Soho

Chapter 128: < Protect – Episode 127 – London Protocol [3] >

Even just a few months earlier, Lee So Hye lived the life of an ordinary high school student, but she suddenly turned into Cinderella overnight, which even caught her off guard. At such a sensitive age, excessive attention could easily lead to poison. But she was definitely Ahn Soo Ho’s blood. He didn’t know this before, but once they were faced with the situation, she boldly waved her hands at the paparazzi and answered any question with a smile.

Once Lee So Hye started getting taken cared of by the top beauty professional of Korea, her beauty bloomed. Her face somehow turned from ordinary to that of a model. So she started to wear more makeup. And through camera lenses, her beautiful expressions and gestures shined brightly.

Kim Na Hee pushed the F4 to become the cover girls of a fashion magazine, and once they did, they leveled up to be successful high teen stars. Despite it being before their debut, the casting requests started rolling in, which caught Hosoo Entertainment off guard. Since Ahn Da Sol, Emily, and Rachel were trainees of the agency, management could make some arrangements, but Lee Soo Hye was also the little sister of Hosoo Entertainment’s CEO.

“CEO Ahn is a busy man. We can’t make so many requests. What did she say? That it’s okay? Then go ahead with it. Yes, I’ll take responsibility for it.”

Oh Joo Kyung sighed as she hung up the phone. One of the secretaries waiting for approval gave her a file.

“You can sign here.”

“Have you heard of the F4 of Cheongdamdong?”

Oh Joo Kyung signed the papers and then stared at the secretary as she asked the question.

“Oh, yes. I have.”

“Then why didn’t you brief me on them?”

“Well... you seemed to be busy with the broadcasting station issues...”

She sighed once more in response.

“Didn’t I tell you already? No matter how busy I am, brief me on everything that has to do with her. And deliver it to the other teams as well.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I apologize.”

The secretary took the file and ran off. It wasn’t just Oh Joo Kyung in the office. Logan, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed laughed as he approached.

“It’s hard to control everything, Joo Kyung.”

“There’s nothing we can do if someone is lacking in ability, but I’d rather not ruin things just because we were careless.”

“Our boss is generous.”

“That’s why I don’t want to disappoint him.”

Logan shook his head in response.

“I’m worried about your health, Joo Kyung. Koreans tend to get too obsessed with work. Monetary loss? Our boss probably doesn’t even care as long as the company doesn’t go down. But if you overwork and get sick, he’ll go after me first.”

“Why you?”

“Because I promised him that everything would be the way it was when he comes back. If you pass out from overworking, I’ll actually die, Joo Kyung. So please save my life by taking a break.”

Oh Joo Kyung couldn’t help but laugh at such a big man rubbing his hands together while begging.

“Do I look like I’m overworking myself?”

“Look in the mirror.”

She took out her mirror and then got startled. It had been more than a day since she fixed her makeup. In the past, she used to fix her makeup every few minutes. Did she get lazy? Not at all. She was just too busy to care about her appearance. Oh Joo Kyung flinched once more.

“Haha.”

She laughed again.

“Don’t blame the secretaries, Joo Kyung. You don’t make it easy for them to tell you these things.”

“Is that why you came here yourself? To tell me that I look horrible?”

Logan shrugged his shoulders. It was true. Since he didn’t work under Oh Joo Kyung, he had no reason to be extra careful.

“You’re doing better than our boss’ expectations. I’ll tell you that.”

That didn’t comfort her very much.

Beep-

Oh Joo Kyung answered the interphone.

“What is it?”

“Director Oh. The National Tax Service sent us the documents. Should I send it to the legal team?”

“Sure. Oh, give me a copy, too.”

“Sure. Also...”

Logan saw that she was busy on the phone so he left quietly without saying goodbye. She was smart enough that she caught on to his true intention. Hosoo Entertainment was still located at Star Tower, but they were working on building a new one. Once the new building was complete, Star Tower was going to be just for Hosoo Entertainment.

The security office of Hosoo Entertainment Group moved to a different building. Logan and his underlings trained their security guards and made them useful for half a year. In their eyes, they still weren’t good enough, but in Korea where guns weren’t common, martial arts defense was usually enough. He believed that the rest would catch up in time.

He thought of the words that Ahn Soo Ho always mumbled.

‘The ones who should live—live, and the ones who should die—die.’

In other words, fate was somewhat decided for us. No matter how well he thought them, the rest was simply up to luck.

“Logan!”

The person who got through security and met Logan on the top floor was the temperamental Neski.

“Are you really just going to leave it to Ricky and Sam?”

“The field work will be taken care of by the ones on the field. That’s our rule.”

“Both of them already failed? What could guys like that do anyway?”

“Neski!”

People thought mercenaries were free to do whatever they wanted, but insulting their colleagues was unacceptable. As soon as Logan yelled at him, he apologized.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But I’m against leaving it to those two!”

There was only one way to make Neski shut his mouth.

“It was the boss’ decision.”

“Hm.”

If Ahn Soo Ho made the decision, it was game over. However, Neski had a hard time backing down because Michael was his best friend.

“Then send me!”

“No!”

“Logan!”

Logan clicked his tongue at Neski’s raging face.

“Are you trying to steal Ricky and Sam’s last chance to regain their honor?”

“No, Sir! I’ll respect this decision, Sir!”

“You’re trying to go against a direct order! And I can’t allow something like that!”

Neski going to the States would be against Ahn Soo Ho’s decision. There were ranks in the forces, and Logan was at the top, Michael was in the middle, and Neski was below both of them. As for Ricky and Samuel, they were aids to the platoon leader.

“I’ll accept any punishment you give me!”

Neski had already made his own decision. After glaring at each other, the person who backed down first was Logan. He sighed and then cursed like crazy.

“Get out of my sight!”

Neski took that as a yes. He saluted Logan then he left. Logan, who shook his head and entered the break room saw people gathered around the table. They were drinking whiskey in broad daylight.

“What a sight.”

“You’re here. Come sit down.”

There were ranks, but in personal settings, they were all just friends.

“I saw Neski running out crying. Did you talk to him?”

“I told him to get lost to the States.”

As soon as Logan joined in on the drinks, they all laughed. After filling all the glasses with whiskey, they all chugged together.

“Nice! I love Johnny Walker Blue!”

There were tons of expensive alcohols on the market, but for mercenaries, Johnny Walker Blue was expensive enough. They had another few rounds.

“I’m worried about Ricky and Sam.”

“Why?”

“I don’t think Neski will leave them alone.”

“Isn’t it our rule to leave the field work to those on the field?”

“I warned him, but Neski isn’t the type to listen.”

“Not that fool...”

“Haha.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

“Our Boss was very respectful about this. To be honest... Michael did a stupid thing. He deserved to die.”

“You’re right. Michael was stupid.”

“Stupid Michael.”

They all dissed Michael, but they didn’t have any hard feelings. Once the mood settled down, Logan talked about his thoughts.

“Our boss not only killed all the terrorists in New York, but he even got rid of a Harlem gang and made a weapons dealer take responsibility. He did everything he could. But now he’s in England going after an English bitch and a French hypocrite. For what?”

Logan raised his glass.

“For Michael.”

“For Michael.”

His underlings joined in and emptied their glasses.

“That’s the kind of person he is. He’s fighting the world for a fool who died for being stupid. What do you think, Jesus?”

“If I tripped over a sidewalk and died, Soo Ho would probably go after those managing the sidewalks and throw a fuss. That’s the kind of person he is.”

“Yeah. He is.”

He was more stubborn than rational.

“I’m worried about Ricky and Sam.”

Logan mentioned Ricky and Samuel once more, and everyone knew what he wanted to say. He tried to convince him from going, but it was Logan who wanted to fly over to the States more than anyone. As soon as some of them got up, Logan drank his last glass.

“For Michael.”

******

There wasn’t much to the London Protocol.

‘Newton had supernatural powers?’

Conspiracy theories would have loved this information. This was a family tree that recorded the blood relations of those with special abilities. The right to enter the secret club of those in power was proof of one’s nobility. Rome couldn’t accept their status of being outside the church’s influence, and that was how the witch hunt began.

“Just because a person has supernatural powers doesn’t mean they’re not human. There’s no genetic difference.”

“I’m guessing you did human experiments back in the day.”

“Unfortunately... yes. We used Africans and Asians to do human experiments.”

There had always been something called human rights, but the only ones they treated as humans were white Europeans. The rest were just animals. The London Protocol was a declaration of the white Europeans that they would begin supernatural power research.

‘Only the white Europeans are Jesus’ children!’

Therefore, killing other two-legged humans didn’t count as murder. If this declaration—that was full of signatures—were to get out in the 21st century, it was obvious what kind of response it would get. Advanced research like that definitely existed in this world.

“However, plans to make supernatural powers optional failed. The research was ended, and the records were eliminated. Until Hitler came into the picture... we paid a high price before we could find peace again.”

The companies back then were different from those these days. The companies set up by powerful families were one with the families themselves, so a big company was no different from an empire. They were always on top of the law. The harmful effects of privatization were worse than what people imagined.

“Peace? Haha! That was the funniest thing I’ve heard.”

“Mr. Guardian, do you feel differently?”

The chairman of England’s National Security Bureau was either laughing or crying, and Ahn Soo Ho smirked in response.

“From my experience... we’ve never controlled the situation even once.”

“Then?”

“The situation always controls us instead.”

The stupid thing that many smart people believed was that they were on top of everyone else. At that very moment, a security guard ran over and whispered in the chairman’s ears. Ahn Soo Ho felt the phone that the Russian ambassador gave him vibrate, so he took it out and answered it.

“Vitali.”

“Soo Ho! Ransel isn’t in Africa! He planted a decoy!”

Rumble- Bang, bang-

The building suddenly shook. Were this thunder and earthquake? That made no sense. Ahn Soo Ho was able to make a guess from the face of the England National Security Bureau’s chairman.

‘This old lion, Ransel is no joke, is he?’

He wasn’t sure if he was brave, dumb, or confident. But Ransel Straussmow made the biggest bet of his life.

“Soo Ho?”

“I have to go, Vitali. I’ll treat you to a drink later.”

He threw the phone into the trash can. There were three major ways to obtain the empty throne. One was to get rid of all the competitors, and another was to be acknowledged by the previous ruler. And the third...

‘He could kill me.’

If he killed Ahn Soo Ho, he could get what he wanted.

Whee-oo, whee-oo-

The outside of the museum was in chaos. Black smoke was everywhere as if a bomb went off. This was definitely planned before the New York terrorist attack. Were this Barbara Huxley and Ransel Straussmow’s combined efforts? He didn’t know just yet. But if they tricked him, they weren’t going to die a peaceful death.

The patrol car stopped in front of Ahn Soo Ho. As soon as two police officers got out, they had bullets to their heads. The people around them went crazy in response to what they saw. The chairman of the England National Security Bureau and his guards were shocked.

“What’s going on here?”

“Look carefully.”

Ahn Soo Ho kneeled and took out a French gun from the police officer’s jacket.

“Do London police officers carry French guns these days?”

“Oh my god!”

He threw the gun at the chairman and then grabbed a mask he saw nearby. A big fireworks event was set to take place in England on November 5th. November 5th was a while back, but trends had nothing to do with commemorative dates.

“Are you going to go around in that mask?”

“Why not? I’m the hero of England.”

The States had Captain America while England had Guy Fawkes. He was famous for being the symbol of a worldwide hacking group, but today, he held a gun and not a keyboard.

“I don’t care if you’re the police or the military. Don’t get in my way. If you do, I’ll shoot you all.”

< protect=”” –=”” episode=”” 127=”” –=”” london=”” protocol=”” [3]=””> The end.