Sooho

Chapter 208: < Protect – Side Story – Logan’s Adventure [3] >

After the death of Cuba’s dictator, Castro, the cold relationship between America and Cuba loosened up, and the diplomatic mission was re-qualified.

America and Cuba were in a love-hate relationship.

The upper class of Cuba also knew that cutting ties with America completely was a dangerous thing to do. It might have seemed like America and Cuba were cut off for more than 40 years, but capitalist and communist societies needed each other. Having a strong enemy to compete against was useful for training and controlling the public.

“The reason for America’s downfall is simple. The absence of a strong opponent.”

The beginning of the 20th century was the Nazis and the Soviet Union. However, starting in the late 20th century, the American flag was hung all over the globe. Superpowers were a good thing. But going solo always led to internal conflicts.

Even with a divided region like the Korean peninsula, Asia was still lacking in power. Considering North Korea’s provocation and China, Russia, and Japan’s balance, East Asia was a powder keg like the Middle East. However, East Asia didn’t give headers on empty land like the Middle East. China was the latest to join, but in any case, the world was headed toward civilization.

Once the Cold War came to an end, the issue was the imperialized corporations. Imagine that England and France before the imperialism era spread out to hundreds of regions. Was there really a difference between the trading firms from back then and the global corporations of now? They were both the same.

“Those with ambition all made their own countries grow.”

Only the commoners put great meaning in the word “nation”. Those with power all hung flags of their own.

“Patrick Holland... I remember him now.”

“He’s a small fry.”

“For a small fry, he climbed up quick. Profile.”

In response to Ahn Soo Ho’s request, Kosino put his profile up on the screen.

“His real name is Patrius. He’s from Greece and got a new name after immigrating to the States.”

“Was he born in Greece?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“No. He appeared out of the blue one day.”

“What about the deep web?”

“He’s clean.”

“There’s no way.”

The deep web consisted of all rumors that hadn’t been checked yet. It was easy to obtain information from it, but one couldn’t be 100% certain of them. In the end, one had to reveal the origin of the information, but the more harmful and dark it was to someone in power, the more money one had to pay for them.

The reason why retired agents were scary was because this kind of internet came about. If one could differentiate information that could be trusted from others, they could make good money in no time. It was a human instinct to want to have information that could be someone else’s weakness. In particular, if they could harm their competitor with it, they were more than willing to make deals with the devil.

“Was he a consultant?”

“He was in risk management.”

“With whom?”

“He works regularly for a politician who’s known for doing dirty deeds.”

“That’s dangerous.”

“You have to take a risk to obtain a reputation.”

“I didn’t do that.”

“But... you didn’t need to.”

Ahn Soo Ho didn’t suck up to those with power and influence. That kind of secret was bound to be revealed sooner or later.

“Do you know Holland Corporation’s nickname?”

“What is it?”

“Trash Journalists.”

“Trash Journalists?”

“Yes, Sir. They’re good at manipulating the press.”

“That’s a must if you’re working with politicians. So? What does Kenneth Burn’s murder case have to do with it?”

“Don’t you remember Star Fox?”

“Star Fox... Caroline... That’s right. Her surname was “Burn”, too. Caroline Burn. Then is Kenneth Burn...”

“He’s her son.”

“Oh.”

Ahn Soo Ho let out an exclamation. It was more out of pity than surprise.

“Isn’t it weird, Kosi?”

“Come to think of it, Kracek’s son died.”

“And for that reason, they sent the old man to Germany. Although... they ended up paying for that.”

Hector Garcia was being held by Roberto Aquilan for a few days now.

“This time, Caroline’s son died.”

“Are you thinking it wasn’t a coincidence?”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked in response.

“Who knows? Anyway, where’s Logan?”

“He’s probably...”

******

Once Logan got into Cuba, he moved alone.

He had been to Cuba many times with Ahn Soo Ho. So he didn’t need anyone to show him the way. Even if they were brokers, they were all competitors. Unless he was Ahn Soo Ho, it was hard to guarantee that no information would be leaked. If that was the case, it was most effective to move alone.

‘Cuba also has nuclear weapons.’

America and other powerful nations kept quiet about it, but many countries possessed nuclear weapons. But that didn’t mean they were fully armed. They just possessed some. After the Cold War, the new leader of the Soviet Union had rights to nuclear weapons. In the same way, Russia also had the power to fire nuclear weapons.

Today’s power food chain depended on rights to nuclear weapons. And they all had an interest in nuclear weapons. So the reason why they continued to only criticize North Korea was because they used nuclear weapons to negotiate on the table.

They couldn’t lay a finger on them during the Cold War because of the Soviet Union, but the reason why America continued to leave Cuba alone in the 21st century was because they needed commies. It wasn’t hard work for them to occupy Cuba and put an American flag on their soil.

So why didn’t they? Because they were a nation of nuclear weapons. No one believed that America wasn’t able to kill Castro. No one really knew what kind of deal was made, but what was for certain was that Cuba did a good job mediating between the Soviet Union and America.

“Logan.”

A few men wearing hoodies greeted Logan at the entrance of the slum.

“They called a bunch of thugs.”

“Thugs?”

“Yes, they’re a bunch of trash that’ll do anything for money. They don’t have much skill, but they have the numbers.”

He laughed internally at the broker. But since he couldn’t blatantly laugh at him, he just continued with a straight face.

“It’s that building over there. From the 1st floor to 4th floor are wanderers while from the 5th floor to the 7th floor are gangsters.”

“What’s our target?”

“The 8th floor. There are 9 of them and they received the supplies 6 hours ago. They’re armed with police weapons such as automatic guns.”

‘Are automatic guns considered police weapons?’

‘Maybe they are in Cuba.’

Logan handed over a thick wad of cash. The thickness of it hinted at being over 50,000 US dollars. The hooded men took the money and disappeared.

Logan got off the pick-up truck and unloaded the remaining goods. The goods that he unloaded from the overhead compartment using a machine was a robot that was being researched by the US military. The fighting robot resembling a crab was capable of moving while carrying 500 kilograms in weight.

Logan wore a suit that was fully bulletproofed. He wore a futuristic suit that looked like it was from a video game. The natives who couldn’t take their eyes off of the pick-up truck were startled and ran away after seeing Logan’s gun.

Logan had no intention of hiding.

‘Do you want a war?’

‘Then let’s do it.’

Whirrr-

The mini-gun started firing bullets out like crazy. The wanderers holding very old guns from World War II weren’t able to avoid the attack.

He made a beehive out of the lobby and walls.

Even the concrete and metal were destroyed. If that was the case, what would have happened to the bodies? The way human bodies blew in real-time was almost beautiful.

Logan didn’t feel guilty.

‘Am I becoming like my boss?’

‘If something’s off, shoot first.’

But Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t the type to teach anything in a friendly manner.

Whirrr-

The noise stopped. The 2000 bullets had all been shot. He carried the bag that was on the robot. He grabbed the light machine gun and pulled the charging handle.

Clack-

That sound always excited him. The reason why Logan and his underlings were single might have been because they loved guns more than their girlfriends.

He didn’t shoot the ones that screamed and ran away. It was hard work getting to the 8th floor via stairs. When a man charged toward him, he pulled the trigger.

Bang, bang, bang- bang-

By the time Logan got to the 6th floor, he had already used 700 of his bullets. He then took off his bag and gun. The pick-up truck was probably already stolen, and it only took 10 minutes for the robot and mini-gun to dismantle.

Then what about the light machine gun and bullets?

It didn’t take long for them to disappear. Logan took off his expensive bulletproof suit. It was so well-made that it wasn’t hard to put on or take off.

Ahn Soo Ho’s troops were skilled, but they were also supported with lots of money. Were old weapons better or were new weapons better? The answer was neither. Expensive weapons were the best.

Of course, training wasn’t all about shooting. Since all guns were different, they needed skill. For example, not all makeup was the same either.

There were guns that suited certain people more than others. Just like his sister, Rosaline, Logan liked shotguns. It wasn’t best for battlefields, but there was something charming about shotguns.

Bang-

Just like right now.

Along with the gun’s noise, a person flew off. A 12 gauge was capable of making one person fly off. But that didn’t mean they unrealistically flew countless meters either.

Bang, bang-

The internal wooden walls all tumbled down. Were they really thugs? In contrast to the wanderers downstairs, they did attempt some resistance, but seeing how they popped their heads out too easily, they must have been stupid.

Clack-

He used up all of his bullets. Logan disposed of his shotgun and took out his automatic gun and got to the 8th floor. But the building suddenly went silent. That was because they surrendered.

As soon as Logan got to the 8th floor, everything looked different. The nine that were the targets didn’t hide. And they greeted him with friendly gestures.

“Mr. Logan.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“We want to negotiate.”

“What?”

“We’ll let the hostages go if you guarantee our safety.”

“If you want to negotiate, why did you hire thugs?”

Logan clicked his tongue and then flinched. They were being friendly, but that didn’t mean they disarmed. Some of them looked like they were ready to shoot.

“What about the contract?”

“Life is more important than any contract.”

“You bastards better not enter the battlefield.”

Contracts were sacred for mercenaries. It was against the rules to go against a contract just to survive.

“Where’s the kid?”

In response, another guy brought Hannah. The girl holding a stuffed bear didn’t seem to be hurt.

“Then I guess the deal has been...”

The man couldn’t finish his sentence and fell over backward. That was because he was shot in the head.

Bang, bang, bang, bang-

9 bullets.

If there was a contest for how fast one could shoot, he would win. Logan opened his arms and Hannah ran into them with her stuffed her bear. As he hugged her, he looked down at his 9th target, who was still alive.

He sometimes missed his targets, unlike Ahn Soo Ho.

Since he was human, he made mistakes.

It was his boss that was weird.

“Ugh, ugh...”

He grabbed his shot throat and looked up at Logan. His eyes asked a question.

‘Why didn’t you agree to negotiate with us?’

Logan took out his gun and turned so that Hannah wouldn’t see.

“It’s not just America that’s like that, my friend. We don’t negotiate with those that mess with us either.”

“Ugh!”

He tried to say something, but Logan pulled the trigger before that.

Bang-

He then turned around and mumbled.

“There’s nothing unfair about this.”

This was the start of the hell colleague reunion.

‘Hell homecoming!’

< Protect – Logan’s Adventure [3] > The end.