Chapter 770: A Rainy Day at the Incheon Docks

A steady autumn rain fell on the Incheon docks.

There, members of the Heavenly Group were moving about busily.

“Hey! Hey! Be careful with that. It’s worth more than your life.”

“Boss, is this our first time doing this? Don’t worry and go inside to rest. Standing there makes it more awkward.”

A member taking items out of a container waved his hand dismissively at Kim Pan-soo who was nagging him.

“These bastards are complaining even when I worry about them!”

“Ah, Boss. Please, just go! Let us work.”

Those in Im Hwa-soo’s faction had a friendly atmosphere, more like a family than a strict hierarchy.

While working, they joked with each other, and laughter could be heard occasionally.

Kim Pan-soo watched his subordinates work for a while before moving.

He headed towards the eaves of the warehouse to avoid the rain, and placed a cigarette in his mouth.

“It’s almost winter and it’s raining like this, what a mess.”

He muttered while looking at the dark sky, exhaling thick smoke.

“What are you doing?”

Kim Pan-soo’s musings were completely shattered by the appearance of a man.

Turning towards the voice, he frowned as he recognized the owner.

“Ugh! I knew I had a bad feeling about my dream today.”

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing. What brings you here, Brother?”

Kim Pan-soo dropped his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out with his shoe.

“Did I come somewhere I shouldn’t? Why are you so on edge?”

“We’re not exactly on friendly terms, are we? Lee Deok-soo.”

Kim Pan-soo was uncomfortable around Lee Deok-soo. Lee Deok-soo’s expression wasn’t any better, as if sensing Kim Pan-soo’s feelings.

“Hey. Lower your eyes! Do you think you’re all that just because we were being nice? Where did your manners go?”

“Yeah, yeah. They were delicious, by the way. But this is our territory, why are you here? State your business.”

At Kim Pan-soo’s blunt retort, Lee Deok-soo seemed to bristle and spoke curtly.

“I heard some of our goods were mistakenly delivered here. I came to pick them up.”

“What? Is that some kind of novel nonsense? Why would your goods end up here?”

“Things happen. We should help each other. Just do me a favor.”

Although Lee Deok-soo used the word ‘favor,’ Kim Pan-soo felt uneasy.

“I don’t know about that, go get permission from Director Im Hwa-soo. How can I just hand over something when I don’t even know what it is?”

Kim Pan-soo’s stance was that he couldn’t carelessly hand over something when he didn’t even know what it was.

They exchanged similar words several times.

Despite repeated requests, Kim Pan-soo continued to refuse, and Lee Deok-soo’s short patience quickly reached its limit.

“This bastard…. Just because I said ‘favor’ doesn’t mean it actually is a favor. Hey, Hyuk-soo! Bring the guys.”

“Yes! Brother.”

A man standing like a shadow behind Lee Deok-soo ran towards a parked van.

At that action, Kim Pan-soo glared at Lee Deok-soo with a fierce look.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you think? Showing off our power.”

“This is our territory.”

“Fighting amongst ourselves, what a joke.”

More than ten men poured out of several vans.

At this, Kim Pan-soo’s subordinates stopped what they were doing and approached him.

“Please go back. If your goods were misplaced, we’ll find them and send them to you.”

“We need to take them today. So move. Or you’ll get hurt. I don’t want to see blood, so we’ll just quietly take the goods.”

“Please go back. This is my last warning, Brother.”

Kim Pan-soo’s lips curled into a sneer. Seeing that, Lee Deok-soo glared at him with wide eyes.

“This bastard. You’re laughing? You find this funny?”

“I can’t exactly cry, can I?”

Lee Deok-soo couldn’t hold back any longer and threw a punch at Kim Pan-soo.

Kim Pan-soo didn’t dodge the fist and was hit squarely, causing blood to trickle from his nose.

That was the signal as the men from both factions began to move at once.

It started as a simple fist fight, but as time passed, they began pulling out weapons.

“Die, you bastard!”

“Come on! Come on, you bastards!”

The area in front of the warehouse was a mess with the men entangled and blood flowing.

Shouts and screams drowned out the sound of the pouring rain.

“You started this, Brother. Today, either I kill you, or you kill me.”

Kim Pan-soo licked the blood from his nose, his tongue snaking up to his lip, before pulling a sashimi knife from his coat.

“Die, you bastard!”

The gleaming sashimi knife was swung straight at Lee Deok-soo.

“This, this bastard is crazy!”

Startled by the sharp blade coming towards him, Lee Deok-soo quickly twisted his body.

But he couldn’t avoid it completely, and the sashimi knife grazed Lee Deok-soo’s right forearm.

A few drops of blood scattered, but Kim Pan-soo didn’t stop, as if not satisfied.

“I’ve never liked you. You punk!”

Kim Pan-soo swung the sashimi knife like a madman, while Lee Deok-soo continued to dodge and shout.

“Are you trying to get us all killed! You crazy bastard!”

Lee Deok-soo couldn’t take it anymore and pulled out his own knife in response.

The sudden commotion even brought staff members from other warehouses to come help.

In the end, the simple brawl had turned into a full-blown fight.

Now, dozens of people were tangled together, shedding blood.

How much time had passed? Lee Deok-soo was stabbed in the thigh and fell to the ground.

Just as the fight was solidifying into a victory for Kim Pan-soo’s side, who had the numerical advantage, several vans suddenly entered the warehouse.

The men who got out of the vans were Yang Woo-guk’s subordinates who had come to support Lee Deok-soo.

“Hey! Get out! Get out! Kill them all!”

“Stop them! Stop them!”

The sudden reinforcements changed the atmosphere, and Kim Pan-soo was also stabbed in the abdomen and fell.

With Kim Pan-soo down, the fight ended in a victory for Yang Woo-guk’s side.

The door of a black sedan, which had arrived with the vans, opened and a man stepped out with his shoe.

Someone who exited from the passenger seat quickly opened an umbrella, covering the head of the man in the suit.

The man slowly walked towards the fallen Kim Pan-soo.

Kim Pan-soo was glaring at the man approaching him on his knees.

“Hey. Kim Pan-soo.”

The man playfully waved his hand with a smile.

“You should have just listened. Why did you have to act out like that? You’re badly hurt.”

“Director. Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know. Did we start it? You guys started it first.”

Speaking in a soft voice, the man positioned himself in front of Kim Pan-soo.

Without caring that his suit was getting wet, he bent down to meet Kim Pan-soo’s gaze. He glanced at Lee Deok-soo lying on the ground, and clicked his tongue.

“Why is Deok-soo lying there? Tsk.”

The man narrowed his brows and held out his hand.

“Hyuk-soo. Do you have the sashimi knife?”

One of the men grabbed the blade of the knife and handed it to the man.

“Director. You said there shouldn’t be any fatalities. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult to cover this up.”

“I know. Just shut up and watch.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man took a step back, and the man waved the sashimi knife in front of Kim Pan-soo, who had collapsed.

“Pan-soo. Do you want to live?”

“······.”

“I’m asking you. Aren’t you going to answer? You want to live? Then beg. Then I’ll let you live.”

“······This won’t be the end of it.”

“If it’s not? We’ve all become too weak. Anyone and everyone is sticking to us now. Gangsters should be eating with knives, not doing what you’re doing in the sun… No wonder they are acting up. Don’t you think?”

“You will, you will regret this.”

The man stabbed the sashimi knife directly into Kim Pan-soo’s hand, which was holding the ground.

“Aaaah!”

“Where do you get off acting tough? You are just the beginning.”

Kim Pan-soo bit back his groans while glaring at the man.

“Should I gouge your eyes out? Lower your gaze!”

The man muttered with a chilling voice and then twisted the sashimi knife stuck in Kim Pan-soo’s hand.

“Aaaah!”

Kim Pan-soo screamed at the unbearable pain.

“Boss Pan-soo!”

The subordinates kneeling behind him tried to get up, but the other men kicked them back down.

Just then, several buses entered the warehouse area.

The men who got off the buses lined up on both sides, waiting for someone.

Chu Dong-bin stepped out of the last sedan to arrive.

He looked around, frowned, and then walked slowly forward.

“Jung Moo-yeol.”

Jung Moo-yeol, who had been squatting, got up and bowed slightly.

“Have you arrived, Vice Chairman?”

“What are you trying to do? How are you going to clean up this mess?”

“I’m sorry.”

There was no hint of respect in Jung Moo-yeol’s voice as he apologized.

At that action, Chu Dong-bin’s face hardened.

“Jung Moo-yeol. Do you want to die?”

“I didn’t hear you correctly, Vice Chairman.”

At that moment, Kim Ki-moon, who was standing behind Chu Dong-bin, stepped forward and pointed at Jung Moo-yeol.

“Jung Moo-yeol! Are you going to act like this?!”

“What did I do? I also came to help clean up.”

“Is this your territory? Why are you making a fuss in someone else’s territory?”

“What’s with all the territory talk amongst family? I rushed here as soon as I heard the news.”

Jung Moo-yeol answered nonchalantly. As Kim Ki-moon was about to say something, Chu Dong-bin raised his hand to stop him.

“Jung Moo-yeol.”

Chu Dong-bin called Jung Moo-yeol softly.

“What do you think you are? What makes you act like this?”

“······.”

Jung Moo-yeol did not answer.

“Ha, Ki-moon, clean this up for now. If the police come, things will get big.”

“Yes, Vice Chairman.”

Following Chu Dong-bin’s instructions, Kim Ki-moon began to organize the scene with the men.

“Clean up the wounded and send them to the hospital quickly. This must not be known outside. Understand?”

“Yes, Director.”

At Kim Ki-moon’s words, the men Chu Dong-bin brought moved in an orderly manner.

Chu Dong-bin watched for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Jung Moo-yeol. Did Yang Woo-guk tell you to do this?”

“Director, you are mistaken.”

“Is that so? Then I guess you can take all the responsibility for it.”

“No, why are you blaming us? It’s not like we started it….”

Jung Moo-yeol was protesting, when Chu Dong-bin punched him on the cheek.

Jung Moo-yeol’s head snapped to the side, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

It seemed he had bitten his tongue while speaking and being hit.

“Jung Moo-yeol. Who am I?”

“······.”

“It seems you really have no idea who you’re dealing with. Daring to talk back to me like that.”

Jung Moo-yeol did not answer, his lips pressed into a tight line.

“This matter will not be resolved quietly. Whether Yang Woo-guk ordered it, or it was your own independent action, it doesn’t matter. You broke the rules.”

“We······.”

“Who said you could open your mouth?”

“······.”

Chu Dong-bin glared at Jung Moo-yeol with cold eyes.

The steady rain was beginning to weaken.

* * *

After finishing breakfast and coming to my study, I saw Manager Ma standing at the door.

“Boss. There was a big fight between Heavenly Group employees at the Incheon docks early this morning.”

Manager Ma followed me into the study and reported.

I frowned and asked,

“A big fight?”

“Yes. They even used weapons, I heard.”

“Ha….”

Everyone’s lost their minds. I sat down, letting out a deep sigh.

“Let’s talk while sitting down. I already have a headache.”

I gestured as I massaged my throbbing forehead, and Manager Ma reported the details of what happened in the morning.

After hearing the whole story, my head throbbed even more.

“What about the police?”

“It seems someone pulled some strings. The police didn’t show up, even though nearby workers made reports.”

“So, it wasn’t a spontaneous clash.”

Manager Ma continued his report, offering me painkillers from his suit pocket.

“Fortunately, Chu Dong-bin arrived at the scene and resolved the situation.”

“Any deaths?”

“Many were seriously injured, but so far, there are no reported deaths.”

I swallowed the painkillers, sighing again.

It hasn’t been long since Yoo Sung-jin disappeared, and already this kind of thing is happening.

“Who is behind this?”

“It’s presumed to be Yang Woo-guk. Jung Moo-yeol, Yang Woo-guk’s right-hand man, was directly involved.”

“Did things like this happen when Chairman Yoo Sung-jin was around?”

“No. There were minor disputes, but most of them were mediated before they escalated.”

Hearing those words, I felt Yoo Sung-jin’s absence was substantial.

“Manager, please handle this. While I’m in Pyongyang, take care of everyone involved and set up a new plan.”

“Yes, Boss. How far should I go?”

I had decided to show everyone who was really in control with this opportunity.

“Throw all the executives involved in this into the sea…. No, just throw them alive to the dogs.”