## Chapter 26 – 03. Shrimp
+++
“That’s the building.”
Having received a tip from reporter Yoon Ha-young that the target, the ‘suspicious vehicle,’ had not yet left, Investigator Gong cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
It was an unremarkable entertainment agency building, yet it exuded a strange atmosphere.
‘Is it just my imagination…? Or is there really something…?’
His mission was to identify the make and license plate number of the suspicious vehicle.
Of course, using his prosecutor’s office-issued implant, he could access the vehicle’s information and identify the owner. But would someone who travels with a police escort not have anticipated such measures?
Therefore, the immediate goal was the vehicle’s make and license plate number.
“…It’ll be difficult to just walk in.”
Rainbow Miracle’s security was tight.
Entertainment agencies were generally heavily guarded due to the celebrities they managed, but Rainbow Miracle was even more so.
Identifying himself as an investigator from the prosecutor’s office would grant him access, but that would immediately reveal that Prosecutor Lee Na-eun was investigating the man known as ‘Young Master.’
Ultimately, he had no choice but to infiltrate the building covertly or wait for ‘Young Master’s’ car to exit.
‘But if I miss it, it’ll be a disaster. Initiating entry.’
He exited the car and activated his implant.
Instantly, his appearance vanished, and all sound emanating from him disappeared.
– August 31, 2076, 14:32:11, Incheon Advanced Quarantine City, Ganghwa District 3, 11 Miracle Road, optical camouflage, sound suppression activated. Gong Jin-cheol, Investigator, Criminal Division 3, Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
– All actions will be recorded from this point forward.
– Strictly adhere to regulations.
– Violation of regulations will-,
A stream of notifications appeared in his vision.
Ignoring them, he dashed towards Rainbow Miracle.
‘If I had a nano drone, I wouldn’t even need to move myself.’
Unfortunately, as a Grade 7 civil servant with a shunned prosecutor as his superior, an implant was the extent of his resources.
Even then, it was nothing more than a shackle, with every action reported.
– August 31, 2076, 14:32:15, Incheon Advanced Quarantine City, Ganghwa District 3, 11 Miracle Road, photon refraction activated. Gong Jin-cheol, Investigator, Criminal Division 3, Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
– August 31, 2076, 14:32:21, Incheon Advanced Quarantine City, Ganghwa District 3, 11 Miracle Road, neural pattern disruption activated. Gong Jin-cheol, Investigator, Criminal Division 3, Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
– August 31, 2076, 14:32:29, Incheon Advanced Quarantine City, Ganghwa District 3, 11 Miracle Road, ultrasonic disruption activated. Gong Jin-cheol, Investigator, Criminal Division 3, Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
.
.
– August 31, 2076, 14:32:59, Incheon Advanced Quarantine City, Ganghwa District 3, 11 Miracle Road, tracker cancel activated. Gong Jin-cheol, Investigator, Criminal Division 3, Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
In the few seconds it took to cross Rainbow Miracle’s wall and head to the underground parking lot, the automatic defense implant was activated repeatedly.
‘Is Miracle insane?!’
What could they possibly be hiding to warrant such heavy defenses?
‘…No. It’s not Miracle that installed them, but the police escorting him.’
He became even more curious about the identity of this ‘Young Master.’
And a corner of his heart worried for Prosecutor Lee Na-eun’s safety.
Was it safe to continue investigating someone like this?
‘Focus on the task at hand.’
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and entered the underground parking lot.
The interior was unremarkable.
A drab, gray space filled with cars of all kinds, like any other parking lot.
‘There.’
He spotted a car parked horizontally, ignoring the parking spaces, flanked by two police vans.
Armed police officers patrolled the area.
‘They’ve obscured the license plate.’
The problem was that the police vans were parked so close to the limousine’s front and rear that it was impossible to see the license plate without moving them.
And with the police present, that was impossible.
‘With this level of security, the CCTV must be compromised too.’
Still, he decided to try.
Using his ocular implant, he scanned the LAN cable connected to the closed-circuit cameras and accessed it.
After partially disabling the security, he connected the cable.
Beep,
Beep-beep.
Program running.
He accessed the CCTV and searched the data.
‘Found it.’
He reviewed the footage of ‘Young Master’s’ vehicle entering the Rainbow Miracle building and proceeding to the underground parking lot.
But,
‘…As expected, the license plate—no, the car itself is barely visible.’
He had suspected as much, but the situation was absurd.
Vehicle license plates were mandatory for a reason, yet someone was brazenly concealing them.
The fact that someone could so openly commit a crime was disheartening.
“Do I have to use it after all?”
If the CCTV couldn’t provide the information, he had no choice but to directly read the vehicle’s data.
They would undoubtedly have anticipated this as well, but he couldn’t return empty-handed.
Static.
Perhaps due to activating the ocular implant, his vision went dark the moment he looked at the car.
But another implant activated and restored his sight.
Anyone who later reviewed the implant usage logs might think Investigator Gong Jin-cheol had infiltrated a defense contractor.
– Target confirmed.
– Initiating information extraction.
Although using optical camouflage and sound suppression, he concealed himself among the surrounding vehicles, only exposing his head.
– Access denied.
‘…I knew it-,’
Buzz.
At that moment, the automatic door connecting the underground parking lot to the building’s interior opened, and a woman appeared.
A woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a strikingly voluptuous figure.
Moreover, a beauty who could effortlessly captivate even Investigator Gong, who had a mission to accomplish.
‘Who is that…?’
Upon closer inspection, she was wearing a police uniform.
“Team Leader!”
“You’ve arrived!”
The police officers guarding the vehicle rushed over and saluted.
She appeared to be their superior.
“…”
The woman silently surveyed the surroundings.
And then—
Bang – !
“!!!”
Without any warning, she fired a shot at Investigator Gong.
It missed him by a hair’s breadth.
“T-Team Leader?!”
“There’s a rat. Catch him!”
“!”
“Wh-When??”
‘This is insane…! She just shot at me?? Without a warning???’
Bang! Bang!
She fired again and again.
Despite his use of optical camouflage and sound suppression to distort his location, her aim was remarkably accurate.
“He’s using implants. Block the parking lot entrance and seal the main gate.”
“Roger.”
Red lights illuminated the entire parking lot, and an alarm sounded.
The alarm likely echoed throughout the entire building.
‘I’m screwed!’
The parking lot doors began to close.
‘This is beyond a written reprimand.’
Since the opponent was the police, he might survive if he revealed his identity.
But that would expose his superior, Prosecutor Lee Na-eun.
To retaliate and engage in a shootout? That was also out of the question, as he was vastly outnumbered, and an investigator—especially an assistant—was not a combatant.
In contrast, the opponents were heavily armed police officers. The vans even had machine guns mounted on them.
Should he run?
‘No. The record of my implant usage here has already been reported… It’s only a matter of time before they find out.’
If he hadn’t been detected at all, it would have been fine.
Information expands upon recognition.
If nothing had happened, there would be no reason to suddenly investigate the prosecutor’s office’s implant usage logs.
But if they knew someone had infiltrated?
The opponent would start searching everywhere.
‘It might be better to reveal my identity.’
No matter how reckless they were, they wouldn’t outright kill him if he identified himself as a prosecutor’s investigator.
Shooting someone unknowingly and then discovering they were a prosecutor’s investigator was a different matter entirely from knowingly shooting a prosecutor’s investigator.
Moreover, the opponent was also a fellow public servant, wasn’t she?
Revealing his identity and engaging in conversation might allow him to glean some information.
“W-Wait a minute!!”
Having made his decision, he deactivated his implant and raised both hands.
“I-I’m on official duty…”
+++
While I was training Emilia, I had to relocate due to Su-a’s urgent report.
In a warehouse-like space, Su-a and other police officers stood guard over a man tied to a chair with a paper bag over his head.
This damn bastard.
Daring to interrupt my schedule?
“Investigator Gong Jin-cheol from the Incheon Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Criminal Division 3?”
“Y-Yes…”
Su-a began the interrogation.
“Why are you here?”
“As I said, I’m on official duty… More importantly, isn’t this going too far? We’re fellow public servants-,”
“If you’re on official duty, you should have informed the company and entered properly. Why did you sneak in using implants like some kind of infiltration movie?”
“That’s… Because Rainbow Miracle is under investigation. There are suspicions of serious crimes, so it was necessary to be discreet. To prevent information from being leaked.”
I could roughly see what was going on.
Reporter Yoon Ha-young had reported the video to the prosecutor’s office, and Prosecutor Lee Na-eun, who had been assigned the case, had sent her investigator.
‘She was worried that informing the company would alert those above, so she didn’t properly identify herself.’
“Your prosecutor is someone named Lee Na-eun, right?”
“…”
He fell silent when I asked.
“Rainbow Miracle is just an excuse. You wanted to investigate me, didn’t you? You contacted reporter Yoon Ha-young recently, didn’t you, Prosecutor?”
“…”
I opened Yoon Ha-young’s surveillance log.
She had been loitering around Rainbow Miracle from Saturday afternoon until today.
She probably saw me arriving here as well.
“Prosecutor Lee Na-eun, having received a request, began investigating me, and Yoon Ha-young provided her with information about me being here, leading her to send you.”
“…”
He remained silent.
He seemed determined to ignore me completely.
“Ignoring me? If you want to know my identity, shouldn’t you talk to me?”
“…Release me. Continuing this is obstruction of justice.”
“This is also official duty. Their job is to protect me, and you were caught loitering around me. In other words, uncovering your purpose is the official duty of these police officers. We’re clearly on official duty too.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!! That kind of, that kind of thing isn’t official duty!!”
He erupted.
The word ‘official duty’ seemed to have struck a nerve.
He shouted for a long time before finally panting.
So noisy.
‘There’s no point in talking anymore.’
“Want me to tell you?”
“…What?”
“Who I am.”
“…!!”
I approached him.
I ripped off the paper bag.
“!!”
“Take a good look. Do you recognize me?”
“…”
He slowly shook his head.
Of course, he wouldn’t know me. I’m not a celebrity.
I pronounced my name clearly so he could understand it at once.
“Goo Mu-yeol.”
“Goo Mu…yeol…?”
“Yeah. My grandfather is Goo Young-man.”
“…?”
His blank expression slowly morphed into shock.
It was like watching a slow-motion scene.
“Korea… Group…?”
The shock soon turned into despair.
“P-Prosecutor…!”
“What a boring last word.”
I stepped back, lighting a cigarette.
Su-a pressed the muzzle of her gun against the man’s temple.
Bang – !
Brain matter and blood splattered.
