Chapter 132.2

Chapter 132.2

“Sir! What do we do?!”

The Chinese soldiers openly leered at her pale skin, prompting the interpreter to step in.

He looked exasperated by the team leader’s silence, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Seoryeong appreciated the interpreter’s anger on her behalf.

Even when the Beta Team members had collectively ignored her, he had been the one to swap out her meals and toss her a bandage when he saw her injured hand.

Looking back, he was always within her line of sight. Not out of lust, but there had been a steady gaze following her more often than not.

“That’s all the money they’re getting. Tell them they can just take her.”

“…What?”

“If they want the smuggled goods so badly, let them have her.”

“…!”

“Just get confirmation about our ship. That’s the only thing that matters.”

The team leader’s heavy, unreadable eyes locked onto Seoryeong.

One of her eyebrows twitched slightly.

She wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Even the team members, who had been standing still like statues, exchanged glances, blinking in disbelief.

“S-Sir. Are you really saying we should hand over Agent Han Seoryeong?”

“Do it.”

“…!”

“And you, interpreter, quit stalling and relay the message. Now.”

Seoryeong had once thought the team leader was at least fair. But now, she couldn’t read him at all.

As she stared at him, trying to decipher his thoughts, he strode toward her.

His eyes were dry and hollow like bark stripped of its life.

“That should be enough to cover the price.”

Seoryeong frowned as he lit a cigarette between his lips.

“I still don’t know why Sung Wookchan had to die.”

A face flashed through her mind.

Seong Wookchan? That guy is dead?

The unexpected news left her frozen. Apart from the faint hum of the ship’s engine, everything was eerily silent.

Seong Wookchan was the agent she fought with at the Blast Agency and the one who tried to s*xually harass her during the long, arduous training.

“I was his instructor. His father, in a way.” The team leader continued.

“…!”

“The moment they carried him in, bleeding out, I knew it was a sight I’d never forget. Both of his balls had been ripped off by a dog.”

A thick plume of smoke drifted from his lips.

“They said he watched the military dog eat his genitals. They told me it was an accident during training, but how the hell could I believe that? I’ve spent over thirty years in the military. I know punishment when I see it.”

Seoryeong remained silent.

“After that, he couldn’t even hear a dog barking without breaking into a fit. He ended up snapping the neck of a service dog himself. I had him admitted to the hospital, and the next day, they found him dead, his tongue ripped out. A death too humiliating to even speak of.”

Without taking more than a few drags, he crushed the cigarette under his boot.

The next moment, he leaned in, so close she could smell the acrid scent of tobacco on his breath.

“You filthy bitch. You knew all about it.”

“…!”

The team leader whispered the words before yanking Seoryeong by the hair and shoving her toward the Chinese soldiers.

“I don’t care who had it out for him. All that matters to me is that my boy is dead.”

“Ugh!”

As their eyes met, Seoryeong realized her plan had completely collapsed.

She staggered forward, only to be struck in the stomach. Before she could recover, a boot slammed down on her back, pressing her into the slick deck.

Her cheek ground against the wet surface as rough hands bound her arms behind her.

“Ngh! Let me go!”

They’re really selling me off? Like this?

A filthy hand wrenched her upright by the hair.

Had this been their plan from the start?

“Captain, no matter what, this is—!”

“Everyone, hold your positions!”

Some of the team members hesitated, but at the leader’s sharp command, they froze like statues.

“Some people only learn through experience. You all made a fuss over nothing because you’ve never met real rabid dogs. Well, now you’ll see what a real one looks like. My boy… he was probably kind to you.”

“…”

“I hope he died cursing you.”

Seoryeong was utterly confused. She hadn’t even known about Seong Wookchan’s death—let alone that she was being blamed for it.

With that, the team leader turned his back.

The interpreter lunged forward, trying to pull Seoryeong away, but the Chinese soldiers raised their rifles, forcing him to stop in his tracks. Lips pressed into a tight line, he turned red with fury, stomping on the deck in frustration.

Bound and surrounded by the stench of alcohol, Seoryeong was dragged off the cargo ship.

How had everything gone this wrong?

For the first time, the thought crossed her mind—had this all been a trap from the very beginning?

Then, from the ship, the interpreter shouted,

“Agent Han Seoryeong, hang on! No matter what, hold out!”

Where the hell is he?

Shouts and curses erupted behind her. Instinctively, she lifted her head—only for her chin to be caught in a rough grip.

“Ngh!”

But just before her head was forced back, she caught a glimpse of the interpreter furiously thumping his shoulder.

A signal? A warning?

Her narrowed eyes darkened with suspicion.

She had assumed his frustration was the reason for his erratic movements, but then suddenly, a faint glimmer reflected off a transparent lens.

Wait, was that an action camera?

Why the h*ll was he secretly wearing a camera?

The thought barely had time to settle before she was shoved onto the high-speed patrol boat emblazoned with the Five-Star Red Flag.

“Channa, do you know what the most dangerous enemy is on the open sea?”

Keeping her body low, Seoryeong quietly pulled a magazine from her pocket.

The original plan was for the cargo ship to be detained, leading to a standoff with the Chinese military. That confrontation would’ve brought in diplomats and intelligence agents from all over.

She wasn’t sure when she had stopped breathing, but the tight ache in her ribs made it clear she had. Still, as the cold seeped deep into her bones, her lips curled into a smirk.

After all, the only thing she had ever learned at sea, besides surviving brutal storms was this.

The moment they yanked her up by the hair, she snapped her eyes open.

“…”

‘You’re all getting taken hostage here.’