Chapter 48: < Protect – Episode 47 – Audition [1] >

The Dresden file

In the information world, there was a story that was passed down until it became a legend. It was an unconfirmed rumor that there was an FBI director that used the weaknesses of powerful people to control the States. However, Ahn Soo had seen the Dresden file before. A file that a young girl reorganized. But of course, the young girl wasn’t actually a young girl.

Kumiko

He didn’t know her surname. People just called her the Accompanist.

“You must be crazy, Soo Ho. The Dresden file? That’s just a myth.”

“Henry. Relax.”

“The Dresden file? Are you serious?’

“Henry.”

The voice on the other line was going crazy.

“Calm down! You might get a heart attack.”

“Good God!”

Ahn Soo Ho’s efforts failed to calm him down. That was how serious the existence of the Dresden file was.

“Do you really have it?”

“No.”

“No?”

“But I know where it is.”

“Ha!”

Henry laughed as if there was no difference between the two.

“So you went on sabbatical so you can cause this trouble. If this gets out a lot of eyes will monitor you.”

“They already are.”

“I’m not kidding, Soo Ho! You’ll have ten times more eyes on you!”

“I can get out of it.”

“Then you’ll make them even angrier!”

Spy games might remind people of the Cold War between the States and the Soviet Union, but spy agents go way back before that.

“The Dresden file deals with the most sensitive cases from the 20th century, Soo Ho. If even one word of it gets out, the world will completely flip upside down. I don’t even want to think about the damage that would do.”

“You know a lot for someone who’s never seen it, Henry.”

“I’ve heard a lot about it. Fine… Did Hitler really commit suicide?”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked at Henry’s question.

“Are you curious?”

“Ahem! Pretend you didn’t hear that. Anyway, be careful. If the Accompanist is in on it, the rumors will spread quickly.”

After hanging up, he called over Logan with a hand gesture.

“Why did you call me to Japan?”

“Summon Alexa and the Koshino team.”

“Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be any missions for the time being?”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No.”

Logan enthusiastically shooked his head and hands.

“I just like South Korea, that’s all. I was fascinated by how comfortable I was about the fact that possession of firearms is illegal. This is my first time being so relaxed.”

Logan and his team truly let loose and enjoyed their time off in Korea. They normally would have rotated for emergency standby, but they didn’t feel the need. Since they could deal with punks that fling around knives and a piece of wood, all they had to worry about were con artists and gold diggers.

“What about the retraining?”

“Hire whoever you think is appropriate.”

The curriculum designed for Do Kyung Ho’s underlings would take place as planned. The day after Ahn Soo ho met with Kumiko, he went to a hostess bar. Japan’s localization didn’t discriminate against any fields. Cabarets used to be wholesome gatherings where art and performances were discussed, but once it came over to Japan, it changed and combined with the club culture to have a corrupted image.

A connection that shows how close Korea, China, and Japan was in the pleasure department. The three countries’ sex industries formed a very intimate relationship, and the order of development went from Japan to Korea to China. In conservative societies, sex-related business was avoided. However, what was contradicting was that the ones with the most power and money strongly sought out prostitution.

“It’s not like the old days. The appearance and numbers improved…but romance has disappeared. Capitalism makes the society convenient, but a little lonely.”

Yakuza’s got their name from “Japanese criminal organization”, and they had a very complicated composition of power. What was important was that people didn’t view Yakuza in a negative light. Necessary evil? The Japanese welcomed their own country’s criminal organizations more than any other country. There were countless movies, dramas, and comics about Yakuza, and they were still being mass produced to this day.

“Friendly criminals… That must have cost a lot of money.”

“They used the media. When it comes to the public, there’s no difference between criminals and politicians.”

“That’s some serious reasoning.”

“You know how it is. If it yields a good outcome, it’s acceptable in this world.”

The Yakuza image that was shown in movies and dramas was a hot-blooded and spirited man. They were cold yet humane, and their decadent vibes resonated with kids and young viewers who dreamt of tough men. However, the reality was much worse than that.

“Is your wife and kids doing well?”

“They’re so busy with lessons and whatnot that they have less time than I do. When we were little, we just ran around playing. Are you still single, Soo Ho?”

“I remember you brainwashing me about how marriage is like digging your own grave.”

“Sorry. I was having a hard time back then.”

Tokyo was full of criminal organizations, but there was only one at the top. Kawabuchi Kentaro was the third group leader who only managed areas of substance such as Ginza, Roppongi, Ebisu, and Shibuya.

“It doesn’t seem like you came here to play. Is it because of Navarros?”

“That, and another reason.”

“What is it?”

“I heard your finances aren’t doing so good.”

“It’s just a temporary problem.”

“I’m sure. But in order to regain your credit, it’ll take a really long time.”

Empire Konzern might look like a normal investment firm on the outside, but it was actually a lower branch of the Yakuza that laundered dirty money. Yakuza liked to camouflage their business in what looked legal, and in a country like Japan, that method worked well. However, the States was different. In contrast to Japan, where the ones in power kept on racking it in, the States put stress on thorough protocols.

“It’s impossible to get Empire’s funds back. You know that, right, Kentaro?”

“I know. But I can’t just give up on sixty billion dollars that easily.”

Empire Konzern followed a 99% legal business procedure with only 1% being illegal, while the States kept 1% a secret and put 99% on scapegoats.

“Yankees are serious sons of bitches. According to my lawyer, a whistleblower probably already gathered evidence, so it’ll be hard to get out of it.”

“Even if the head office is in the States, the major shareholder is Japanese. They probably see them as a foreign company that should be monitored.”

“How much of the taxes were give to them? This is why you should never associate with big nosed elephants.”

After Ahn Soo Ho accepted Kawabuchi Kentaro’s grumbling, he got straight to the point.

“I’ll compensate you.”

“Ha! The sixty billion dollars?”

“In return…”

Ahn Soo Ho’s condition made his butt stop shaking and gulp instead.

“Sign over all the shares related to Empire.”

“I’d like to, but frozen assets can’t be…”

Kawabuchi stopped talking in response to the note he was given.

“Shawn Roland? That banker?”

“But there will be fees. You know that, right?”

Trading goods for cash came at a high fee, but it was better than being penniless. Kawabuchi excused himself and took out his phone. He couldn’t make the decision on his own. A few minutes later, he returned with a smile as if he took a nice big poop.

“They all agreed.”

“Good.”

“Thanks, Soo Ho. The situation isn’t so good right now. You put out an urgent fire.”

“Does someone have to take responsibility for it?”

“There’s no other way. It’s the rules.”

The criminal world was a cold-hearted place where blood and tears didn’t exist.

“If you guarantee it, the Navarros problem will be resolved too.”

“I promise he’ll continue to live quietly as if he died.”

The two men held up their glasses to celebrate establishing a win-win deal. Kawabuchi had emptied his glass and sought the bartender, he clapped his hands as if he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah! I’ve been hearing some weird rumors.”

“Weird rumors?”

Ahn Soo Ho responded with a peculiar expression.

“Yeah. I heard the Dresden file really exists and that you have it.”

“The Dresden file?”

President Lee Joong Hyun, who thought strangely of the Korean National Intelligence Agency’s Director Lee Gook Jin who appeared and spoke suddenly, made a weird face to what he had said.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a story that is going around the information world like a myth or a legend.”

“So?”

“I found this information while monitoring Ahn Soo Ho as I was asked. I heard he has the Dresden file.”

Lee Joong Hyun didn’t get it no matter how Lee Gook Jin explained it.

“Director. So what’s the Dresden file that you say is so important?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I should have explained that part first.”

The director explained everything he knew about the Dresden file, and the president’s facial expression continued to change. The changes in his facial expression continued for about 10 minutes until Lee Joong Hyun’s face turned really red.

“Is that even possible?”

“There’s no person or group who confirmed that the Dresden file actually exists. It’s just that rumors have been going around in Japan.”

“Why Japan?”

“There are many hypotheses…but after World War II, in contrast to the battle between the States and the Soviet Union that divided Europe, Japan was soundly taken over by the States. They were hit by a nuclear bomb, but at least they didn’t burn to the ground as much as Germany and Italy.”

The Axis powers,

It refers to the opposition of Allied Forces such as the States, England, and the Soviet Union that fought in World War II. The key roles were taken by Nazi Germany, Italy of Mussolini’s Fascists, Japan with the Emperor of Japan. When Germany and the Soviet Union entered into a nonaggression treaty, Japan retaliated by withdrawing, but in 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed an alliance once again.

As most people knew, World War II ended with the Axis powers being defeated. And the two winners, the States, and the Soviet Union went into a Cold War which was a close tug-of-war.

“The rumors are saying that not even ten percent of the war criminals who supported the Axis powers were punished. They somehow got themselves off the list.”

“How?”

“Since the media and internet weren’t as developed back then, anything was possible with a little negotiation between the ones in power.”

It was quite simple. The historical greed and repeated mistakes were so serious that human civilization and the state system couldn’t be unconditionally trusted. There was no such thing as justice there.

“They’re saying that there’s a list of war criminals that weren’t omitted in the Dresden file. It’s just a rumor though. But if it’s true, it’ll create a huge sensation.”

“Is that how valuable it is?”

“Yes. It’s priceless.”

Lee Joong Hyun thought hard and then flicked his finger.

“Can we use this for something, Director?”

“What do you mean?”

The president clicked his tongue because the director failed to understand it right away.

“For example, we can ask Ahn Soo Ho to change the file information so that it works in our favor.”

“That’s impossible.”

Lee Gook Jin put on a straight face.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have told him.’

He regretted getting overexcited and telling him without thinking it over. Lee Joong Hyun had no idea how dangerous the Dresden file was. It was so valuable that if there was even a 1% chance that it existed, it was capable of bringing the Cold War spy game back to life.

“Impossible? You said Ahn Soo Ho has it.”

Lee Gook Jin clicked his tongue at the president’s pathetic assumption that Ahn Soo Ho would listen to him just because he was Korean. If the President didn’t like the director, then he didn’t like the president as well either.

“Mr. President, he’s a dangerous man.”

“I know that too, Director. He’s a very capable man.”

“No. You have no idea how dangerous he really is.”

Lee Gook Jin watched over Ahn Soo Ho ever since he popped up. At first, he was going to try to win him over, but when he wasn’t paying attention, Ahn Soo Ho had already climbed to a place that was too high for them to reach. Ahn Soo Ho became someone that not even the American president could mess with. That was why he had no reason to bow down to Lee Joong Hyun.

“Don’t do anything. That’s the best thing we can do right now.”

He didn’t want to stick his head into a tiger’s trap.

< Protect – Episode 47 – Audition [1] > The end.

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