Mercenary Black Mamba

It was the symbol of Foreign Operations. A soldier needed to be simple-minded. If one continues to speculate after seeing hard evidence, one is a politician, not a soldier.

“Hail! General Sun, respect!”

Besson adjusted his uniform and saluted him. A man’s true charm is in his forearms. Besson was charmed by Sun Woo-hyun’s strength and personality.

“Why? Respect?”

Sun Woo-hyun felt ecstatic. He had been feeling overwhelmed, surrounded by superhuman monsters. Excited, he began to run his mouth.

“The KGB mole who stole Oparts and ran away was a woman called Helen Bauer. The Russians deployed Ubiksa, the supernatural squad, to rescue her. I eliminated Ubiksa and the Mbembe special ops squad that helped them and captured Milovic and Helen.”

“Bravo!”

Sun Woo-hyun shook his clenched fist and Besson exclaimed.

“If the blonde and Ubiksa are captured, where is Oparts?” Fabius wondered but didn’t have the courage to ask the question.

For one’s life to flow smoothly, one needed to talk less and listen more. He swallowed his curiosity and listened in.

“Oparts is hidden in the US military base. I didn’t have any reason to wander about. I will infiltrate the base with Wakil. You should help too.”

Sun Woo-hyun was not stupid. He saw that Fabius wanted to ask a question, so he changed the topic to the American military base.

“That’s great. You deserve much respect!” Besson cheered in French.

“What did he just say?” Sun Woo-hyun wondered.

Besson’s French sounded to him like some swear.

“Should I tell him off?” thought Sun Woo-hyun.

Sun Woo-hyun’s hand that was mixing his coffee moved with a flash. Besson, surprised, ducked his head to the table. The object swished through the room and buried itself in the wall.

There was a sharp screech. A large black striped lizard thrashed about, impaled by the teaspoon.

“A Nikto lizard!” Besson exclaimed.

The Nikto lizard was a common venomous lizard in the jungle of Ituri and subsisted mainly on bats and rodents.

“The teaspoon almost hit me!” thought Besson.

Cold sweat ran down his back. If he didn’t duck, the teaspoon would have shattered his skull. There was an antidote for the Nikto venom but no antidote for a shattered skull. He merely blinked, unable to complain.

“Lackey, are you having fun?”

Mu Ssang stared at Sun Woo-hyun.

“Wakil, I was insulted first. He provoked me first,” Sun Woo-hyun protested.

“Ugh, he said you deserved to be respected in French. It’s a French proverb. You may outrank him but you need to learn a lot more. Hard-earned knowledge will only benefit you.”

Mu Ssang clucked his tongue.

“If I had been a good student, I’d be you, not your servant!” said Sun Woo-hyun in his mind.

Sun Woo-hyun, who was told off yet again, looked downtrodden.

“Besson, let’s eat some barbecued lizard for dinner today.”

Sun Woo-hyun, getting embarrassed, laughed shyly.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Besson took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead. Sun Woo-hyun just became the first person on Besson’s “to avoid” list.

“Advisor, are you going to infiltrate the base?” Fabius asked in a concerned voice.

He was still traumatized by the Agrippina Shield that took out five agents.

“They are going for scorched earth. We can easily infiltrate, but we will be exposed to long-range rockets and showered by missiles. I was struck by four missiles in Mambasa.”

“What?”

Fabius and Besson’s mouths were open agape in awe. It was insane for them to launch a tactical missile at a human being, but it was more insane for him to survive it.

“They are angry now that they lost Oparts. They wouldn’t bat an eye even if they end up massacring hundreds or thousands. With our current forces, it is impossible to infiltrate their camp.”

“Did you try?”

“I did. We lost agents before we could even get to the camp.”

“How many men do we have at our base?”

“Twenty-five soldiers and 15 spies.”

“The cast is complete. Now the show will begin with a stage called the jungle of Ituri. Disguise the spies as a team of journalists from France and equip them with filming supplies and all. The spies will be the journalists. The soldiers will be the filming crew. It will be great if they can enter the American base. If you are refused to enter, make a fuss at the entrance. I will infiltrate in the meantime. I need to find out what the Americans are up to.”

“How marvelous!”

“We will be ready right away.”

Fabius and Besson marveled. Mu Ssang had both brain and muscles.

* * *

The next day, being sick of getting eavesdropped on, Mu Ssang visited the downtown. There was only one hotel, Cohobe. The sickening NSA would not be able to tap the hotel’s landline.

After a moment of hesitation, he called Lee Dae-deok over Bonipas. He could trust Bonipas but not France. The call went through after a full hour. It was the effect of the 10 dollars he handed the front desk.

“Mr. Lee, I’m Mu Ssang.”

“Huh? Why, hello!”

Lee Dae-deok, after picking up the receiver mindlessly, gasped and stuttered. The CIA had been asking the ANS for cooperation and skulked around Eungsim-je. Now, Mu Ssang caught up to it.

“What is a Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

Mu Ssang cut to the chase.

“You are breaking up. Say it again.”

“What is a Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

“A Room-Temperature Superconductor? Hang on a minute.”

Lee Dae-deok relayed the call to the tech department. It wasn’t something to do with the CIA and he felt quite reassured.

“What is a Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

“A superconductor is a kind of magnet.”

“I said what is a Room-Temperature Superconductor.”

“Well, there is no such thing.”

“I don’t see why I pay you!” Lee Dae-deok, disappointed, yelled.

Mu Ssang wouldn’t make an international call just because of some magnet. Mu Ssang, who was listening to their conversation, laughed.

“Don’t hang up and hang on a minute.”

Lee Dae-deok connected Dr. Lee So-jin, the science advisor to the ANS and a nuclear physicist.

“Dr. Lee, what is a Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

“Mr. Chairman? Why do you ask?”

“Someone asked me the question.”

“Who?”

Dr. Lee kept inquiring. f𝑟𝑒ewe𝚋𝚗૦𝐯e𝘭.c𝗼𝓂

“Whoever that is, it is an urgent matter.”

“You are normally a sloth. Who would keep you on your toes like this?”

“I said it’s urgent!” ƒ𝘳𝗲𝑒𝒘𝐞𝚋𝚗𝐨v𝘦l.𝒄o𝐦

“I didn’t think I’d get asked this in Korea, especially not by you. A superconductor, simply put, is a substance that has zero electrical resistance at absolute temperature. It sheds its inner magnetic field and blocks external magnetic fields. With this property, it can be used to make fusion reactors, rail guns, electronic cannons, and a maglev rail. It’s quite revolutionary. The concept is here, but it is far from being commercialized. Now, Room-Temperature is just preposterous, which is even mentioned in SF novels.”

The line was cut off. Mu Ssang, listening to the call, thought about asking for another call before thinking better of it. The words like “fusion reactor” and “rail gun” echoed in his ears. Of course, its uses wouldn’t be limited to just that. The Vajra was indeed not a mere carved sword.

“No wonder Americans are all hyped up.”

The artifacts of the Concretus, like Kkamdung, Garuda, and Billion Water Armor, were all sophisticated works of art. They were nothing like Oparts that only roused curiosity. Their civilization was incomprehensible. He realized that he had underestimated the late incident.

Now that the value of Oparts was multiplied manifold, Hae Young’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed. It was easy for the mass to trample on the rights of an individual in the name of the “greater good.” If the outcome outvalues the process to get there, irrational acts are easily condoned. Mu Ssang, suddenly in a rush, trampled on the gas pedal of his jeep.

* * *

Dr. Lee So-jin was feeling impatient. The connection was lost in the middle of his explanation.

“Chairman, who asked bout the Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

“It’s confidential.”

“We are of the same lineage. Surely, you can trust me.”

“No. I don’t want to risk getting beaten up at this age.”

“I don’t understand what you are even saying. Let’s talk this over a drink.”

“I know you are trying to get it out of me in a drunk talk.”

“Am I? Don’t say such an absurd thing.”

“You tried last time.”

“Chairman, I’d like to resign. The students don’t respect me. This advisor title doesn’t even pay much. I’d like to quit.”

“Don’t! Okay, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“A food stall in Nagwon? Blood sausage stew in Dangju? Tteokbokki in Wangsimni?”

Lee So-jin listed the places where they had drunk together.

“No. We’ll go someplace classier.”

Lee Dae-deok surrendered.

Dr. Lee So-jin was a nuclear physicist at the top of Lee Dae-deok’s patriot list. He used to be a professor at Princeton. When President Park asked scientists overseas to come to Korea, he responded and aided the birth of the KAIST.

Returning to Korea with no other motivation but his patriotism, he despaired at the then-state of Korea. There were not even proper laboratories with real equipment. He gave up his own research to establish a proper research environment for posterity whom he taught himself.

“A Room-Temperature Superconductor?”

The words made his heart fill with enterprising spirit. The superconductor was what he was researching at Princeton. It was a core technology that would shape humanity’s future. Of course, Room-Temperature was just preposterous absurdity. In theory, it was possible. Technologically, it wasn’t feasible. He never expected anyone in Korea to ask him about it. Yet, someone just did.

* * *

A high-end Korean restaurant in Samcheong.

Dr. Lee hastily asked even before he was seated.

“Who asked that?”

“Have a seat first. Breathe.”

“Breathing can wait. Tell me who it was.”

Dr. Lee plopped down on the cushion and waved his chopsticks.

“It’s confidential. I still love my life.”

“You don’t even fear the President.”

“Your intelligence will be with you for the rest of your life but the President’s power will be gone when his term ends. He will be an ordinary citizen when his power leaves him. This specific person is a genius, or even a god, in a different field than yours, doctor.”

“He’s a god?”

Dr. Lee was confused.

“That’s all I can tell you.”

Lee Dae-deok’s mouth was then clenched shut. His answer confused Dr. Lee even further. Who would a powerful Overseas Operations director of the ANS fear?

“Is he Korean?”

“He originally was.”

“Damn, brain drain!” Dr. Lee muttered.

Countless talented people left Korea, despaired by its circumstances.

“He is. He said he loved Korea but he couldn’t get himself to ever like it.”

Lee Dae-deok laughed bitterly.

“I share the sentiment. Is he a scientist?”

“No. I said he’s a dangerous figure. He called from Zaire in Africa.”

“Zaire? Previously named Congo?”

“Yeah. Mobutu changed the name of the country.”

“Why would he contact you?”

“I don’t know. I got the call out of blue.”

“Can you call him?” Dr. Lee asked impatiently.

“No. Zaire is 25 times bigger than South Korea and had 25 times worse communication infrastructure.”

Lee Dae-deok smiled bitterly. If it were Korea, they could trace the call, but overseas, especially in a developing country like Zaire, it was not feasible with the ANS’s resources.

“Let me see him in person.”

“Are you trying to get me killed? I’d rather walk into a tiger’s cage.”

Lee Dae-deok jumped. Mu Ssang could unroot a pavilion’s pillars with bare hands and have erased human traffickers, loan sharks, and yakuza off the face of the planet. The dozens of CIA agents who went after him went missing. Moreover, he had a very toxic personality.

“Who would kill a director of the ANS? Don’t fret and arrange the meeting, please.”

“Doctor, I’m not exaggerating. I may really be killed.”

Dr. Lee, after gazing at Lee Dae-deok for several moments, clucked his tongue.

“You mean it.”

“Doctor, I even infiltrated North Korea when I was younger. I am second to no one in terms of courage and vigor, but...”

Lee Dae-deok shook his head mid-sentence.

“I couldn’t even breathe when I faced him. He’s an ESPer or a superhuman.”

“I didn’t expect the great Lee Dae-deok to babble nonsense with age. The superconductor will change the world. When a truly feasible superconductor is put into practical use, all current power plants including nuclear will be shut down. An infinite source of energy running on hydrogen will be made. I’m talking about fusion plants.”

“How are they different from nuclear?”

“It will take some time to explain. In short, if we build one fusion plant which has the size of Wolseong, it will provide for all of South Korea’s power needs.”

“Whoa!”

“That’s why developed countries are all after it. That’s not all. You can use it to develop a weapon that would need no ammunition. A rail gun’s kinetic projectile can sink an aircraft carrier from hundreds of kilometers. When mounted on an aircraft, it will be able to shoot high-temperature energy projectiles all day around. There will be no wheeled vehicles anymore. Pollution-free, noise-free futuristic cars will be flying around.

“Whoa!”

Lee Dae-deok continued to exclaim. It felt like it was something out of a sci-fi movie.