21st Century Goguryeo

Suddenly, a man yelled at them. The men pointing guns at each other turned to the source of the voice.

"What the hell are you doing?" Director Kang Hyuk, the head of the Federal Investigation Bureau, said.

"You're not going to put down your weapons? Do you want to be arrested for obstruction of justice?" Director Kang Hyuk yelled at the investigators from the inspection department who came with Woo Byung-hoo.

"Director! The Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation has abused its authority in this case." Seeing Director Kang Hyuk siding with the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation, Kim Hyung-chul's expression stiffened and he started arguing.

"Can you see this?" Director Kang Hyuk took out a document that he had received from the Blue House. The document was a presidential order to actively cooperate with the arrest of Kim Hyung-chul.

"Even though she is the president, she cannot arrest me without a single piece of evidence!" Kim Hyung-chul's face flushed with rage as he screamed.

Clank!

After hearing Director Kang Hyuk's scolding, the secretariat investigators stepped back, and the investigators from the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation overpowered Kim Hyung-chul and handcuffed him.

"Let me go!"

While Kim Hyung-chul was being dragged away by two officers, Manager Kang Chul-joong bowed to Director Kang Hyuk and thanked him, "Thank you. Thanks to you, the arrest went smoothly without any unpleasant accidents."

"What are you thanking me for? As the head of the Federal Investigation Bureau, I'm embarrassed."

Woo Byung-hoo, who was standing awkwardly, stepped back and tried to leave the deputy director's office.

"Woo Byung-hoo, you're a special officer to him! You're under arrest, too. Stop!" Kang Chul-joong, who was speaking with Director Kang Hyuk, screamed when he saw Woo Byung-hoo attempt to leave. The investigator at the door then stopped him, twisted his arm, and handcuffed him.

"What are my charges? Can you arrest me recklessly and indiscriminately?" Handcuffed Woo Byung-hoo screamed while struggling to escape from his arresters.

"Don't you know what is your crime? Let's go to the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation and talk about it."

Manager Kang Chul-joong smirked and gestured to his subordinates to take him.

Kang Chul-joong patted his chin while looking at Woo Byung-hoo's back. Then, he instructed the rest of the investigators, "Don't miss a dust and make sure to search every inch!"

"Yes, sir."

Investigators from the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation began searching through the office of Deputy Director Kim Hyung-chul. Even though Kim Hyung-chul and Woo Byung-hoo were arrested under an emergency order, they would be released if solid evidence couldn't be found.

* * *

November 18, 2023, 17:30 (Iraq time 11:30)

The 11th Marine Corps Brigade located 5 kilometers north of Altun Kupri in Kirkuk, Iraq

Three hours ago, the 11th Marine Corps Brigade suffered some damage while vacuuming the bombing of Iraqi artillery units waiting in the rear of Altun Kupri, but the immediate artillery fire destroyed most of the Iraqi artillery units.

Iraqi security forces then attempted to destroy the vanguard of the 11th Marine Corps Brigade by actively deploying Mi-24 attack helicopters, which were first deployed in the Czech Republic in 2015.

The 16 Mi-24 attack helicopters that had been purchased to counter ISIL and Sunni militants failed to demonstrate their superiority against armored forces and were shot down.

Only two Black Lake tanks were damaged by the 16 Mi-24 attack helicopters before they were shot down. It was not a complete attack, but a crippling damage.

Despite their preparation for defense and early use of power, the Iraqi security forces' 13th Panzer Division failed to produce much and was heavily hit, and the 15th Vehicle Infantry Division that had been deployed right behind them was also destroyed.

The battle zone, which was many times the width of Yeouido, smelled of red flames, thick smoke, and poignant gunpowder.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Coochie coochie coochie coochie coochie

Dozens of C-27P-M Giraffe Marine Combat Gloves cars flew several meters above the ground in the center of the battlefield, churning the terrain with high-altitude vehicles that could not be compared to conventional armored vehicles, destroying T-72 tanks, M113, and MT-LB armored vehicles.

Occasionally, surface-to-air missiles flew from Iraqi armored vehicles, but due to their near-ground flight, the surface-to-air missiles failed to function normally and either blew themselves up or exploded on the ground.

A giraffe armored car stood out among the others. It was already destroying dozens of tanks by rotating from side to side and relentlessly spraying 12mm laser Vulcan and 50mm plasma-activated carbon toward the ground. The number 503 from the company headquarters was emblazoned on the side of the armored vehicle.

However, the crew onboard the 503 was carrying crew members of the 1st platoon.

A 512 armored vehicle was temporarily deployed to the battlefield fifteen days ago after being shut down due to a machine malfunction while reconnoitering Iranian and Iraqi security forces in the mountainous region of Haraka.

"Three o'clock direction! Three o'clock direction! Two out-of-the-way tanks! Get them!" Sergeant Yang Jeong-seok, the 512th Lieutenant General on board the 503, used a microscope mounted at the bottom to detect Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles and ordered the gunman, Sergeant Kim Ki-dong, to fire while setting the targets one by one.

"Old Seol!"

Sergeant Kim Ki-dong mercilessly pulled the trigger by turning the aiming point of the 12mm laser Vulcan at the bottom of the armored vehicle in the target setting order.

Coochie coochie coochie coochie coochie coochie coochie. Bite!

As the sixth row of beam heat rotated, the pouring red stream tore the ground apart in a diagonal pattern.

When the red light struck the targeted two T-72 tanks, sparks of various colors erupted and quickly fell to the ground, resulting in an internal explosion.

The beam of a machining 12mm laser Vulcan penetrated the upper armor of the T-72 tank.

Meanwhile, on the right, the 111th Marine Battalion entered downtown Altun Kupri after defeating one armored brigade and one vehicle brigade.

Platooned black tankers along each road turned their turrets in their own directions and moved at low speeds to capture Iraqi security forces in enemy tanks, armored vehicles, and buildings along the road.

"Hey, hey, look! Especially inside the building!" Sergeant Kim Yoon-sung, the 132nd tank commander, ordered as he switched Hyun Si-kyung's vision mode and checked the long-running buildings one by one. Similarly, Corporal Lee Hae-sung, a catcher, turned around and thoroughly searched the designated building in inverter mode.

"Yes, don't worry. I'm not missing an ant in inverter mode!" Corporal Lee Hae-sung replied and momentarily closed his mouth while increasing the depth of the camera in the inverter mode because of the discovery of several light-emitting figures wielding long weapons on the third floor of a white building on the fourth floor, 70 meters to the left.

"Chief! The third floor of the white building 70 meters away from 11 o'clock! We found three anti-tanker weapons!" Corporal Lee Hae-sung, who reported the confirmed information, immediately raised the firing safety pin, grabbed the firing handle, and put his index finger on the trigger.

"Are you sure it's an anti-tank weapon?

"Yes, the current inverter mode estimates RPG-7."

"Then shoot it!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the chief approved it, Corporal Lee Hae-sung pulled the trigger of the tank gun without hesitation.

Coo!

With a magnificent firing sound, a momentary vibration spread and shook the earth. Meanwhile, the third floor of the five-story white building which was directly hit by the powerful plasma bomb collapsed with a huge explosion, creating a cloud of hazy dust.

Boom! Roar~

"Clear!" Corporal Lee Hae-sung reported after seeing the building fall.

A great deal of dirt came along the road and soon swallowed the surrounding area, clouding the view a few meters ahead. The operation, however, was able to continue without interruption due to the excellent vision mode of the C-2A1 Black Hawk tank.

Four C-2A1 Black Lake tanks belonging to the 2nd Platoon searched each of the buildings in the designated directions precisely and broke through the foggy dust zone.

* * *

November 18, 2023, 17:30

Nam Joo National Intelligence Service in Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Choi Jo-sil of the Foreign Intelligence Service)

The NIS had arrested over 50 people in connection with the Peace Square bombing, including People's Liberation Army soldiers (PLA). Several of them had the potential to be the solution to the case.

Jo Myung-rok was the first to be apprehended. He was at the center of every case, so they forced him to take confession drugs to obtain vital information as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a side effect occurred while confessing, and he was being treated in a special hospital room at the National Intelligence Service.

Because he was concerned for his family's safety in Russia, the forcibly injected confession drugs caused excessive brain pressure, causing damage to his optic nervous system. As a result, Jo Myung-rok could not provide any additional information.

Goo Sang-sik was the second. He was interrogated by Manager Lee Hye-jin and revealed various information. However, no crucial information was obtained from him at the end. As such, injecting confession drugs to him was not necessary.

Oh Ji-wan was the third. However, he was not in a good physical condition to be interrogated because of the severe injuries sustained during his fight with Park Gi-oong. Thus, he needed at least five days of treatment and rest before he could be interrogated.

With such difficulties in securing evidence from the main suspects, Kim Hyung-chul and Woo Byung-hoo, who were arrested by the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation a while ago, were taken to the National Intelligence Service's interrogation office, not the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation.

Kim Hyung-chul, who had been talking nonsense all the way, must have been tired and now he was sitting in the interrogation room and thinking.

"We have only 70 hours. If we can't find evidence within the 70 hours, we'll have to let him go," Kang Chul-joong said as he looked at Kim Hyung-chul, who was sitting in the interrogation room chair beyond the reflective glass.

"Yes, sir. We must find something somehow," Manager Lee Ja-sung replied.

"The seized evidence will be cleared and ready within two hours."

"You're having a hard time because of us."

"What do you mean by hard time? Isn't it all for the sake of our country? Then I'll be back in three days. I wish you all the best in the meantime."

"We must catch him. Anyway, thank you for your hard work. See you then."

Kang Chul-joong and his subordinates left the office. They were authorized to conduct emergency arrests and investigations for high-ranking officials of Grade 5 or higher for three days if they were found to have corruption reports or illegal grounds.

Currently, the evidence found against Kim Hyung-chul and Woo Byung-hoo was secured by illegal inspection, and there was no legal evidence. After deep consideration, President Choo Un-hee ordered the National Intelligence Service to secure evidence and resolve the case with the cooperation of the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation.

Furthermore, President Choo Un-hee's order was unconstitutional. However, following the assassinations of Kim Hyung-won and Kim Jong-un, Corea had declared a state of general emergency, and the country was on the verge of subversion due to widespread protests.

President Choo Un-hee chose this method after careful consideration to avoid further national confusion, even though it was somehow illegal.