/
As he stood at the entrance of the apartment, Kang Chan discreetly looked up at his house.
It still didn’t feel real that he was going to Mongolia. It could turn out to be an insane idea.
Kang Chan decided to think about just two things—that terrorist attacks were going to keep being carried out if they just left the enemies alone, and that abandoning their captured allies wasn’t something that a comrade who fought with them should do.
He took a taxi to the Sinsa station.
“I’m here!”
Seok Kang-Ho, who had been waiting for him, approached him. “There’s one place open over there. Let’s go.”
Kang Chan walked to where Seok Kang-Ho had pointed with a smirk. It was summer, but he still missed hot coffee in the morning.
“Did you sleep?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“We ordered chicken. What about you?”
“I made love to my wife because it could be the last time I see her.”
Kang Chan went into the smoking room with a soft smile, opened a window widely, and occupied a table. A moment later, Seok Kang-Ho brought over two cups of coffee.
“It’s still not too late.” Kang Chan reminded Seok Kang-Ho.
“Why do you keep spouting nonsense?”
We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google.
“Because I doubt either of us has fully realized what’s actually happening.”
“That’s tr—Agh! Hot!” Seok Kang-Ho yelled.
“Pull yourself together.”
Seok Kang-Ho rubbed his lips with the back of his hand, then looked into the coffee shop with dissatisfaction. “We’re going to feel better once we’re on the plane. I thought about it after making love to my wife, but I doubt I can endure staying back by myself. We’ve already decided to go, so stop saying things like that already.”
“Alright. I’ll stop.”
Seok Kang-Ho handed over a cigarette, smirking.
Chk chk.
“Whoo—Daye.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t trust a single part of this entire operation. The moment I think something’s even just a bit suspicious, I’ll start completely ignoring the basic operation. After the briefing inside the plane, we’re going to set up the final evac location in private. Keep that in mind.”
“Alright. I haven’t seen that look in your eyes in a long time. I’m glad I finally get to see it again,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.
The closer the time was to 3 am, the more real their departure for an operation felt.
Kang Chan slowly looked around his surroundings, finding light escaping from the occasional lit-up offices and apartments in the distance. He also watched the cars quickly driving past them.
‘I should’ve had pork cutlets.’
Kang Chan thought about Kang Dae-Kyung, Yoo Hye-Sook, Kim Mi-Young, and Michelle.
It had only been a short while, but quite a lot of things had already happened.
Kang Chan exhaled deeply. This felt completely different than when he was going over to France with not even a penny to his name.
He was in good physical condition—far better than when he was in Africa. He initially thought it was because his new body was still young, but it actually seemed related to how his regenerative capabilities had gotten better, like what Yoo Hun-Woo had said.
Fortunately, Seok Kang-Ho regularly exercised as well.
An hour passed by quickly. Soon, a black van stopped in front of the station.
“Let’s go,” Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho.
“Alright.”
The look in Seok Kang-Ho’s eyes changed completely to that of Dayeru’s.
Rattle.
When Kang Chan approached the van, its door opened.
“Please get in, Monsieur Kang,” an agent said while examining the van’s exterior.
They drove away as soon as the two got in the car and sat down.
At times like this, nothing had to be said. As Kang Chan was indifferently looking out the window, the van quickly sped through the road. They were so quick they arrived in Osan in thirty minutes.
When the driver, who was also an agent, presented his ID at the entrance, the door opened without anyone even examining what was inside the van. The van immediately headed into the runway and stopped in front of a plane. It was a C295, which was a cargo aircraft for military purposes[1].
The agent, who had been silent throughout the entire trip, finally spoke as he opened the door. “Good luck to both of you.”
Kang Chan smirked in response. He got out of the car and immediately boarded the cargo aircraft.
Unlike its cockpit, the C295’ fuselage was empty aside from two rows of rollaway beds on both sides of the wall.
The door of the airplane closed.
Twelve foreign legion members watched Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho while sitting in a line on the bottom row of rollaway beds. GĂ©rard sat at the very left. When the two sat on the bed that was on the other side of GĂ©rard, the plane’s propellers immediately began to spin.
“I knew it would be you!” GĂ©rard yelled to Kang Chan.
“What did you say?!”
“I said I knew you’d come here!” GĂ©rard repeated as the plane moved. He then glanced at Seok Kang-Ho, who was grinning and looked fascinated.
The military aircraft flew roughly for about ten minutes, maintaining its usual altitude, then the warning light flickered three times. GĂ©rard walked to the center of the aircraft and yelled, “look at his face! This person here is the commanding officer of this operation!”
“For the sake of convenience, we won’t reveal our names! His codename is
” GĂ©rard gave Kang Chan a dissatisfied glance, then continued, “the God of Blackfield! The person that came with him is—”
When GĂ©rard turned his head, Seok Kang-Ho answered with “Dayeru!” Kang Chan didn’t even have the time to stop him.
“Damn it!” GĂ©rard replied.
“Dayeru! What you should remember is that today’s operation is not an official operation! Anyone that wants to be excluded has until the plane lands to decide! Any questions?” GĂ©rard asked afterward.
The members didn’t say anything. They only looked at Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho, both of whom were sitting across from them with determined eyes. GĂ©rard then pointed to the back with his index and middle finger, and four members moved a box to the middle of the plane. The box was taller than a human.
Clank. Clank. Crrrrr.
After securing the wheels, a member opened both sides of the box’s doors. It contained military uniforms, military boots, firearms, and bayonets. The military uniform was yellowish in color and had no markings on it.
Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho wordlessly took out a military uniform and boots that fitted them. They took a rifle, pistol, bayonet, magazine, and bullets as well.
As they changed, GĂ©rard glanced at Kang Chan, whose scars were clearly visible because of the lights inside the plane.
Now wearing military uniform, Kang Chan fastened a bayonet Bowie knife[2] to his right foot and his left thigh. This type of combat knife became famous when it was shown in the movie Rambo.[3]
Toward the back of the Bowie knife’s blade was a jagged section. The inside the handle was a fishing line and three or four needles.
They then armed themselves with colt 1911s[4]. Kang Chan attached one to the right side of his waist and his left leg.
Clank.
Seemingly intent on not leaving any traces of the Foreign Legion, they equipped themselves with Colt 727 assault rifles[5], which was also known as the ‘Abu Dhabi carbine’ since it was essentially an M16 remodeled according to the United Arab Emirates’ wishes.
Kang Chan then attached six magazines to his sides, which went all the way to his back, and one on each of his forearms.
Click!
Finally, he fastened a magazine on his gun.
When Kang Chan lifted his gaze after arming himself, GĂ©rard, who looked dumbfounded, extended his hand.
Kang Chan took the beret from GĂ©rard and wore it with the right side slanted downward.
Click. Click.
Seok Kang-Ho was no different than Kang Chan. GĂ©rard handed over a beret with a dirty expression, and Seok Kang-Ho quickly grabbed and wore it. GĂ©rard kept glaring at Seok Kang-Ho.
“What?” Seok Kang-Ho asked in Korean.
GĂ©rard looked at Kang Chan suspiciously, then turned around. Kang Chan shook his head. The moment they got on the military aircraft, Seok Kang-Ho completely turned into Dayeru.
GĂ©rard got armed with the members. About twenty minutes later, they returned the box in the center of the aircraft to its original spot.
“At 7 am local time, we’re going to get off the aircraft at the Darkhan army base and ride a helicopter to the Onon river[6]! We expect to arrive by 8 am. We’ll cross the mountain from there to reach the area of operation. The trek should take us about six hours.” GĂ©rard explained.
The plan gave them time to conduct a reconnaissance and rest until dinner. After dinner, they’d be able to immediately proceed with a night operation. Hence, Kang Chan just agreed to it.
“What’s our evacuation plan?” Kang Chan asked.
“We’ll radio the headquarters after the operation, and they’ll immediately send a helicopter.”
Kang Chan cocked his head. They could easily get caught if they used a helicopter. However, he had no choice but to accept it for now. They still had approximately a full three hours left.
“Go up to your bed and sleep,” Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho afterward.
“The look in that fucker’s eyes is bothering me. It’ll give me a weird dream.”
“Why did you use that name as a code name in the first place?”
“It just came out. It’s cute to see a chick mimicking an eagle, though.”
“Stop talking nonsense and get some sleep.”
When Seok Kang-Ho received a look from Kang Chan, he laid down on a rollaway bed in the top row. After arming themselves, the Foreign Legion members also started to claim comfortable beds and lay down. The only people left sitting were Kang Chan, GĂ©rard, and a member that looked to be the youngest out of everyone.
Kang Chan took out a cigarette from the clothes that he had taken off and bit on it.
Chk chk.
“Whoo.”
The cigarette smoke swiftly flew toward the back.
Except for the two snipers, nobody else had heavy weapons. It was difficult for Kang Chan to determine their exact capabilities, but he liked that they didn’t have a daft look in their eyes.
1. This is a light cargo aircraft developed by CASA, a Spanish aerospace company. As of 2021, two hundred of them have been built, and it’s still in service. ☜
2. A bowie knife is a type of fixed-blade combat knife that’s popular with outdoor crowds. It’s used as a multi-purpose knife for hunting animals in modern times. ☜
3. Rambo is an American movie franchise centered around a series of films featuring John J. Rambo. ☜
4. The raws wrote this as colt 19 (윜튞 19), but the colt 1911, or the M1911 is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol ☜
5. The raws wrote this as the M727 carbine (M727 ìčŽëčˆ), an American assault carbine (long gun) developed in the 1980s. ☜
6. The raws had written this part as ì˜€ëĄ  (Oron), but this refers to the Onon river in Mongolia and Russia ☜