GB 115

This time it wasn’t a lie or an act. Haero’s body moved faster than his thoughts. While struggling to break free, his shoulder was struck hard by the butt of an assault rifle. An indescribable pain instantly spread across his back. It was enough pain to suggest that his shoulder blade had at least cracked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make you follow soon. Hey, put him down.”The leader drew a pistol from her waist as she tried to calm her anger. “I’ll handle this myself. And I’ll deal with that bastard Dong In-hak with my own hands too. If I turn over his head, the military will back off.”

No. He couldn’t die here.

The operation was already halfway to success.

In truth, Haero was taking an even bigger gamble than Yoon Moo-hwa. He didn’t know how far they had come or if they were really coming at all. Even if they were coming, was the timing right? But he couldn’t just do nothing. Yoon Moo-hwa must have believed in him when he gouged out his eye and sent it.

Haero perked up his ears.

Having grown up practically abandoned in nature from a very young age, his senses were more developed than those of ordinary people. The adults should have been the same, but their hearing was somewhat dulled from years of listening to ship engines and too many gunshots.

Haero heard what sounded like waves breaking in the distance.

Breaking, bursting, crushing—it was definitely the sound of waves crashing.

The sound Haero had been waiting for.

Even if it was just a hallucination caused by jellyfish venom.

“Elephant’s Grave. You’ve brought me to an excellent location.”

“Putting on airs until the end. This is why I can’t stand military bastards.”

The pirates laughed, taking Haero’s murmur as pathetic last words. That’s when Haero seized the moment while they were focused on mocking him and lunged forward.

His direction wasn’t toward the elephant’s tail but toward the crown—the sloping head that led down to the sea.

“What the hell!”

Confused hands crossed paths, unsure whether to catch Haero as he willingly headed toward his death. Haero dodged those bar-like arms and rolled his body wildly. Curled up tightly with his nose covered, he took a deep breath.

Haero had thrown himself with such force that he was too fast to catch. Everyone pointing their guns in confusion, but the strong wind made aiming difficult. Plus, it was dark, and fog was rising from the sea like seaweed.

They descended onto naturally formed stepping stones. But that didn’t suddenly make the dark sea more visible, so they fired bullets indiscriminately.

Haero, with his eyes closed and his nose and mouth covered, was preparing to fall into the sea in the safest position possible, unaware of the gunfire.

And soon came an impact that felt like his entire body would shatter.

After hitting the water’s surface, Haero had to move immediately without time to endure the pain. The water was incredibly cold. Haero kept rubbing his chest as he moved forward. But his direction wasn’t toward the surface—it was toward the deep sea.

Slow noises continued. When Haero last looked, sea fog was just beginning to set in, so it shouldn’t have been difficult to see the sea yet. They must have been frantically scanning the surface with flashlights, but he couldn’t rise.

He descended. 

Slowed bullets frantically grazed past him diagonally as he kept going down.

Haero held his breath, looked at the surface, and then tightly closed his eyes as he saw another trajectory cutting through. Then he swam toward it.

The bullets, though slowed, were still not slow, and they rushed toward Haero.

“What happened?!”

The sea above was no different than usual.

There were no more stepping stones. They frantically shone flashlights at maximum brightness on the surface, but all they could see were waves. There wasn’t even a trace of bubbling oxygen in the indifferent flow.

“Hey! There it is, there!”

Someone pointed to a spot and illuminated it with a flashlight.

There, though difficult to identify in the darkness, was a distinctive color of liquid spreading—clearly suspected to be blood.

If he had been hit in a limb, he would float up. They waited breathlessly, but nothing rose to the surface even after exceeding the time they reasonably thought an injured person could endure.

They exchanged glances. Certainty filled their eyes. They muttered as if deflated, “Another one dead. What hostage exchange? Those navy bastards have no blood or tears.”

“Are we in any position to say that when we never intended to return him anyway?”

They roared with laughter as if someone had told an amusing joke. Yet they moved their feet diligently. It was that captain who couldn’t grasp reality who had a grudge against that pretty navy officer, not them.

Since they had to vacate the island by midnight to avoid being devoured by the sea, they didn’t want to waste time lingering in this area close to the surface.

As if they had merely discarded some trash, they climbed the stairs with bored steps, chattering about what they would do after relocating the island. They were people who didn’t care whether the leader and Dong In-hak fought or not, as long as they had a bed tonight and meals tomorrow.

One of the group, Salmo, following at the very end of the procession, suddenly turned his flashlight backward.

Though thin and timid, Salmo had excellent eyesight. He even had good night vision.

He stared at one spot as if he could see something.

“……”

But in the end, he never called out to anyone or suggested they check again. After hesitating a few times, he lowered his flashlight and hurried to catch up with the pirates who had moved ahead.

The moment the pirates had moved far enough that their flashlights could no longer illuminate the area, a face emerged with a splash from beneath the spreading blood.

Haero gasped with a pale face, short of breath.

Crashing waves and immense darkness. But he wasn’t afraid. Haero had clearly heard it—the gunfire that had begun from the opposite side of the island. 

✼✼✼ 

The objective was not grandiose but had to be realistic.

Yoon Moo-hwa’s goal was to rescue Haero, not to eradicate the pirates. That’s why he had waited until dark, even though every minute and second was agonizing.

They turned off all lights for blackout control, keeping only red lights for minimal necessary visibility. They divided into three teams using speedboats to surround the island, having hidden with engines off.

The side with the elephant-shaped cape was difficult to approach due to many reefs, but the opposite side was relatively gentle and easier. They approached using speedboats until the noise might give them away, then switched to rowing by hand. It was brutally hard work, but not one person complained.

Yoon Moo-hwa took charge of the western side, closest to the cape.

“The cape instead of the entrance? Why?”

“Because he’s likely to come there. No, he will appear there.” Yoon Moo-hwa answered firmly to those who questioned with confusion.

What he had planted was a GPS and vital signs transmitter, not some nonexistent telepathy device, yet somehow he felt certain. He had faith that they would know each other’s plans perfectly, as if he were Haero and Haero were him.

Even if their hearts had once missed each other.

No, even then, Haero probably vaguely understood his feelings.

Is this too much of a burden for that child? Despite being an adult himself.

Even while thinking about Haero, Yoon Moo-hwa launched a small rocket launcher.

The recoil was tremendous as he fired with one foot braced on the rubber boat. Without waiting for the rocking to subside, he immediately received and loaded the next shell.

The enemies would be in chaos from the small arms fire coming from all directions. They would need to set sail, but would be short on boats. The guard and attack vessels would be absent from the temporary harbor as they transported supplies and people to the next hideout.

Yoon Moo-hwa felt goosebumps on the back of his neck from the burning sensation spreading from his eye and the phantom pain he felt despite it being a mechanical eye. However, unlike these human reactions, his actions were extremely mechanical.

“Draw their attention this way.”

“Okay.”

A bushy-bearded mercenary who had spent time in the Sahara Desert answered while chewing his tobacco.

Meanwhile, Yoon Moo-hwa transferred to a high-speed rubber boat that was slightly smaller than the one they had arrived in but faster. Their team’s attack had been slightly delayed because of bringing this boat along.

“Will you be alright by yourself?”

“And if I’m not?”

“Then you die. I sent the advance payment, right?”

After hearing what hardly sounded like concern, Yoon Moo-hwa cut the rope connecting the two boats. “I’ve deposited enough to cover the hazard pay too, so check it when you get to Mallorca.”

“Mallorca! Nice!”

The mercenary whistled sharply and launched a drone into the sky. Though lacking the capabilities of a military drone, it resembled one enough to create the illusion that the non-existent fleet had arrived.

Yoon Moo-hwa headed toward the cape, leaving the battle behind. As soon as he was alone, his expression completely froze, released to its final limit. It was the expression of someone who would kill anyone who got in his way—no, someone who desperately hoped someone would get in his way. 

Low violence index. That assessment was wrong. It needed to be redone. It hadn’t considered the variables of the situation.

The margin, the variable, all of it was Haero.

And beyond margin and variable, Yoon Moo-hwa was feeling a strange heat.