“What’s going on?”
Hanrin called.
— I just called to see how you were doing. And I have something to tell you.
“Something to tell me? Can’t you not? I’m getting nervous again.”
Whenever Hanrin called, I got nervous.
It was true that Hanrin had given me good information all this time.
That was true.
The problem was that the things Hanrin told me had never once been wrong.
When Hanrin said something, it soon became reality.
That was what made it frightening.
I simply wanted to avoid it.
Even so, I tried throwing a tantrum I knew would get me nowhere.
— Did something happen?
“When you say it, it becomes reality.”
— Still, if you know in advance, wouldn’t it help you prepare a little?
“Does knowing I’m going to get hit make it not hurt? It hurts just the same.”
— Wouldn’t it be better than getting blindsided out of nowhere?
“That’s true too. So what is it you have to say?”
— I heard this through the grapevine, but apparently the government has begun analyzing the components in order to copy the Ascend concentrate.
At the news, which was less serious than I had expected, I soothed my startled heart.
I had naturally assumed they would do at least that much.
“I figured.”
— You’re not surprised?
“I assumed they’d do at least that much. Even street thug bastards were doing it. You think the government wouldn’t?”
— You expected it?
“That much?”
— As expected! You’re amazing.
“Amazing, my ass. From here on, they’ll do anything they can to copy Ascend.”
— Then what do we do now?
“What do you mean, what do we do?”
— If the government succeeds in making a copy, then won’t there be no need for the one you make, hyung-nim?
“I suppose so?”
— Then isn’t that a big problem?
“Then that’s that. I’m not particularly attached to it. But making a copy won’t be easy.”
— Oh~ Is that so? Is there some kind of technology that absolutely can’t be copied?”
“It’s not technology, but the design itself is a little different. Even ramen with the same noodles and seasoning tastes different depending on who cooks it. Medicine like this is even more complicated. Even ramen that all tastes different will show the same results if you analyze its components.”
“That’s a huge relief. When I heard that, I was honestly worried. I wondered if Ascend might be taken away from you, hyung-nim.”
“And if they make it, they make it. What world exists without copies? Especially in China.”
“That’s true too.”
“You guys should sell Ascend moderately and get out. The key money must be high right now, no?”
“That’s right. We’re getting a ton of calls from all over, offering money if we sell the shops.”
“I managed to protect that 20% with my own power, but there will probably be discrimination little by little going forward. They might reduce the supply bit by bit, things like that. So it’d be better to get out at the right time for a good price.”
“There had already been some slight delays, so that was the reason. Thank you for the advice. As expected, your insight is incredible, hyung-nim.”
“Insight, my ass.”
“Thank you. May I tell the others?”
Hanrin was even looking out for the people who owned Ascend stores along with him.
“Of course. But tell them to wrap things up slowly, not all at once.”
“Yes, sir. Understood. Thank you. If anything else happens, I’ll contact you again.”
That line about contacting me again was the scariest part, but I couldn’t refuse.
I didn’t want to get blindsided without knowing anything.
“Yeah. Call me again.”
******
Dark clouds hung over China.
The newspapers were filled only with gloomy news.
It had not been long since happy news had filled the papers, and now they were saying that all of that news had been fake.
The technologies they had believed would make China shine.
The technologies they had thought would lead the world.
The claims that they had proven hypotheses no one else had ever been able to prove were all being called fake.
There had been fatal flaws in the achievements created after taking Ascend.
Perhaps it had been a catastrophe foretold from the beginning.
Without listening to anyone,
without collaborating with anyone,
it had been a sandcastle built alone inside a delusion.
They were results full of holes, born of blind self-conviction.
No matter how convincingly one claimed the Earth was flat, the Earth was round.
No matter how beautifully one dressed up the possibility of a new technology, if it could not be realized, it was ultimately nothing but an illusion.
It had been a combination that was impossible from the start.
A dream that could never have been dreamed in the first place.
Many Chinese people fell into despair.
The road to becoming the best in the world, which had seemed to lie right before them, grew far more distant.
The summit that had seemed within reach appeared to flee far away.
They could not even calculate how much further they had fallen behind.
It was bleak.
When things were bleak, there was only Ascend.
They tore open Ascend and tossed it into their mouths.
*******
Zhongnanhai, Beijing, China.
President Li Guocheng sat in his office, deep in thought.
His mind was complicated as he pondered how to deal with Zhou Qiming.
Zhou Qiming’s power had grown too great.
He continued to covet President Li Guocheng’s authority.
He could not leave him be.
Li Guocheng, too, had intended to hand this power over to Zhou Qiming someday.
In about five years? Or ten?
Perhaps twenty years from now.
But not now. Absolutely not.
Yet Zhou Qiming could not endure it.
What a foolish bastard.
If he had simply stayed still, all this power would have been passed down to Zhou Qiming.
Unable to wait for that, he had caused this mess.
Impatience had invited disaster.
It was certain that Zhou Qiming had to be removed.
But the question was how far he should go.
Should he end it by simply dismissing him from his position as director of the MSS?
Or was it right to erase him completely and cleanly?
He kept agonizing over it.
Zhou Qiming was not a simple subordinate.
He had been a colleague who had been with him for a long time, a comrade.
At times, he had been a friend, and a mentor.
When he thought of those years, he ought to end it with a simple dismissal.
Moreover, he had performed well while serving as director of the MSS.
That could not be denied.
That much had to be acknowledged.
If he acknowledged that, he ought to end it with dismissal.
But if he ended it with dismissal, Zhou Qiming might take revenge someday.
No, there was an extremely high chance that he would.
He did not want to leave behind a needless future calamity.
Having possessed this much power, if Zhou Qiming were to be pushed out in an instant and become an old man in the back room, he would be furious.
Even Li Guocheng would be.
He would try to take revenge even if he had to sacrifice everything he had.
That was why dismissal alone did not put his mind at ease.
And above all, his heart did not feel that way.
It was too outrageous.
Li Guocheng had treated him so well, and yet he had tried to covet his position.
He was repaying grace with enmity.
That was what angered him most.
That was why he could not forgive him even more.
Perhaps that was the biggest problem.
The crime of being hateful.
Power could not be shared with anyone.
Even if that someone was Zhou Qiming, who was like a friend and family.
Having reached that conclusion, Li Guocheng finally made his decision.
By the time he made it, so much time had passed that it was already dark outside.
That was how long Li Guocheng had agonized over it.
After a long bout of contemplation, Li Guocheng soon made his decision.
“Send in the chief secretary.”
******
Zhou Qiming received a call from the president’s chief secretary.
“President Li Guocheng has given an order to eliminate you, Director. The directive has gone down to the Central Security Bureau. Please take care of yourself.”
Zhou Qiming smiled bitterly.
It was not that he had failed to anticipate this situation.
He had thought the possibility was high.
Even so, he had hoped it would not happen.
He had thought it could very well happen, but even so, he had hoped it would not.
After all, they had spent so much time together.
He had done so many things with President Li Guocheng.
It left a bitter taste, as though all those many things had lost their meaning.
He had desperately hoped Li Guocheng would not cross the line.
But President Li Guocheng had gone and crossed it in the end.
Now there was no turning back.
If he did not want to die, he had to kill.
Zhou Qiming picked up the phone and called Minister of National Defense Wei Zhonglin.
“The time has come. Begin Operation Yejin.”
******
Minister of National Defense Wei Zhonglin hung up the phone and closed his eyes.
Even at this moment, he was still conflicted.
Was this really right?
The question of whether acting this way was the correct thing to do continued to rise within him.
The moment he failed, it would be execution.
No, he would die in a way far more painful than execution.
Not only he himself, but his family, his in-laws, and every distant relative connected to him would all die in agony.
But no matter how he thought about it, this was the only path for China.
He could not entrust China’s future to that fool Li Guocheng.
He could not entrust China to a madman who intended to make China the world’s greatest power by increasing working hours.
He could not entrust the nation to an idiot who said it did not matter because, after taking Ascend, people did not know fatigue anyway.
What was needed to become the greatest nation in the world was not labor power, but powerful national defense.
Only powerful national defense, strong enough to wage war against any country, was the way to become the world’s greatest nation.
That was what Wei Zhonglin believed.
Having gathered his thoughts, Wei Zhonglin immediately issued second-level combat readiness, equivalent to DEFCON 3.
“As of this moment, I issue second-level combat readiness. I repeat. As of this moment, I issue second-level combat readiness.”
At Wei Zhonglin’s combat readiness order, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army immediately entered a state of preparedness.
They took up positions so that they could wage war at any moment.
The units near Beijing in particular grew busy.
Under the name of emergency drills, armored vehicles and tanks were sent to Beijing.
Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles headed toward Zhongnanhai, where President Li Guocheng was staying.
.
.
.
The Central Security Bureau agents who had received President Li Guocheng’s order raided MSS headquarters in order to arrest Zhou Qiming.
Dozens of agents sealed off every entrance and headed straight for the director’s office.
In the process, clashes broke out with dozens of MSS agents who stood in their way.
A standoff continued between the MSS agents, who insisted they could never let them pass without a warrant, and the Central Security Bureau agents, who tried to force their way in, saying it was the president’s order.
In the end, the Central Security Bureau agents, unable to endure any longer, began subduing the MSS agents by force.
There were casualties among the Central Security Bureau agents as well, but this was not the time to consider such things.
Right now, capturing Zhou Qiming was the most important task.
They shook off the MSS agents and went to the director’s office, but Zhou Qiming was not there.
“Find him. He must be somewhere inside MSS headquarters. Until Zhou Qiming is found, don’t let even a single ant leave MSS headquarters.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Central Security Bureau agents who received the order began searching for Zhou Qiming.
They began combing through MSS headquarters.
They searched the restrooms, the basement, and even the storage rooms without missing a single place, but Zhou Qiming was nowhere to be seen.
.
.
.
Zhongnanhai, Beijing.
President Li Guocheng received news that tanks had been sighted near Beijing.
“What? Who gave permission to move tanks? Connect me to the minister of national defense.”
“Yes, sir.”
.
.
.
“Why are there tanks in Beijing?”
“We are conducting emergency drills.”
“Now? Without reporting to me? Stop the drills at once and have them return to their units.”
“This is an important exercise. I ask that you reconsider.”
“Just do it when I tell you to. And as of this moment, all troop movements are forbidden until further special instructions are given. This is an order as commander-in-chief.”
“Understood.”
“Also identify any units that have moved for any reason, and report when they will return.”
“Understood. I will report immediately.”
After hanging up the phone, President Li Guocheng received the report that the tanks were visible in Beijing because they were conducting drills.
Of course.
What could possibly happen?
Li Guocheng felt relieved.
Even so, his unease did not disappear.
He continued to feel anxious.
It felt as though everything had been neatly settled, but the pounding in his chest would not stop.
What was it?
What was the problem?
Come to think of it, there had been no contact from the Central Security Bureau agents who had gone to capture Zhou Qiming.
It was about time they contacted him.
They must not fail.
Something like this had to succeed in one stroke.
If they failed and he began running away, things would become difficult.
That was why he had put it into action immediately without informing anyone.
The fact that it was taking this long meant there was a high chance they had failed.
There was a high probability that something had gone wrong.
He made a call to check the situation.
“I apologize. It seems Zhou Qiming is not at MSS headquarters. We will search it thoroughly once more.”
Damn it.
He must have fled somewhere.
Had information leaked from somewhere?
This would make things complicated.
But why had there been no call from the minister of national defense, whom he had ordered to report?
Irritation surged within him.
He called the minister of national defense.
But he did not answer.
He had a bad feeling.
A chill ran through him.
The intuition that had brought Li Guocheng to this position activated.
That instinct that came to him now and then in moments of crisis.
It felt like a signal of danger.
First, he locked the door to his office.
As he locked it, clicking sounds rang out.
It was the sound of the internal locks engaging.
The door to his office was a special security door.
It could block not only bullets, but also bombs and gas.
It was a specially structured door that could prevent forced entry as well.
As long as this door was locked, he was safe for the moment.
Once he locked the door, his mind eased a little.
He called the minister of national defense again, but the call did not connect.
It was frustrating that he could not grasp the situation.
He pressed the intercom and called for his secretary.
But the secretary did not respond either.
Instead, the sound of someone knocking on the door came from outside.
There were thudding sounds, as if they were trying to force it open.
But they would never be able to open it.
Breaking through the wall would be faster.
But that wall would not break easily either.
It was a wall built with special reinforcement.
Listening to the thudding sounds, President Li Guocheng opened the entrance leading to the underground bunker.
In his office, there was a passage connected to an underground bunker built in preparation for a nuclear attack.
Though no one knew about it.
The underground bunker was safe even from a nuclear attack.
It had been designed so that hundreds of people could survive for several years.
Moreover, this underground bunker was connected to key locations in the city such as Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of National Defense, and military hospitals.
It boasted an enormous scale, large enough for cars to travel through it.
For now, he would hide.
It was right to take refuge safely first, then assess the situation and make a decision.
Li Guocheng opened that entrance and headed for the underground bunker.
He walked down the dark, deserted path alone.