Chemistry-Chapter 137

「South China Sea, 08:03 PM」 – 20,000 Feet Above

As the transport plane banked sharply, a heavy pressure pushed to the left. Jeong-woo instinctively grabbed his seatbelt, reacting to the sudden force that almost flung him out of his seat.

“Ugh.”

After sitting uncomfortably on a makeshift seat for three hours, his body was in bad shape, mixed with a rising bout of nausea.

『Are you alright?』

Jeong-woo nodded weakly in response to Vince’s question, who was sitting across from him.

『We’ll be landing in ten minutes.』

『That’s good to hear.』

While every jolt and shake felt like chaos to him, Vince and his four colleagues showed no signs of discomfort.

The hydraulic whirring noise was followed by a shuddering impact that reverberated through the plane’s interior. Startled, Jeong-woo looked to Vince, who smiled and explained, “Landing gear.”

A short while later, the transport plane touched down on the airport runway.

As the plane stopped in a line of gray hangars, airport staff approached. The tail door opened, and the Chinese transportation officer looked surprised when he saw Vince disembark first.

『The cargo manifest only listed UN supplies. What’s going on?』

『We have an urgent meeting, so we skipped some formalities.』

Jeong-woo followed behind, feeling slightly tense as he faced the stern-eyed officer.

『How many of you are there?』

『Six in total.』

『Lang-wen, check their IDs.』

At the officer’s command, a man holding a device approached.

‘Oh no, I didn’t bring my passport.’

Jeong-woo felt a wave of panic. He had boarded the plane lured by the $1,000 per hour consulting fee, but entering another country without going through immigration seemed impossible. Returning to Korea without accomplishing anything would be the worst outcome.

However, Vince handed the staff member a plastic card instead of a passport. The staff scanned the card, and a green light flashed with a photo appearing on the screen.

『Confirmed. Next.』

Each ISTC team member followed, and finally, it was Jeong-woo’s turn. He awkwardly handed over the ID he had received before.

Beep.

『Confirmed.』

‘What?’

It was the fastest immigration process he had ever experienced.

The transportation officer turned to Vince.

『Are you visiting the UN Secretariat?』

『The schedule is confidential.』

『Understood. Have a safe mission.』

After a brief conversation, two SUVs with UN flags pulled up in front of the hangar.

『Mr. Han.』

Vince, opening the driver’s door, gestured for Jeong-woo to get in. Jeong-woo nodded and got into the passenger seat, glancing back at the airport staff standing a distance away.

‘How can things move so smoothly? Is this like a free pass?’

Examining the UN ID from different angles, Jeong-woo thought it was just an ordinary plastic card, yet it granted him instant entry from Seoul to Hong Kong. With only a meeting with Dr. Amit left, he felt much lighter.

The two vehicles left the airport and merged onto the highway heading into Hong Kong city.

「Hong Kong, 09:23 PM」 – Golden Mile Hotel, 7th Floor

Knock, knock.

Vince knocked on the door of room 712. With a click, the door opened slightly. The manual lock remained engaged, and a voice came from within.

『Who is it?』

『ISTC investigator, Dr. Amit.』

When he showed his ID through the gap, the person inside flinched.

『How did you find me?』

『We need to discuss the neurostabilizing agent you’re researching…』

『Get lost!』

The door slammed shut, and Vince cleared his throat, turning to look at his team. One of them shrugged.

Knock, knock.

『Doctor.』

『I’ll call hotel security if you don’t stop bothering me!』

The voice, tinged with anxiety, suggested the speaker knew something had happened to Professor Jordan, with whom they had been in contact. Vince spoke calmly.

『If you distrust the authorities enough to hide here far from Singapore, you should definitely talk to us. If you want, you can call the UN Secretariat to verify our identities.』

There was a long silence, followed by the sound of the manual lock being undone. The door opened to reveal a thin, gray-haired Indian man facing Vince.

『If you were with those guys, you would have broken down the door. ISTC? Have you come to classify my research as hazardous?』

『We did initially.』

『Initially?』

『For more details, please speak with our special advisor.』

Vince gestured to Jeong-woo, who had been standing back.

『…What the hell is this crazy reaction equation? My research is combined with Professor Jordan’s research.』

『It’s somewhat speculative, so it’s not entirely accurate.』

Dr. Amit, staring at his laptop, looked at Jeong-woo with a puzzled expression.

『Speculative?』

『Wasn’t your research initially aimed at creating a combined effect?』

『No. My neutralizing agent was just a national project supported by some countries for non-lethal riot control weapons. I discussed more effective dispersal methods with Professor Jordan, whom I knew well.』

Amit’s eyes never left the chemical formula Jeong-woo had devised.

『What’s this diffusion formula?』

『That’s…』

Jeong-woo looked at Vince, remembering that this was classified information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vince gave a small nod, allowing Jeong-woo to answer.

『It’s from a research project at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.』

『No, this can’t exist. This goes beyond the scope of non-lethal weapons.』

Amit’s expression grew serious as he scrutinized the long reaction equation. He pointed to a specific part of the equation and turned to Jeong-woo.

『Here. You replaced the compound with one that has the same effect but different properties from my neutralizing agent. Why did you use a D3 dopamine receptor instead of a benzodiazepine derivative?』

『Uh, I just filled it in because the data was incomplete. Benzodiazepine was the base, I see.』

Amit paused.

『What? What do you mean, ‘just filled it in’?』

『The dopamine receptor?』

『Didn’t you have my research data? You said it was speculative. Are you using other people’s work too…?』

『There weren’t many pages available.』

Amit looked at Jeong-woo in shock as he smiled sheepishly.

『Who exactly are you?』

『I’m a chemist from Korea…』

In the middle of his explanation, Jeong-woo noticed something glinting outside the window.

‘Huh?’

Crash.

The window shattered, and a small cylinder dropped inside.

Vince’s eyes widened in horror, and he shouted.

『Flashbang…!』

Boom!

The explosion came faster than his words. A deafening noise and a blinding light temporarily blinded everyone in the room.

Jeong-woo staggered and fell, overcome by the piercing pain in his eyes and ears. Amit also screamed and collapsed. The overhead lights shattered from the explosion’s shockwave, plunging the room into darkness.

‘Ugh.’

Jeong-woo forced his eyes open despite the persistent ringing in his ears. The flashbang had temporarily blinded his vision, making the world appear as a realm of sound waves.

Through the echoes of movement, he saw Amit writhing in pain. Vince was lying protectively beside him, and another team member was collapsed near the broken window.

Thunk.

Something else flew in through the broken window. By the time Jeong-woo realized it was two people, they had already entered.

One of them struck Vince forcefully on the back of his neck as he struggled to recover from the effects of the flashbang. The team member near the window was also hit on the head and rolled to the side.

Jeong-woo, startled, moved sideways, crawling to avoid being seen. A shadow passing by Vince’s unconscious body stopped in front of Amit.

Just before another shadow could turn around and scan the area, Jeong-woo managed to hide in a blind spot behind the bed.

‘What the hell is going on?’

His heart pounding, he listened to the low murmur of the shadows’ conversation, using his phone to try and capture the sound waves.

-We got here first. How did they find the connection?

-Hurry up. Their backup is on the way.

He caught the faint mosquito-like sound of their voices.

Watching their movements, Jeong-woo felt his vision start to return. He blinked and saw them through an infrared filter, able to discern their forms in the darkness.

‘Kidnapping?’

The two shadows were tying Amit with a rope. Even though they wore hoods that covered their entire heads, Jeong-woo could see through to their features.

Thinking he needed to remember their faces, he tried to memorize their features. As one shadow dragged Amit towards the window, the other turned towards the laptop.

-Should we take it?

A sudden realization hit Jeong-woo, he couldn’t let them take the formula inside the laptop. He reached out and focused all available free electrons into the laptop’s battery.

With a violent hiss, the battery overheated and exploded. The shadow recoiled in surprise.

-Did you see that? It just blew up.

-It must have had an automatic detonation device. We don’t have time. Securing the doctor is our priority.

Amit, hanging by the rope, disappeared through the window, followed by the two shadows who quickly jumped out. Seconds later, heat emanated from the corridor.

The three employees who had come on the transport plane appeared. Relieved, Jeong-woo tried to stand, but the dizziness hadn’t subsided, and he collapsed onto the bed.

The door burst open as the three men rushed in.

『Freeze!』

One of them pointed something at Jeong-woo, who, even in his disoriented state, could tell it looked like a gun.

『Do UN employees carry weapons like that…?』

『Mr. Han?』

With the tension easing, Jeong-woo, sweating profusely, passed out.

Another employee shone a flashlight, revealing the scene.

The burning laptop. The broken window. A missing person.

『This is base. We’ve been attacked. Dr. Amit has been kidnapped.』

「Hong Kong, 04:02 AM」 – UN Safe House

Jeong-woo awoke with a terrible headache. He found himself in a sparsely furnished office space, lying on a field bed.

『…We need to assume they have information comparable to ours.』

-What about Vince?

『He’s out searching. They found some traces at the harbor. It seems their escape route wasn’t perfect.』

Turning his head towards the voices, Jeong-woo winced as pain shot through his skull.

“Ugh, this is killing me.”

Hearing movement, someone approached him, ending their conversation. Jeong-woo slowly sat up, meeting the eyes of a foreign woman for the first time.

『Are you awake?』

The woman, with reddish-brown hair, wore a UN ID badge around her neck that read “Blake”.

『You were hit by the flashbang at close range, so you might have some aftereffects. Here, take this.』

Blake examined his face before offering a cup of water and a pill.

Jeong-woo, still disoriented from the chaos he had endured, realized that neither Blake nor Vince seemed like typical UN employees.

『Is this something I can take?』

『It’s aspirin.』

Her exotic blue eyes looked gentle, and Jeong-woo, squinting at the pill, recognized the familiar painkiller components in the molecular structure and swallowed it. He finished the water and placed the cup on the table.

‘I feel a bit better.’

Jeong-woo sighed in relief and then faced Blake.

『Where am I, and what happened earlier?』

『This is a safe facility within the UN headquarters. Before we discuss what happened earlier…』

Blake brought a satellite communicator and placed it on the table.

『Someone wants to see you.』

『Me?』

On the monitor, a middle-aged foreigner wearing glasses raised his hand.

『This is Director Nathan of ISTC.』

『So… ISTC is a real organization?』

Blake smiled subtly.

『Knowing that will be helpful to Mr. Han in the future.』

『That’s a bit scary. Though what happened earlier was scarier.』

『Back to that. We suspect they are a multinational mercenary group targeting new weapons. All the substances Mr. Han analyzed in the photos yesterday were stolen by them.』

『They’re really going to make those? Why?』

『We lack information to determine their exact purpose. However, the value of the completed product you suggested is far greater than an ICBM with a nuclear warhead. That kind of value can mobilize almost any criminal or terrorist organization.』

Not knowing the price of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Jeong-woo could only nod.

『Do you know why the laptop exploded? Vince said he didn’t know. If they had taken it when they kidnapped Dr. Amit, it would have been much more troublesome.』

『Well…』

There are worlds that normal people don’t need to know about. After what had happened, Jeong-woo decided it was best not to get involved any further and chose to remain silent.

『Indeed. It’s unlikely you would have focused on that while being hit by a flashbang. Don’t worry about it. We just lacked clues, so I asked.』

『Can they be caught?』

『Our team is working hard on it.』

The conversation ended with Blake’s smile. Jeong-woo felt the effects of the aspirin easing his headache and asked cautiously.

『So, is my job done? I think I’ve done all I can.』

『Of course. We’ll compensate you sufficiently for your help. However, until this matter is resolved…』

Jeong-woo, fearing she would say he couldn’t go home, listened anxiously as Blake continued.

『…ISTC’s Charlie team will provide close protection.』

『Oh, protection.』

Relieved that he could return to Korea, Jeong-woo then hesitated.

『Protection? Why?』

『Currently, you are the only chemist in the world who can make EOW.』

Seeing Jeong-woo’s puzzled look, Blake kindly explained.

『Our analysis team named it ‘End of War’ because they believe it can end a war with a single shot. Even though they lack Mr. Han’s analytical skills, they have a knack for naming weapons.』

EOW, ‘End of War.’ The meaning was so grand that Jeong-woo swallowed hard.

『I need to return to Korea…』

『You’re free to go wherever you want, Mr. Han. We will just follow you.』

『H-How many of you?』

『Initially, there will be three of us, including myself. The three who went to support Vince will join later.』

Wondering how his mother would react when he returned home with six foreigners, and how he would manage work, Jeong-woo’s mind was tangled.

『So, this ends only when you catch them?』

『Yes.』

Suddenly, he remembered Hwang Jeong-myung’s advice about not acting too smart.

‘Don’t do it, Han Jeong-woo. You saw what happened earlier. Those guys broke into a seventh-floor window and kidnapped someone.’

As Jeong-woo pondered, Blake looked at Nathan on the satellite communicator with a questioning expression.

『You don’t need to worry too much about the protection. We’re all trained personnel, and with proper preparation, the issues you faced at the hotel…』

『I saw their faces.』

Blake’s eyes widened.

『I didn’t get a detailed look, but I could recognize them if I saw them again. And if you take me back to the hotel, I can help you find traces.』

『How?』

『They may not realize it, but Dr. Amit had a distinctive scent. My nose is quite sensitive.』

Jeong-woo said tapping his nose.

『But it won’t be for free. Since I’m sacrificing my personal schedule to help, the consulting fee will be doubled from this time. If you agree, we can go right away. If not, arrange a flight back to Korea for me.』