Chapter 30.1

Chapter 30.1

“You have the qualities, but you lack faith.”

Faith? What for? Seoryeong furrowed her brows, faintly wrinkling her forehead.

She no longer trusted people, and she trusted even less in things unseen.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept the kidnapping request involving a National Intelligence Service officer,” she stated firmly.

“…!”

“The money brought in by the Special Security Team from outside is already sufficient. What good would it do to risk getting involved with the National Intelligence Service unnecessarily?”

“….”

“But I can still help. If you need the Special Security Team with another matter.”

Wasn’t this just a polite refusal? Somehow, the subtle playfulness made her feel uneasy.

Rising from his seat, Chief Kang moved towards the door.

“When do you think that arm will heal?”

“It’s not a nerve injury, so once the stitches are removed, it should be fine.” She assured him.

“Two months.” He said.

“Pardon?”

“Focus on your treatment and rest for two months.”

Wait…! That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for. So, how exactly are you going to help me?

Was he just pretending to offer assistance? Somehow, the plausible assumption made her blood boil.

If she had known, she would have just asked to be reinstated at the company… She regretted her unsuitable response.

“Then make sure to receive proper treatment to prevent any further relapses. I’ll send you a cheerful orchid as a get-well gift, so I hope you’ll accept it with joy. With that, you should be able to achieve everything you desire.”

Though his words were significant, Seoryeong felt disappointed for not receiving a definite promise.

But a few days later, along with a small orchid bud, a strange pamphlet document arrived via courier.

Unwrapping the gift, Seoryeong couldn’t help but be astonished by the chilling implications hidden within Chief Kang’s seemingly innocent gesture.

—

<BLAST New Recruit 10-Week Basic Training Program>

It was an ominous invitation.

* * *

African police trainees sat on the dirt floor, gasping for breath under the scorching African sun. The sweat-soaked clothes clung heavily to their skin.

“Then we’ll meet again after a 10-minute break,” Lee Wooshin instructed the exhausted regular African police officers sprawled on the ground.

The Special Security Team had encountered an unexpected setback due to He Channa’s sudden departure. Contracts that were in preparation were postponed or canceled, leaving an unexpected gap in the schedule.

At that moment, Nigeria requested anti-terror training, and BLAST sent the stalled Special Security Team.

Currently, Nigeria is plagued by ‘Boko Haram,’ an Islamic extremist group and terrorist organization, with a series of large-scale student kidnappings occurring one after another.

Ultimately, the Nigerian government entrusted BLAST with hostage rescue and protection training for their police force.

Regular military training programs were one of the company’s biggest businesses, and the destination being Africa was also crucial.

Recently, Africa has become the battleground for overt clashes between the United States and China.

BLAST believed there was money where there was a new Cold War. In fact, other countries’ PMCs had been receiving mining rights in Africa as advance payments.

So, it wasn’t strange that BLAST had set its sights on Africa. South Korea’s private military companies were cheaper compared to those in the Western world, yet they provided excellent service, making them highly competitive. It was a venture worth trying.

Lee Wooshin entered the operations camp and habitually chewed on ice. After repeatedly traveling abroad, mostly to tropical climates, he had become accustomed to preventing dehydration.

Despite delving deep into BLAST’s murky contracts, and with Africa being the sole focus, the cursed voice of Na Wonchang, who would always say, “Oh… Team leader, you must be… exhausted…” seemed to echo in his ears.

Lee Wooshin folded his lanky frame onto the narrow sofa, chasing the clouds drifting outside the window. His bored gaze scanned the sky without knowing what he was looking for in the clouds.

“Screw it, damn it!”

At that moment, a team member who had been staring intently at the computer monitor from inside suddenly jumped up. The heads of the other team members, who had been resting, all turned towards him.

Jin Hojae, a former UDT member who inadvertently cursed, anxiously glanced at the team leader, who was lying down in the shade once again.

“Team leader, have you seen the new official letter?”

“I’m not interested.”