient ☜

3. a ‘Ger’ or ‘Yurt’ is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt. It’s traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ☜

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