Ma Seok-do's side didn't come up completely empty-handed.
Although they failed to capture Ichida and his Yakuza associates, they did round up several local Korean dealers responsible for distributing HYPER nationwide.
Among them?
The very same red-haired punk from Fatty's photo—the one drinking with Ichida.
A little encouragement later, and he gave up Ichida's location.
A hotel in Seongbuk District.
Ma Seok-do was already en route with his team.
Meanwhile, Jack tailed Zhou Xingzhe's car from a safe distance, relying on GPS tracking rather than keeping him in direct sight.
Coincidentally, Zhou's direction also pointed toward Seongbuk.
To play it safe, Jack called Prosecutor Kim Joon-ho.
He left out the part about illegally wiretapping Zhou's phone and instead framed it as a concern.
"I have reason to believe Captain Zhou Xingzhe from Geumcheon's Narcotics Unit is involved in something shady," Jack explained, "and given the nature of the case, he might cross paths with Ma Seok-do."
For Kim, this was barely an inconvenience.
As a prosecutor, he had full authority to order a police department to cooperate with investigations.
But Jack's courtesy—giving him a heads-up—won him some favor.
Kim, of course, had no idea that the polite, cooperative FBI agent was secretly planning a double-cross.
Unfortunately, neither Jack nor Zhou made it in time.
By the time they arrived, the hotel was already swarming with police.
Paramedics wheeled out two bodies.
Jack waited until Zhou Xingzhe left before pulling up.
He lowered his window and looked at Ma Seok-do—who was walking with a slight limp, pressing a hand against his ribs.
"What the hell happened?" Jack asked, genuinely surprised.
He had not expected anyone to be capable of beating Seok-do up like this.
Just how many guys did they fight?
"Probably the hitmen from Japan you mentioned," replied Hwang Dong-gyun, holding an ice pack to his bruised jaw.
Jack frowned. "Ichida's dead?"
Seok-do pulled a pained expression, rubbing his ribs. "Taken."
"We ran into them in the basement parking lot."
Jack glanced around.
Seeing that none of Zhou's men were nearby, he got out of the car to help Seok-do—but the guy was fine.
Aside from some bruising, he was basically untouched.
A damn tank in human form.
Jack shook his head. "You guys went alone?"
"The rest were dealing with the guys we caught at the bar. Once we got Ichida's location, we rushed over."
They explained the sequence of events:
When they arrived, Ichida was already in the hands of the Japanese hitmen.
They had just reached the parking garage when Seok-do spotted him—badly beaten—in the back of a car.
Before he could react, Hwang Dong-gyun slammed the SUV into reverse and blocked the exit.
Unfortunately…
Their Hyundai Palisade got totaled by the Yakuza's Mercedes G-Wagon.
A full-blown fight broke out.
Seok-do wrecked several guys.
Hwang?
Hwang got wrecked.
In the chaos, Ichida tried to escape—only to get stabbed in the waist and dragged back.
Seok-do was about to rush in—
Then he saw a second G-Wagon barreling toward Hwang Dong-gyun.
He barely had time to shove his partner out of the way before getting bodied by the car.
While Seok-do picked himself off the ground, the Yakuza escaped.
Jack shook his head in disbelief.
If Seok-do had even one competent teammate, this case would already be solved.
Seok-do changed the topic, nodding toward Jack's passenger seat.
"What's with the girl? Isn't she Jang Tae-soo's sister-in-law?"
Jack sighed and recounted his own events—how he had tracked Zhou Xingzhe, the Taiwanese gangsters, and the botched deal.
He then pulled up to an apartment complex, where Jang Tae-soo and his wife were waiting.
The moment they saw Jack bridal carrying a wasted Park Min-young out of the car, Jang Tae-soo's expression froze.
"She didn't cause you any trouble, did she?" he asked.
Jack set her down, letting them take over.
"She seemed upset about something. Had a bit too much to drink."
Park Min-young stirred as the cold air hit her.
Still half-conscious, she clung to Jack's sleeve and slurred,
"Get me America's aircraft carriers. If I unify Korea, I can bring him back…"
Jang's wife smacked the back of her head.
"You brat! You're embarrassing us in public!"
Jang laughed, rubbing his forehead.
"I was wondering why she's been so quiet lately. Guess it finally caught up to her."
His wife grumbled, "Just throw her away. Or better yet, let Jack take her to the U.S. as a maid."
Jang snorted. "Maid? She can't even cook. He'd probably end up serving her."
As they bickered, Jack just stood there—utterly amused.
Watching them drag her inside, he shook his head and waved them off.
—
Back in the car, Hwang Dong-gyun showed Jack a new security cam clip.
It was footage from the hotel corridor.
Ichida and his two men had been ambushed.
The leader?
A bearded Japanese man.
Jack squinted.
This guy looked uncannily like John Wick.
Seven hitmen blocked the hallway.
There was no audio, but the footage showed brutal efficiency.
Ichida's bodyguards were stabbed to death in seconds.
Then the bearded hitman searched Ichida's travel bag.
He found a stack of Korean won.
And he was pissed.
Jack frowned.
"Ichida wasn't carrying the HYPER."
Seok-do's eyes lit up. "You think the Yakuza wants it too?"
Jack nodded, pulling up a report Alice had just sent.
"I think I figured out how Ichida got his hands on that 30 kg."
Originally, HYPER was made with high-purity cocaine from Japan.
The first victim's toxicology report, however, showed something different.
"The usual HYPER contains high amounts of cocaine." Jack explained. "But this new batch had way less—and a lot more fentanyl."
"Fentanyl is stronger, but way deadlier."
Hwang Dong-gyun connected the dots.
"So… Ichida replaced the cocaine with fentanyl to stretch his supply?"
Jack shook his head.
"Not just Ichida. Remember two years ago—when Zhou Xingzhe took down the White Shark gang?"
Seok-do frowned. "Yeah. That's how he got promoted."
Jack leaned back.
"And how much HYPER did he seize?"
Hwang froze.
"Not much… Less than 10 kg…"
Jack smirked.
"Exactly. What if Zhou never handed it over? What if he secretly kept it—and gave it to Ichida?"
Hwang inhaled sharply.
"They pretended it was freshly made—while skimming raw materials from Ichijo-gumi."
Jack nodded.
"All they needed was cheap fentanyl—mix it in, and suddenly they've got way more product."
Hwang clenched his fist.
"…And if that idiot Ichida hadn't been ratted out, their plan would've worked."
Seok-do blinked.
Then clapped his hands together.
"Okay. So everybody is after that 30 kg, right?"
Jack and Hwang nodded.
Seok-do grinned.
"Then we just need to find it first and arrest everyone."
Jack chuckled.
"Sounds simple when you put it that way."
______
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