Jack slipped on his gloves and picked up the small revolver lying next to Zhou Xingzhe's corpse, along with the scattered bullets. After reloading, he walked over to the bloodied, gasping Hong Jie, her body twitching in agony. Without a word, he pulled the trigger four times.
Click. The fifth shot misfired.
"Next time, don't get into this filthy business," he muttered under his breath, watching as her lifeless eyes stared up at the night sky.
Stepping back, Jack surveyed the scene like a detective piecing together a case, ensuring nothing was out of place.
After making a full lap around the area, he turned to Braxton with an exasperated look. "Look at this mess. I was planning to let this bastard's corpse wash up on the shore in a few days, but now we're going to have to work to confirm his identity."
"What's the big deal? DNA testing exists."
Braxton casually kicked Zhou Xingzhe's mangled body over, then grabbed a cloth, dipping it in water to wipe down the Audi's trunk—now coated in brain matter. He also cleaned the Hummer's front bumper and windshield.
Since he was the one who hit the guy, it was only fair he cleaned up the mess. Thankfully, they weren't keeping the Hummer, so it didn't need to be too spotless—just enough to keep them moving.
Meanwhile, Ma Seok-do avoided the carnage and yanked two travel bags from the Audi's back seat. Opening them, even he was momentarily stunned.
The bags were stuffed with cash.
The top layers were stacked with 50,000-won notes, but underneath? Entire bundles of US dollars, with the bottom lined in gold bars.
"You sure you only want the Korean won?" Jack leaned in, raising a brow.
He hadn't expected a mere narcotics squad captain to amass this much money in just two years. The sheer amount of hard cash suggested Zhou had been planning his escape for quite some time.
At a glance, the bags held at least four to five million dollars, but most of it had already been converted into USD and gold. The remaining Korean won was barely two hundred million—roughly $150,000.
Ma Seok-do waved it off. "We still have the five billion won from earlier. Honestly, this is already too much. If we dump all of this on Captain Jeong's widow and kid, it might cause more problems than help."
"Easy fix. Set up an anonymous trust fund overseas, transfer the money to them in increments."
Jack shrugged, unconcerned.
"Then you handle it." Ma Seok-do, ever practical, shoved the bags toward Jack. A small-time cop like him had no interest in managing dirty money.
Jack didn't argue. Their deal had been clear from the start—he got the money, Ma Seok-do got the credit.
Still, he dug through the bags and pulled out the gold bars. "Keep these—consider them future wife money."
Gold was easy to stash, safer than a bank account, and immune to government investigations.
At the same time, Chris had finished counting the four suitcases of drug money.
Just as Jack had suspected—it was all in US dollars.
Total: $21.5 million.
They dumped it all into the Hummer.
With the real work done, it was time for Jack the Forensic Specialist to stage the crime scene.
The Taiwanese gangsters' bodies remained untouched.
Gasoline was poured over them—it would appear as if Zhou Xingzhe and his last loyal underling had heroically taken them down.
Jack then wiped their fingerprints onto both M16 rifles, ensuring they were on the triggers, magazines, and remaining bullets before carefully reassembling the guns and tossing them back onto the ground.
Finally, Zhou Xingzhe and his unfortunate sidekick were stuffed into the backseat of the Audi.
Then, Jack and his team drove both the Hummer and the Audi away from the scene, ensuring they wouldn't be found too soon.
Lastly, they carefully soaked the ground in gasoline, covering every area that had blood or… other biological remains.
"This is it?" Ma Seok-do frowned, feeling the setup was… a bit too obvious.
"Zhou Xingzhe knew he was about to be investigated. He tried to scam the Taiwanese traffickers with fake HYPER, got caught, and—since he was already prepared—killed them first. Then he burned the evidence, took the money, and fled the country by boat.
Any problems?"
Ma Seok-do hesitated.
"…And what about Lil' Fatty?" he finally asked, bluntly calling Jack out. "He was the one who called Zhou and told him where to find the drugs."
Jack smirked. "Why would he betray you? And didn't you notice—he used my phone to make the call?"
He lifted the phone he had just taken from Zhou Xingzhe's corpse.
"Go ahead, check with the telecom companies. I guarantee there won't be any record of my number in Zhou Xingzhe's call logs."
Hacking South Korea's telecom systems?
Alice had already taken care of that before they even started.
Ma Seok-do was momentarily speechless.
He opened his mouth to argue but… sighed instead. "Fine. As long as you're not planning to kill him, I'll make sure he keeps his mouth shut."
Jack chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.
"We don't kill innocent people.
But when the law fails to deliver justice, sometimes… extreme measures are necessary."
Chris, who had barely spoken all night, finally took out a cigar box and handed one to each of them.
After lighting up, Braxton casually flicked a lighter toward a gas-soaked cloth, tossing it onto the ground.
A second later—
FWOOSH!
The warehouse erupted into flames.
Dawn—Incheon Shoreline
Standing on the roadside, Ma Seok-do watched the Hummer and Audi drive off into the distance.
"Are they really U.S. soldiers?" he asked, curiosity piqued.
"They were," Jack admitted.
He recalled that both Chris and Braxton had served in the military—Chris even did time in a military prison.
"But I don't think either of them was in the Navy. That uniform? Just a disguise.
You know how it is—Korean cops don't mess with U.S. soldiers, let alone officers."
Ma Seok-do narrowed his eyes, playfully menacing.
"You know… I don't love this country, but if you keep talking like that, we might have trouble being friends."
Jack grinned.
"Okay, okay—my bad."
He adjusted his backpack and picked up a bag of quicklime and a shovel.
"That the place where Captain Jeong's body was found?"
"Yeah," Ma Seok-do muttered, his voice lower than before. He hefted two large bags of HYPER onto his shoulders.
They dug the pit in silence.
It wasn't a real beach—just a rocky shore where only die-hard fishermen occasionally visited.
At 4 AM, no one was around.
Jack worked the shovel. Ma Seok-do dumped the drugs.
"That deep enough?" Jack paused, wiping sweat from his brow. The horizon was already turning golden.
"Should be."
Ma Seok-do emptied the entire batch into the hole.
Jack stepped in, pouring quicklime over it.
Then, together, they emptied several bottles of water, triggering the chemical reaction—bubbles fizzed up, breaking down the pills.
Jack stirred the mix with his shovel, ensuring every trace was destroyed.
Then he collapsed onto the damp sand with a sigh.
"What time's high tide?"
"5:36 AM. Should be soon. The sea will take care of the rest."
Jack smirked.
"So… are we friends now?"
"You already said we were," Ma Seok-do grunted.
"So does that mean you'll take me to those fancy bars with K-pop idols?"
"That's chaebol territory. We'll be lucky if we can even flirt with the hostesses."
Jack grinned.
"Hey—I didn't insult your country this time."
"You sure you wanna talk about your looks?"
"Detective Ma… what was your second question again?"
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