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Chapter 2722 A Gathering of Heroes (Part 2, please subscribe)

Late at night on October 26, Seoul.

The smoke from the Central Intelligence Agency's safe house in Gongjingdong had not yet dissipated; the pungent smell of gunpowder mixed with the heavy stench of blood permeated the messy room.

Park Jung-woong lay on the carpet, his suit soaked in blood, his face devoid of any life.

Kim Jae-gyu walked over to Park Jung-woong and found that he was still alive. Looking at the dying president, he did not hesitate and pressed the gun to his head and fired another shot.

Gunshots rang out again in the room.

After firing the last shot, Kim Jae-gyu, gripping the pistol, trembled uncontrollably. He gasped for breath, forcibly suppressing the panic and excitement following the assassination of the commander—he had been imagining this shot for a long time.

But after he actually pulled the trigger, he truly realized that he had personally overturned the balance of power in South Korea for eighteen years, and every step from now on would be a matter of life and death.

What's next?
Oh dear, it seems there are no plans in that regard.

No, it's planned. The plan is...

At that moment, rapid gunfire rang out; it was his trusted men finishing off the commander's guards and others.

"Alright, now comes the most crucial moment."

He didn't have time to wipe the bloodstains from his hands before he quickly left the banquet hall and headed straight for another restaurant on the other side of Gongjingdong.

Army Chief of Staff Zheng Shenghe was sitting there, but he was already quite uneasy because of the rapid gunfire outside the door. However, he dared not leave.

This is the Central Intelligence Agency.

Who dares to fire a shot here?
And the commander is still alive.

But the gunshots sounded very real, and the subsequent crackling of the M16 rifles convinced the Army Chief of Staff that... something serious must have happened.

Leaving without clarifying the situation would certainly bring unnecessary danger. Besides, a soldier's instincts told him that staying here was the safest option.

Having practical combat experience, he knew very well that the more you run around on the battlefield, the more likely you are to get into trouble.

Just then, the door was pushed open. Seeing Kim Jae-gyu, whose clothes were slightly disheveled and whose expression was tense, Jung Seung-hwa's heart sank, and he hurriedly asked.

What happened outside?

"Commander Zheng,"

Kim Jae-gyu looked at him and said:
"Hurry up and leave, I'll personally take you away."

Although they didn't know what had happened, because they were old friends, Jung Seung-hwa immediately got into a car and left with Kim Jae-kyu.

This is the Central Intelligence Agency. Since Kim Jae-kyu says he wants to leave, then he must leave.

"Where is the President?"

On the way, Zheng Shenghe asked with concern.

However, Kim Jae-kyu did not answer his question; he simply stared silently ahead.

Kim Jae-gyu's silence made Jung Seung-hwa's heart tighten, and he immediately realized that something must have happened.

But what exactly happened?

He never connected the matter with the assassination of the president.

After all, this is something I wouldn't even dare to think about.

After leaving Gongjeong-dong and arriving on the main road, Kim Jae-gyu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke in a very low voice:
"The President is dead, and I have already executed Cha Ji-cheol."

"what?"

Zheng Shenghe stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with shock, almost unable to believe his ears.

Jung Seung-hwa was naturally taken aback. In his panic, he even made a wrong but logical judgment: the one who assassinated Park Jung-woong should be Cha Ji-cheol.

Jung Seung-hwa couldn't believe that Kim Jae-gyu would swagger over to him after killing the president and even try to run away with him. He even thought that Kim Jae-gyu might also be a victim of this incident.

Could it be that guy Cha Ji-cheol assassinated the president?

Why did he do that?
Is the fundamental reason why Mayor Cha Ji-cheol, as the head of the Blue House security office, can act so arrogantly and disregard everyone, simply because of the President's trust?
Why did he target the president?

Although he had no answers in his mind, Zheng Shenghe's heart was pounding. As the army's top staff officer, his first thought was not to hold someone accountable or to find out what had happened.

Instead, another likely scenario is the collapse of national order—the military going out of control, political turmoil, public unrest, and even the possibility of the North seeing an opportunity. Any one of these consequences could plunge South Korea into utter ruin.

Now how to do?
Zheng Shenghe quickly calmed down. He knew that if he didn't handle this matter properly, the country would surely perish. He had to do everything in his power to control the situation. So he said in a deep voice:
"With the President dead, we must immediately convene an emergency meeting of all military leaders at Army Headquarters. Stabilizing the military is the top priority."

"Minister Kim, you are the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Come with me to Army Headquarters. Only there can we decide on the next steps."

He appeared to be discussing the matter, but in reality, he didn't give Kim Jae-kyu any room to refuse. Moreover, he had already made up his mind: regardless of the truth, he had to put Kim Jae-kyu under the military's surveillance first.

Let's wait and see what happens after we figure out exactly what happened.

Because of his close personal relationship with Jung Seung-hwa, Kim Jae-gyu invited him to Gungjeong-dong before deciding to assassinate the Japanese.

His aim was to win his support, but now, Kim Jae-gyu has not had the opportunity to persuade him.

Should we pin all the blame on that guy, Cha Ji-cheol?

So you'll say he assassinated the commander-in-chief?

The problem was that, besides Kim Gye-won, there were two other dancers at the time.

Oops, what a mistake.

How can we just give them hush money?
Kim Jae-gyu felt a pang of regret, realizing that he had only given them hush money before letting them go.

It would be inappropriate to ask Zheng Shenghe for help now, since they are already in the car, and there is a driver inside.

Although the driver was Zheng Shenghe's confidant, he couldn't very well tell him in front of him—"The Grand Commander is dead. He'll work for me."

So, we need to find an opportunity.

Okay, then let's go to the Army Headquarters.

After a moment's thought, Kim Jae-kyu knew that what he needed most right now was the support of the military, so he nodded:

"Okay, I'll go with you to Army Headquarters."

Kim Jae-gyu's answer was somewhat unexpected by Jung Seung-hwa, and it made him breathe a sigh of relief. After all, if it really was Kim Jae-gyu who assassinated the president, then he certainly wouldn't have gone to the Army Headquarters with him.

Now that the other party is willing to go to the army headquarters with him, it means that this matter definitely has nothing to do with him.

In other words—the president was killed by that guy Cha Ji-cheol.

Oh dear, what an ungrateful fellow!

But now that this guy is dead, the most important thing now is to clean up the mess.

The two men sped toward the Army Headquarters. While the people in the car were thinking about how to clean up the mess, the cleanup in Gongjingdong was also underway.

When Kim Kye-won, the chief of staff to the president, stepped into the banquet hall again and saw the president's body, cold sweat instantly broke out on his back, and even his legs went slightly weak.

"Good heavens, they've really gone mad. They actually dared to assassinate the Commander-in-Chief."

Originally, he only intended to "purge the court of corrupt officials" for Kim Jae-gyu, which meant killing Cha Ji-cheol.

But who would have thought that he would even take down the Grand Commander?

That kid is absolutely insane.

Kim Gye-won had followed Park Jung-woong for many years and both respected and feared the president. Now that his lord had died suddenly, his first thought was to protect himself.

"Quickly, get the President into the car, he can't be left here!"

Jin Guiyuan, feigning composure, directed his entourage as they carried the body out. He then found ten white towels and layered them tightly over the body's head, both to conceal the gunshot wound and to avoid the view of others. He then whispered his instructions:

"Send him to the army hospital, keep it strictly confidential, and do not let a word of it leak out."

After making the arrangements, Kim Gye-won stood there, his eyes darting around as he weighed the options in his mind. He did not immediately follow Kim Jae-gyu to the Army Headquarters, as the military's attitude was still unpredictable.

Therefore, there's no need to just follow them.

After weighing the options in his mind, Kim Kye-won decided to contact Prime Minister Choi Kyu-ha first. He was already secretly planning his next move:
Kim Jae-gyu's assassination attempt on the commander is highly uncertain. He must assess the political climate before taking sides and absolutely cannot align himself with that guy.

On the other side, the Army Headquarters issued an emergency mobilization order in a flash. When the top generals of the three armed forces received the order, they did not know what had happened.

Among the many generals, the first to receive the order was Army Security Commander Jeon Il-hae.

Back then, in order to maintain domestic stability, Park Chung-woong put a lot of effort into the intelligence department, establishing three departments that were independent of each other but each had its own troops.

The most powerful agency is the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which has tens of thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of secret agents, and reports only to the president. It is essentially a state within a state, wielding absolute power. Kim Jae-gyu is the head of this agency.

The other is the Blue House Security Office, which directly controls the security and guards of the President's Blue House, serving as the President's personal bodyguard. The person in charge is Cha Ji-cheol.

One of them hasn't explained himself yet, while the other, Cha Ji-cheol, is already dead.

The last one is the Security Command. The Security Division's original duties were internal investigations and counter-espionage work within the army. After absorbing the security forces of the navy and air force, it became an internal intelligence agency spanning the three services, and some people also called it the "General Military Police of the Three Services".

The three intelligence agencies were independent of each other and originally operated in close coordination. At this critical juncture, the only agency the military could truly trust was the Security Bureau.

Because Security Commander Jeon Il-hae received a phone call from Defense Minister Noh Jae-hyun inside the headquarters, instructing him to immediately go to the basement of the Army Headquarters without changing his uniform and await orders.

When Jeon Il-hae appeared at the door of the "emergency room," Noh Jae-hyun quickly turned around, took a few steps, and grabbed him, saying:
"You've come at the perfect time."

Then he whispered:
"President Park has been assassinated. General Chung is also looking for you; he has some matters to arrange."

Upon hearing that the president had been assassinated, Jeon Ji-hae was plunged into darkness.

He didn't have time to think about it all; he immediately turned around and went to the chief's office to receive his mission.

On the way, they encountered Jeon Sung-kook, the commander of the capital's garrison, and Jeon Il-hae asked him:

"What exactly happened?"

Quan Chengjue replied:
"The President has been assassinated and is now dead."

"Who did this?"

This is what he urgently needs to understand right now.

"do not know."

As Quan Chengjue spoke, his eyes were fixed on the Chief of Staff's office, and he gave him a meaningful look. Quan Rihai said softly:
"I'll come find you again later."

After saying that, he went into the Chief of Staff's office.

Meanwhile, the generals were all rushing to the Army Headquarters. When General Zhang Taiwan arrived at the Army Headquarters by car after receiving orders, the generals hurriedly headed to Fort B2.

Everyone sensed the impending tension. On the way into the fortress, they even whispered among themselves.

"Could something have happened up ahead?"

Everyone looked confused.

Zhang Taiwan looked around and saw a familiar face, so he asked:
"Commander Jiang, what's the situation now?"

Jiang Daling replied.

"General, I don't know what's going on either."

"Could something have happened up ahead?"

"It's very quiet up ahead. No news has come in from that direction."

Just then, Jang Tae-wan saw Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa and Central Intelligence Agency Director Kim Jae-gyu walking over. Upon seeing his companions, Jang Tae-wan quickly asked them what was going on.

"What happened?"

The other person shook their head and said seriously:

I'll tell you later.

As soon as he finished speaking, Secretary-General Kim Kye-won and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-ha led the core members of the cabinet to rush over, while the generals stood at attention.

Thus, the army's top brass and cabinet members gathered in the underground command center of the army headquarters, while a group of army generals waited outside.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Choi Kyu-ha addressed the attendees:

"The President was assassinated... and is dead!"

In an instant, all those present were startled. Before they could figure out what was happening, Kim Jae-gyu stood up first, his gaze sweeping over the assembled military and political officials. He cleared his throat and announced his plan:
"Gentlemen, with the commander-in-chief facing an unforeseen event, the nation is in a vacuum crisis. The most urgent task is to immediately announce a nationwide ban on smoking and reorganize the Smoking Cessation Command into a Military Smoking Committee. This is a matter of course, and it will be a military smoking campaign. We will establish a completely new political structure."

His words implied that he was the core of the new regime, and he even set his sights on Zheng Shenghe.

Even though he hasn't had a detailed discussion with the other party yet, he believes Zheng Shenghe will definitely support him.

After all, they are good friends.

However, somewhat unexpectedly, although Kim Jae-gyu turned his gaze to the Army Chief of Staff, Jeong Seung-hwa lowered his eyelids and sat there silently as if he hadn't seen him.

As soon as Kim Jae-gyu finished speaking, the cabinet members erupted in chaos. Choi Kyu-ha, his brow furrowed, was the first to question:
"Minister Kim, how exactly was the leader assassinated? Quitting smoking is the nation's most urgent measure. Without a legitimate reason acceptable to the people, a hasty quitting will only cause greater unrest. You must explain the truth clearly!"

Other officials echoed this sentiment, but because they were in the military, their tone was very polite.

A few months ago, Kim Young-chul, who had just been appointed vice president by the president, slammed his fist on the table and stood up:

"That's right! The commander's cause of death is unknown, so we can't possibly agree to quit smoking, let alone participate in so-called military anthems!"

His reaction was so strong because he had been in charge of South Korea's economic development and had been able to demonstrate his abilities with the support of the president in the past. At this time, he was naturally unwilling to support the military's independent actions.

Most importantly, the military's decision to act alone could very well result in him being excluded, which is why Kim Yong-chol reacted so strongly.

At the same time, he was already planning in his mind to immediately inform the SEA representative in Seoul of this news.

However, there is clearly no chance now.

As a member of the "Sympathetic Association," Kim Young-chul certainly knew what South Korea needed most right now—the intervention of the SEA to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.

Kim Yong-chol's outburst further heightened tensions.

At this moment, the military, who should have stood up to show their support, remained silent.

The military generals looked at each other in bewilderment. Zheng Shenghe chose to remain silent, and the silence of the Chief of Staff naturally led the generals to also remain silent. As a result, no one stood up to express their support for Kim Jae-gyu. They only knew that the President had died, but they did not know the inside story and were unwilling to gamble everything for an unclear event.

Kim Jae-kyu never expected that everyone would collectively attack him. He originally thought that with his authority in the Central Intelligence Agency, he would have everyone's support. After all, he was friends with many of them and had cleaned up their messes before!
Thinking of this, Kim Jae-gyu's face instantly turned ashen, and he retorted sharply:

"The nation is in imminent danger. Investigating the cause of death is pointless. Maintaining order is the top priority! Otherwise, if chaos breaks out, South Korea will be finished!"

No matter how much pressure he exerted, the military and political officials present refused to budge, insisting that he reveal the truth. The meeting descended into a heated argument, with shouts and table-pounding sounds mingling together in complete chaos.

Jin Guiyuan, sitting in the corner, remained silent, observing the entire scene with the cold eye of an outsider.

He originally thought that Kim Jae-gyu, as the head of the intelligence department, would definitely have many supporters, but he did not expect to be isolated and helpless as soon as he took the stage.

Seeing the increasingly hardline attitude of the cabinet officials and the silent observation of the military generals, he understood in his heart that Kim Jae-gyu was now deserted by everyone and could not accomplish anything on his own. Following him would only lead to his death.

Now, we must immediately turn back and make amends!

Taking advantage of the chaos in the meeting room, Kim Kye-won excused herself to get some fresh air, quietly got up, grabbed Jung Seung-hwa who was about to leave to mediate, and pulled Defense Minister Noh Jae-hyun beside her, quickly walking to the corridor outside the command center. Once they were alone, Kim Kye-won lowered her voice and said:
"Chief General Zheng, Minister Lu, the President was not assassinated by accident. He was deliberately shot and killed by Kim Jae-gyu. I saw the whole process clearly!"

Upon hearing this, Jung Seung-hwa and Lu Zai-hyun were struck dumb. They exchanged a glance and saw anger and fear in each other's eyes.

They were furious that Kim Jae-gyu was so audacious, and they were terrified that they were glad they hadn't supported him before, otherwise they would have been finished once the news got out!

Even if they knew nothing about it, the world wouldn't believe it.

Although Zheng Shenghe had previously speculated about this, when his speculation was confirmed, he felt mostly anger:
"This traitor! He dared to murder his master and commit treason! He must not be let go!"

Noh Jae-hyun also gritted his teeth and said:
"Arrest him immediately and treat him under military law, otherwise we cannot explain ourselves to the people or stabilize morale in the army!"

The three immediately reached an agreement that Zheng Shenghe would sign the arrest warrant immediately, and that General Quan, the Army Security Commander, would be given full authority to carry it out.

The moment he received the arrest warrant, a barely perceptible glint flashed in Jeon Il-hae's eyes as he rushed back to the Security Bureau.

After learning about everything that had happened so far, Jeon Il-hae confirmed with the head of the Seoul Army Hospital that the President had died.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Kim Il-hae did not stand there waiting for orders. Instead, he made a decisive move. After returning to the Security Department, he secretly summoned Jeon Sung-kwok, who was also in the "Il-sim Society," Lu Tae-yu, the commander of the 9th Division, Bae Jeong-do, the commander of the 26th Division, and the special forces leaders to a meeting at the Security Command headquarters.

At the meeting, after Jeon Il-hae introduced and analyzed the situation to everyone, everyone agreed that the assassination of President Park was complicated and that, in addition to the Central Intelligence Agency, there were likely people within the military involved.

After all, no one could have imagined that they would believe Kim Jae-kyu's claim of walking alone.

Therefore, it was decided to establish a separate "temporary command post" at the Army Headquarters, with the intention of directly monitoring the movements of high-ranking military officials such as Zheng Shenghe.

For Jeon Ji-hae, the current situation is extremely tense, but it also presents him with an opportunity.

Upon learning of Kim Jae-gyu's plot to assassinate the commander, Jeon Il-hae did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately took command at the temporary headquarters, picked up the phone, and gave the following order:

"Director Kim Jin-ki, immediately lead the Security Command search team to the Ministry of National Defense conference room and arrest the traitor Kim Jae-gyu. Do not fail!"

Military Police Chief Kim Jin-ki received the order and quickly assembled fully armed search personnel. The convoy roared toward the B2 fortress conference room.

When the military police stormed into the meeting room and pointed their guns at Kim Jae-gyu, the argument in the room came to an abrupt halt; no one had expected such a turn of events.

What are you trying to do?

Kim Jae-kyu was initially taken aback, then his face turned ashen. He looked at Kim Gye-won, who stood calmly to the side, and at the cold eyes of Jung Seung-hwa and Noh Jae-hyun, and finally realized what had happened.

It's too late to say anything now, since he's currently in the military and completely at their mercy.

At this moment, the clock shows exactly midnight on October 27th.

From the moment Kim Jae-gyu pulled the trigger in the banquet hall of Gungjeong-dong to his immediate arrest, only four hours had passed.

Meanwhile, Jeon Il-hae personally led his men into the Blue House, ordered the military police to take over the guard room, and went directly into the president's office. No one knows what he did there, but he soon came out of the office.

Another four hours passed. At four o'clock in the morning, Zheng Yonghe arrived outside the command center and announced the commander's death to military leaders, including Zhang Taiwan, while also ordering a smoking ban.

At this moment, the night sky over Seoul was still pitch black...

(End of this chapter)