"Haha, let me introduce you all. This is Jack, from the United States—FBI."
After introducing Jack, Kang Jin-tae attempted to show off his heavily accented English. "This is my wife, Park So-yeon. This is our little princess, Kang Yeon-ah. And this annoying one here is my wife's sister, Park Min-young."
Jack greeted them in Korean with a smile, then smoothly flattered them. "They say South Korea is full of beautiful women, and it seems the reputation is well-deserved."
Some words, though insincere, are always effective—especially with attractive women. The three ladies, from eldest to youngest, immediately beamed with joy, their earlier tension and worry vanishing completely.
Seeing his wife and sister-in-law fawning over Jack's impeccable Korean while completely ignoring him, Kang Jin-tae could only sulk in the corner, hugging his daughter pitifully.
"Detective Kang Jin-tae is impressive as well. Thanks to him, we were able to locate the suspects in time. It's just unfortunate that the enemies were too ruthless and cunning. But I believe that with his assistance, we'll soon bring the criminals to justice."
Flattery doesn't cost a dime, and Jack effortlessly shifted the focus back to Kang Jin-tae. He hadn't watched many K-dramas, but from what he remembered, Im Yoona and Ma Dong-seok had never co-starred. This had to be another strange crossover from some unknown drama.
"Why are there so many people here? Ah, hello, ma'am. Jin-tae, are you feeling better?"
Speak of the devil—Ma Seok-do appeared at the end of the hallway, carrying a large box of meals. Behind him were two unfamiliar men in plain clothes, who looked like fellow detectives.
He handed one of the meal boxes to Kang Jin-tae and asked with concern, "How are you holding up?"
Kang Jin-tae opened the box, and his beady eyes immediately lit up. "Huh? Unagi-don? Man, you really went all out."
"You're injured—you should eat something good to recover faster." Ma Seok-do lifted the remaining meal boxes and handed one to Jack.
"Try some of Korea's finest. This is a premium unagi set meal, 40,000 won per serving."
Jack opened the box and saw a generous portion of grilled eel slathered in thick sauce over rice. The aroma was incredible.
40,000 won was about 29 USD—over 200 RMB. That was high-end pricing for a simple takeout meal.
The sun had just risen—it was barely past 6 a.m. Jack had no idea where Ma Seok-do had managed to buy such an expensive dish so early in the morning, but the effort was appreciated.
"Well, I won't be polite then." He was starving, so he immediately dug in.
Ma Seok-do shot Kang Jin-tae a look and handed over the rest of the meal boxes. "Jin-tae hyung, could you deliver these to my guys?"
"Come on, no need to be so formal." Kang Jin-tae nodded, then waved at his wife, daughter, and sister-in-law. "Let's go inside the room. Keep your voices down—don't disturb the others."
Knowing that Ma Seok-do had something to discuss, Jack quickly finished his meal in about seven or eight minutes. He took the water Ma Seok-do handed him and rinsed his mouth. The unagi-don was excellent—rich in fats and collagen, a perfect combination. The only downside was that the sauce was a bit too sweet, making it cloying after a while.
"These two are my former colleagues. I just went to find them," Ma Seok-do said, his attitude toward Jack now noticeably more respectful and grateful.
Despite his usual direct, no-nonsense approach—where disagreements often ended with someone in the hospital—what had happened today had been eye-opening for him.
Back when he was still hundreds of meters away, unable to see anything clearly, Jack had reacted instantly, pulling out his gun and opening fire without hesitation. It had startled Ma Seok-do at first—he thought the FBI agent was just another reckless American, used to doing whatever he wanted.
But after reconstructing the events based on the crime scene, it became clear—if Jack hadn't arrived in time and acted decisively, Ma Seok-do wouldn't have been spending money on unagi-don today. He'd be placing cash in envelopes for the families of his fallen colleagues.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hwang Dong-kyun from the Northern Police Department's Narcotics Unit."
"I'm Gong Tae-il."
Both detectives were noticeably respectful toward Jack. They had likely already heard about what had happened the previous night.
"Just call me Jack. Let's get straight to the point." Jack extended his hand, shaking hands with both men.
"It's like this," said Hwang Dong-kyun, the older of the two, who appeared to be in his early thirties. He pulled out the small revolver, still in its evidence bag.
"This belongs to our unit leader. He's been missing for several days."
Jack was slightly surprised and gestured for them to sit down and explain in detail. "Was he investigating this drug operation too?"
"Yes. He had been secretly looking into 'HYPER' for a while." Hwang Dong-kyun glanced around to ensure no outsiders were eavesdropping before lowering his voice.
"This case was originally under the jurisdiction of the Guryong Police Department's Narcotics Unit, but our boss suspected something shady was going on, so he started his own investigation. He eventually found that not only were the raw materials for 'HYPER' coming from Japan, but the local production and distribution were also tied to the Yakuza."
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and showed Jack an old news article. The headline read:
"White Shark Gang, involved in smuggling and selling drugs in collusion with Japanese organized crime, has been dismantled. Their leader is on the run and has been issued a wanted notice."
Hwang Dong-kyun continued, "Three years ago, the White Shark Gang was responsible for smuggling and distributing 'HYPER' with the Yakuza. But two years ago, their leader was suddenly assassinated."
"Shortly after, the Guryong Police Department's Narcotics Unit arrested all the key members of the gang. But strangely, despite the supposed crackdown, 'HYPER' was back on the streets in no time. It's as if the Yakuza had found new partners to keep their business running."
"You didn't manage to trace the Yakuza's new collaborators?" Ma Seok-do interjected.
Drugs are a product like any other. While many goods now follow a "B2C" model—where customers buy directly from manufacturers online—drug trafficking doesn't work that way.
Drug users might contact dealers through encrypted online channels, but they only ever reach low-level street dealers.
While it wasn't unheard of for Yakuza groups like "Ichijo-kai" to handle both transport and local distribution, it was rare.
After all, as the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. The local gangs, deeply entrenched in nightclubs, bars, and other illicit industries, wouldn't just sit by and let outsiders take over their turf.
So Jack went straight to the heart of the matter. "Who's protecting these Yakuza?"
Hwang Dong-kyun glanced around again before leaning in and speaking in a hushed voice.
"We don't have concrete evidence. But before our unit leader went missing, he mentioned one name—"
"The Narcotics Unit Captain of Geumcheon Police Department… Zhou Xingzhe."
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