Sooho

Chapter 204: < Protect – Episode 203 – Sim City [3] >

The couple had no reason to come up with a Honeymoon destination after the wedding. That was because Hawaii was the dream destination for most newlyweds.

“I feel like I’m getting fat.”

“Of course. You’re eating and sleeping for two now.”

“You’re right.”

In response to Jang Seol Hyun’s venting while enjoying a brunch made Ahn Soo Ho smirk. The private beach was no longer bustling with people. The private land that he bought for cheap originally belonged to a famous businessman from Hawaii, but after remarrying with a 20-year-old, he suddenly died leaving her with the land.

Even if age was just a number, wasn’t a 60-year difference too much? Was it real love? It was 99.9% not likely. The American mindset was pretty open, but everyone had the same kind of common sense.

The employee that Jang Seol Hyun found awkward at first became more accepted. Most hired hands in Korea were housemaids, but that was actually a real occupation. But there were differences from place to place.

“I feel like I’m getting even fatter because I’m not moving around.”

“Shall we walk?”

Ahn Soo Ho now understood the context.

Women rarely said it how it was. Rather than asking for something, they gave hints so that the other person would find out on their own. It was tiring, but what could one do? He just had to catch on quickly.

Ahn Soo Ho’s memory was highly developed. No one could call him a dating rookie anymore. He now had the confidence to walk along Waikiki Beach and win over some ladies.

‘It’s too late for that now though.’

He might have renounced his citizenship, but he couldn’t get rid of his Korean mindset. In terms of language and beliefs, he was still Korean. Ahn Soo Ho held Jang Seol Hyun’s hand and walked down the beach. If they had a dog with them, that would have looked like a real American drama.

“Soo Ho, are you not going back to Korea?”

Jang Seol Hyun spoke carefully.

Ahn Soo ho realized that she was also in a tough situation. Before he got married, the hyenas were after Mrs. Park Ok Nam and Lee So Hye, but now, it was Jang Seol Hyun.

And by hyenas, he was referring to the government workers and politicians of Korea. They would probably think that it would be easier harassing Jang Seol Hyun or her family from now on. But that would be underestimating him. He already set up a surveillance system. Kosino was a bitch, but she was good at her job.

“Why wouldn’t I go back? I can go back whenever I want to.”

“Right?”

“Is it because of the baby?”

“Hmm. I’ll be honest. Yeah, it is.”

They didn’t know the gender of Soo Ho Junior. He could have used his magic to find out, but he wanted it to be a surprise. As much as the media showed interest in Jang Seol Hyun, they focused on Soo Ho Junior as well.

178 trillion won in wealth! Woot! A third-generation heir!

A silver spoon? A diamond spoon? Ha! It’s God spoon generation now!

That’s not the focus! The biggest asset is the father’s connections!

Korea’s future will depend on Hosoo Group’s descendants!

They had a lot to say about a baby that wasn’t born yet. In that sense, Ahn Soo Ho felt sorry for the baby. There was no way to give the baby a normal life. It wouldn’t be easy for the baby to ever make true friends either.

“I’ll take care of my nationality before the baby is born.”

“How?”

“I’m working on it. So wait a little longer.”

Ahn Soo Ho used his “don’t you trust me” card again. After returning from their walk along the beach, a group of Korea’s most beautiful actresses including Jung Ah Young was waiting. They chatted as soon as they arrived so Ahn Soo Ho escaped to his study.

The study wasn’t just for reading. He noticed a hammock hanging in between two pillars. He laid down.

‘I hope the old man behaves.’

Hector Garcia showed stronger will than ever. He might have thought that he had the power to flip the world upside down. And he was half right. He was capable of doing that. But it wasn’t going to last very long.

‘Mankind isn’t stupid.’

Mankind was stupid, but it wasn’t that stupid. It was contradictory, but looking back on history, mankind managed to get through all sorts of hardships. If they were truly foolish, they would have already gone extinct.

Vrrr-

Ahn Soo Ho reached for his vibrating phone. The phone flew into his hand like magic.

“Hey.”

“There’s a problem, Soo Ho.”

There was always a problem.

“What is it?”

“Aquilan caught Mr. Garcia at Frankfurt Airport.”

“Was he trying to use civilian aviation?”

“No, Sir. It was a private jet provided by Chairman Ginter.”

“What about the German police?”

“He doesn’t seem to be aware. I think Aquilan was acting alone.”

“What about lawyers?”

“Some came out from the law firm that signed with Mr. Garcia.”

“Then keep an eye on them for now.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Roberto Aquilan’s way of never giving up was praiseworthy. Since Hector Garcia wasn’t a rookie, he probably had many ways to escape. The old man had many people of his own.

After hanging up, Ahn Soo Ho closed his eyes again, but his moment of silence didn’t last long. A bunch of troublemakers came running down and opened the door.

“Soo Ho! Soo Ho!”

“Oof!”

He groaned at Lee So Hye’s tackle. How was he supposed to send off such a 20-year-old man off to get married? The fact that he thought this way meant he was becoming a middle-aged man.

‘Age doesn’t lie.’

38 wasn’t that old, but Ahn Soo Ho remembered much more than those 38 years through the afterlife. He was known as an old man since 30 years ago.

“What?”

“I want to perform!”

“What?”

“I want to perform in Hawaii!”

What kind of nonsense was this? He brought her here to rest, but she wanted to work instead.

“Are you tired of having fun?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“I want to give a benefit performance.”

Ahn Soo Ho lifted his head. He then met eyes with Ahn Da Sol on the couch.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“Hawaii isn’t a rich region.”

“I know that. And?”

“It was sad seeing the kids working hard on the coffee farms.”

“Oh.”

All countries and cities had gaps. If a place had rich people, there were also poor people as well. If a place had kind people, there were also bad people there as well. In capitalist societies, the gap between the rich and the poor was like two sides of the coin. The two came hand in hand.

There were slums in Hawaii as well.

It was possible that this place had the clearest light and darkness. Washington D.C. had a tendency to respect American Indians while looking down on the natives of Hawaii.

Despite that fact, Hawaii possessed superior military power, and that was because the States’ Pacific Command was located in Hawaii. And surprisingly, the governor held substantial influence over the Pacific Command.

Of course, the natives of Hawaii hated foreigners more than mainlanders. Some of the groups even protested to no longer be a part of America. Hawaii was the only region that had no connection to the American sentiments portrayed in American shows and movies.

“You went to the native protection region, didn’t you?”

“They weren’t protecting anybody there.”

“They’re treated very differently from the American Indians.”

“Is it because they protest a lot?”

“That, too... It’s also because there’s very few of them.”

The reason why American politicians ignored Hawaii was because there was nothing to talk about. They all would have visited if it was California holding the protests, but not Hawaii.

But Hawaii was still an important region for America’s big strategy.

“What are you talking about?”

Emily looked confused at their complicated conversation. Ahn Da Sol just realized it. They were at an age where they just wanted to have fun.

Ahn Soo Ho changed the subject.

“What about you?”

“Aren’t you going to go back home?”

“There’s no reason to.”

Emily stretched on the couch and revealed the sports bra underneath that looked like it was going to explode. She was doing it on purpose. Rachel was in charge of having sexy charisma, but all three except for Lee So Hye were sexy.

‘Sorry, So Hye.’

She was his little sister, but he couldn’t shield her.

As soon as Emily posed in a sex way, Rachel showed off her charms, and if Ahn Da Sol covered up her black-eye she didn’t look so bad either. They weren’t trying to seduce anyone. They were just trying to compete to see who was the most attractive.

They assumed that if he found them attractive, the rest of the world would, too. They had bodies of adults, but they were still children. There was even a study proving that the reason why young women fell for affairs so much was because they felt great satisfaction from being acknowledged by successful middle-aged men.

They didn’t participate in affairs out of love. They did it because they enjoyed the thrill of it. In other words, they were narcissists. It was hard to have an affair with someone who loved themselves too much, but their self-destructive was a part of their narcissism.

Did the young woman who married the old man that died seduce him because she loved herself too much?

‘She was able to live an easy life if she got the old man’s fortune.’

It would result in getting cussed at by others, but who cares? Narcissists didn’t care what other people said, anyway. Egoists and narcissists might have meant the same thing.

“I’ll talk to the one in charge, so do whatever you want.”

“Thank you!”

Lee So Hye kissed Ahn Soo Ho on the cheek and then ran off with the other girls. Young kids were hectic. Once the study grew silent again, an unwelcomed guest paid him a visit.

Since he didn’t use the door to enter, he was unwelcome. Michel must have wanted to look cool, but Ahn Soo Ho just thought of him as a religious lunatic.

“The Heavens are...”

“If you say one more word, I’ll send you to the moon.”

He shut Michel’s mouth in an instant. Send him off to the moon? That wasn’t hard at all. All he had to do was use his magic to throw him 500 kilometers into the air.

“Why did you sneak in like a cat?”

“I began to produce scriptures.”

Ahn Soo Ho sighed.

Seeing how he was still out of his mind after getting beat up, he was a lunatic with no answers. It was easy to kill him. However, if the crazy members following the crazy head were freed, the world was going to suffer under a bunch of crazy people. He didn’t care if the world suffered or not, but he didn’t want any of it to negatively affect him.

Issac’s subordinates were gloomy and logical, while Michel’s subordinates were crazy religious. They were strong believers that were willing to kill anyone for their faith. No one wanted them as enemies.

“Godship isn’t something that arises from someone’s support. Stop acting like a cult.”

There was no hope for Christianity and Muslim. They held on to religion even after failing so many times. It was hard for him to understand Michel.

“I never forced it upon anyone.”

“So it’s voluntary?”

“We had been waiting for God’s word... for a very long time. We’ve been looking for a clue to the truth.”

He didn’t want to admit it, but what made human civilization flourish was religion. The lunatics’ attempt resulted in big sacrifices, but it also urged them to make big discoveries for the generation.

Michel suddenly went down on his knees.

As if he was a believer being baptized.

He was able to kick him out right then and there, but he just went along with it.

“Do you want the truth, Michel?”

‘Yes!’

Michel answered with his eyes.

‘Maybe this will be useful...’

Besides Sinclair and Heritage that nourished the black market all over the world, which bank was the biggest? Bank of China? Bank of America? City Group? JP Morgan Chase? China Bank? Standard Chartered? HSBC Holdings?

No.

With scale put aside, the bank with the most funding liquidity in the world was Vatican Bank. According to financial experts, they reported little profits every year, but the funds that they actually worked with every year were 100 times that.

Since Vatican Bank’s business records were unrevealed, they were unable to find any evidence or go into an investigation.

And messing with the Catholic church was like suicide for government workers and politicians in Italy. The only ones that ever reported the Vatican after World War II were the leftists of France.

“I’m aware that everything you did was for God...”

Ahn Soo Ho copied what the wizards of Anna-Anne’s world often chanted.

“You are blessed by the name of Anna-Anne Karusis.”

“Oh!”

Michel was touched. That was because he used his magic to alter the space a little.

And then light scattered.

Power was bound to be eaten up by a bigger power. He held onto the shoulder of the crying Michel and helped him up. He then whispered in his ear.

“Okay, time to build some houses.”

‘Go on and collect some cash.’

‘Korea’s protestants were geniuses.’

‘Gather! Give me money! Let’s build houses!’

******

Ahn Soo Ho made Michel’s believers work on the Emerald development plan of North Africa, and they successfully completed it. He had a feeling the wasteland was going to turn into beautiful mother nature in no time.

‘That’s the power of lunatics!’

All he had to do to control the believers was speak as God.

“I feel like I’m leading a cult.”

“It’s looking good, Soo Ho.”

Daniel smiled.

“How’s Korea?”

“Chaotic.”

“Are there a lot of mean comments?”

“There are some.”

“Report them.”

“Even with UN’s identity confirmation, you’re still a refugee by law. That means you can’t sue.”

“I’ll do it under my wife’s name.”

“Hm, I’ll look into it.”

Ahn Soo Ho let Hosoo Group’s entire legal team take a vacation. And he hired another law firm to take care of some urgent matters.

‘I feel bad enjoying my honeymoon all by myself.’

The legal team hadn’t gone home at a normal hour for a single day since they began. He paid them well, but Ahn Soo Ho didn’t think that meant he could treat them like slaves. People needed to have fun once in a while.

Due to Ahn Soo Ho’s wedding, Hosoo Entertainment Group was slacking off. It was fascinating that the company hadn’t gone down, but there was no special secret to it. He just needed to keep capable executives in charge like Oh Joo Kyung. Ahn Soo Ho normally harassed the executives more than the regular employees. Good companies had those in charge took responsibility.

While Jang Seol Hyun went to the hospital, Ahn Soo Ho went to downtown Honolulu. Other pregnant women wanted their husbands to follow them everywhere, but she didn’t want Ahn Soo Ho to do that.

“Here he comes. I’ll be going now.”

“Don’t go too far.”

The bulky man that passed Daniel who was leaving was wearing a vibrant Hawaiian shirt. He wasn’t black, yellow, or white. He almost looked like he was mixed between black and yellow.

“George.”

“Soo Ho!”

They greeted each other as if they were long-lost families.

“How’s your vacation going?”

“Hawaii... is Hawaii.”

Ahn Soo Ho had been to Hawaii over 200 times already. With all the times combined, he probably spent over a year there.

“Where’s your wife?”

“The hospital.”

“You didn’t go with her?”

“She didn’t want that. She said she wanted girls’ time or whatever.”

“Really? How unique. My wife threatened to divorce me if I didn’t go with her.”

“Come to think of it, how’s Lisa?”

Ahn Soo Ho remembered the little kid that was all over him every time he came to Hawaii.

“She’s in the mainland.”

“Oh, she’s a college student now, right? UCLA?”

“Yeah.”

“Good thing she didn’t go to an Ivey league.”

Just like how western America and Hawaii weren’t close, eastern America wasn’t close to western America either. If his daughter had gone to a school in the east, it would have been hard for him to see his daughter even once a year.

As soon as George sat down, he ordered fruit juice with alcohol in it. As soon as the drink came out, he chugged it.

“Phew.”

“What’s the point in quitting smoking if you’re drinking more now?”

“Haha. What can you do?”

Ahn Soo Ho stared at him.

“Why did you ask to meet?”

“Do you know Carles Borne?”

“No.”

“What about Koko Head-Butcher?”

“Butcher? Oh, Carles Borne. I remember now.”

KoKo Head-Butcher.

Names like that were often given to violent murderers. KoKo Head-Butcher stood for the murderer that committed serial murders on women in the Koko Head District of Hawaii.

“What about him?”

George answered by giving him a pile of documents. What Ahn Soo Ho saw first was photos of dead women.

“Five cases over the course of three months.”

“What about the FBI?”

“They’re having a hard time with it.”

“What about FIVE-O?”

He shrugged his shoulders in response.

FIVE-O

That was what many called old police officers, but not in Hawaii. The police officers of Hawaii were known for their exclusive organizational culture. In Hawaii, there were as many private detectives and security guard companies as the military and police. Hawaii was where the most missing cases took place in America.

“Apparently, he has the skills of an expert.”

“It’s not Carles Borne.”

“But the coroner...”

“No.”

George backed down in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s stern answer.

“You have proof, don’t you, Soo Ho?”

“I do.”

Ahn Soo Ho nodded.

“I killed him.”

“What?”

Ahn Soo Ho repeated himself.

“I said I killed him.”

“Ha!”

As a judge that led Hawaii’s prosecution, he was taken aback by his confession to murder.

“You told me to take care of him.”

“Well, yeah... But...”

Unless Carles Borne came back as a ghost, the culprit was someone else. Just like how Ahn Soo Ho’s reputation was 100% positive in the mercenary world, his reputation in the underworld was flawless.

There were probably some people who were better at killing than Ahn Soo Ho. But there was no perfect murderer that hid the evidence perfectly. The reason why Roberto Aquilan couldn’t charge Ahn Soo Ho after all his effort was a lack of evidence.

“Was it a copycat murder?”

“I’m not sure. It’s too detailed for that.”

Ahn Soo Ho knitted his brows at the photos. If they didn’t know Carles Borne was dead, they would have thought it was him.

“What a funny guy.”

“I’m about to die here.”

For George, he probably wanted to die after being faced with another murder case.

“I’ll work on it.”

“How much are you going to charge?”

“Just intensify the patrol around my house.”

He had more than enough guards, but it didn’t hurt to get closer to the governmental authority of Hawaii.

“Is that it?”

“Then what else? Can you afford to pay me on your salary?”

“Sorry.”

“Then stop the nonsense and give me more patrol.”

“Okay.”

It was comfortable to go around with the police. Ahn Soo Ho looked at his watch. It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

‘I want to end this before sundown.’

It took him 3 hours to catch KoKo-Head. After parting with George, Ahn Soo Ho took out his phone.

“Hey, it’s me. What do you want to have for dinner?”

He thought about buying dinner on his way home.

“Something spicy? Okay. What about chilly shrimp? Okay.”

It was time to make a stop at a Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant.

< Protect – Episode 203 – Sim City [3] > The end.