Chapter 298: Time Is Ticking

“Chief, Vice Chairman Chen and Carlos are heading back to their base.”

Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok hurriedly reported the situation, cupping his hand over his mobile phone. Just as I had anticipated, an unexpected complication had arisen.

“Tell Bruno’s team to follow them discreetly and make sure they aren’t spotted.”

“Yes, understood.”

After giving a brief reply, Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok relayed the instructions to Bruno’s team and hung up. At that moment, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan asked curiously,

“Chief, why are those bastards suddenly heading back to their base?”

“There’s something I need to check. Give me a moment.”

Without wasting any time, I called Director Nevers. He answered almost as soon as the phone started ringing, as though he had been waiting for my call.

[— Nam, I’m listening.]

“Tell me... have Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and Captain Choi Dongcheol spoken on the phone?”

[— How did you know?]

My assumption had been confirmed with absolute certainty.

“Bruno’s team reported that Vice Chairman Chen and Carlos are heading back to their base.”

[— Ah, I see.]

“I’m curious about what they discussed.”

[— They found out that the North Korean submarines are being pursued by Philippine Navy patrol vessels.]

“Just as I thought. Return to headquarters immediately.”

Director Nevers, Vice Chairman Wei Chen, and Director Santiago had been planning to block the road with barricades approximately 100 kilometers from Iligan to capture Chen Zhihui and Carlos alive. However, Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and his accomplices were turning back. There was no point in remaining there any longer, so I told Director Nevers to abandon the position.

[— We were just packing up to return.]

“Understood. Things are getting tense, so I’ll hang up now.”

Click.

As soon as I hung up, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan spoke again.

“Chief, what’s going on?”

Before I could answer, National Intelligence Service Director Om Giyeon, Defense Minister Fernando, and Director Griffin rushed into the situation room. Breathing heavily, Defense Minister Fernando immediately addressed me.

“Nam, what the hell happened?”

“Panicking won’t help us. Why don’t we sit down and discuss everything calmly?”

Defense Minister Fernando quickly dropped onto the sofa and continued,

“All right, tell me.”

“Bruno’s team just contacted Jeong Gwangseok.”

I told Defense Minister Fernando and the others everything I had heard from Jeong Gwangseok and Director Nevers, leaving nothing out.

“...Director Nevers and his men are already on their way back here.”

“Nam, I’m truly sorry.”

Earlier, I had asked Defense Minister Fernando to deploy naval vessels to track the North Korean submarines and specifically warned him to proceed with the utmost caution so the submarines wouldn’t suspect anything. But he had brushed aside my warnings, insisting there was absolutely no risk of detection.

In the end, the North Korean submarines had discovered they were being followed. Because of that blunder, he was now sincerely apologizing.

But what good would dwelling on it do now? There was no putting a shattered cup back together, and the spilled water had long since soaked into the dry ground.

“I accept your apology, Minister Fernando.”

“Thank you. So what should we do now?”

“We’ll have to change the operational plan.”

“How?”

“Scramble the FA-50PH light attack aircraft as quickly as possible and launch an airstrike on the Abu Sayyaf base.”

Defense Minister Fernando froze for a moment, not quite understanding Cha Jiham’s reasoning.

Even if the FA-50PH aircraft reduced the Abu Sayyaf base to rubble, there would still be survivors. They would immediately report the attack to Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui or Carlos.

Chen Zhihui would then inform the North Korean authorities that the Abu Sayyaf base had been attacked. Concluding that the missile sale was no longer possible, they would order Captain Choi Dongcheol to scuttle the submarines.

In that case, the Philippines would lose its chance to get its hands on the three North Korean submarines.

He voiced his concerns directly to Cha Jiham.

“Your reasoning is almost correct, Minister Fernando, but there’s one mistake.”

“And what would that be?”

“The North Korean submarines are currently traveling submerged. They can’t receive signals from the North Korean leadership while they’re underwater.”

“Ah! That’s right! I completely overlooked that!”

“But time waits for no one. The clock is ticking.”

Defense Minister Fernando immediately understood why Cha Jiham was in such a hurry.

Vice Chairman Wei Chen would personally eliminate Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and his henchmen. Carlos had to be captured alive so they could dismantle the drug trafficking network in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, they planned to use the FA-50PH aircraft to wipe the Abu Sayyaf base off the face of the earth.

If the militants returned to their hideout before the airstrike, they would simply be killed by the bombs.

Cha Jiham had taken that possibility into account and was demanding that the strike be carried out before they returned.

Now that the minister understood his intentions, how could he afford to delay?

“Wait a moment.”

Defense Minister Fernando immediately called someone, issued a brief order, and ended the call.

“Nam, the Abu Sayyaf base will be attacked in thirty minutes.”

“Excellent. Make sure the strike on their hideout is recorded on video.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve already prepared several drones equipped with infrared cameras.”

“Wonderful.”

At that moment, Director Griffin seized the opportunity to ask a question that had been bothering him for some time.

“But if Carlos and Vice Chairman Chen find out about the airstrike on the base, won’t they take refuge in the jungle?”

“That’s exactly what I’d do in their position.”

“But if they disappear into the jungle, capturing them alive will be damn difficult, won’t it?”

“We have Saho. His hearing, eyesight, and physical abilities surpass those of any human.”

“Ah. That’s right. I completely forgot about Saho.”

Director Griffin glanced at Saho, who was sprawled leisurely on the floor, and chuckled.

“Please apologize to Saho for me for underestimating him.”

“Haha. I’ll be sure to pass it along.”

“All right, back to business. How are we going to capture the North Korean submarines safely?”

“First and foremost, we need to deprive them of any means of communicating with the North.”

In other words, we had to prevent them from surfacing.

“Of course. And then?”

“The Philippine Navy vessels must stay on their tails until the submarines run completely out of fuel.”

Defense Minister Fernando interjected with a worried expression.

“Nam, our navy’s anti-submarine capabilities are, to put it mildly, in a sorry state.”

“The latest submarines from our countries and the United States are already tracking the North Korean submarines.”

“They’ll surface periodically and transmit the targets’ exact coordinates to you.”

National Intelligence Service Director Om Giyeon supported my explanation.

“Then there shouldn’t be any problems. By the way, when exactly should we begin the interception operation?”

“That depends entirely on how much fuel the North Korean submarines have left.”

“Right... I suppose you’re correct.”

“We won’t be able to begin capturing them before tomorrow morning anyway. So I suggest we focus entirely on bombing the Abu Sayyaf base for now.”

“Of course.”

“I wonder how Carlos will react when he finds out his hideout has been completely destroyed?”

“Ahahahaha!”

Defense Minister Fernando answered my question with a booming laugh.

***

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui and Carlos were driving toward the Abu Sayyaf base.

The atmosphere inside the car was darker than a storm cloud. The missile deal had fallen through.

Deep in thought, Carlos turned to Chen Zhihui.

“How the hell did the North Korean submarines manage to detect the Philippine Navy vessels?”

“It seems they got tangled up in fishing nets.”

“Are you saying the fishermen spotted them while they were removing the torn nets from their propellers?”

“I can’t think of any other explanation.”

“Damn rotten luck.”

“Do you think there’s any chance the Philippine Navy attacked the submarines and sank them?”

Carlos shook his head.

“The government forces’ ships don’t have the equipment to deal with submarines of that class.”

“Well, at least that’s something.”

“What if the North Korean submarines fire their torpedoes and sink the Philippine ships?”

For a moment, Chen Zhihui desperately wanted to look inside Carlos’s head and see whether there was even a drop of brains in there.

If the North Korean submarines sent Philippine ships to the bottom of the sea, would the government simply let it slide?

They would immediately dispatch dozens of ships and aircraft to the area to completely destroy the enemy.

But the biggest problem was that the submarines were running out of fuel. They wouldn’t be able to escape very far.

They would end up dead in the water and be captured by government forces.

And then they could forget about ever receiving another shipment of North Korean missiles.

Endure it. Just keep your temper in check.

If he said all of that outright, Carlos would obviously fly into a rage.

Deciding that a bad peace was better than a good quarrel, Chen Zhihui chose to soften his response.

“I agree with your thinking, Mr. Carlos, but we simply can’t contact [N O V E L I G H T] Captain Choi Dongcheol right now.”

“Then call him.”

“The submarines are traveling underwater to evade pursuit. Communications don’t work while they’re submerged.”

“Hmm... If we can’t contact them, does that mean the missile delivery is off?”

“They’re traveling underwater. The government ships have no idea where the enemy is heading. So there’s a good chance we’ll receive our missiles by tomorrow evening.”

ROOOOAR!

Suddenly, a deafening roar tore through the dark night as a formation of fighter jets streaked overhead at tremendous speed.

“Are the Philippine Air Force conducting night exercises?”

“I’ve never heard of government aircraft training at night.”

“Are you saying those aren’t Philippine aircraft?”

“Exactly.”

“Then whose fighter jets would be flying around at this ungodly hour?”

“The US Air Force is stationed in our country.”

BAAAAM!..

At that very moment, a heavy, muffled explosion thundered somewhere nearby.

The series of blasts was so powerful that the startled driver slammed on the brakes.

“W-what the...?!” the terrified Vice Chairman Chen cried out.

Carlos, on the other hand, calmly ordered the driver, “Keep going.”

But the man seemed to have his foot glued to the brake pedal.

BOOOOOM!

The ground shook again from another tremendous explosion.

“What are you waiting for?! Step on it!” Carlos roared.

The driver frantically pressed the accelerator.

Chen Zhihui swallowed nervously and cautiously asked,

“Mr. Carlos, doesn’t any of this bother you?”

“The Americans are practicing bombing runs. What’s there to be afraid of?”

But Chen Zhihui had a completely different idea.

“As far as I know, the air force conducts its exercises over the sea to avoid casualties. But those explosions... It sounds like they’re bombing the very area where the Abu Sayyaf base is located.”

“That can’t be...”

Carlos broke off as though the realization had finally dawned on him.

But before he could finish the thought, the phone in his hand erupted into a frantic, piercing ringtone.

The moment he saw the name on the screen, he answered.

“What is it now?!”

[— B-boss! We’re in trouble!]

“Speak clearly! I can’t understand a damn thing!”

[— U-unknown fighter jets... They’re launching airstrikes directly on our base!!]

“WHAT?!”

Carlos’s terrified, cracking scream echoed throughout the car.