48 Episode 48 - This is My Territory, Part III (2/2)
”Do you have any questions or comments?” Kim Tae-hoon urged them. The effect was certain. To these people, his words meant more than anyone else.
The first one to spit out was Kim Soo-ji. ”In order to deal with a large number of monsters, there is the only firepower, in the end.”
”What is the current state of our firepower?”
”We are still getting ammunition from the Ammunition Company. We have ample ammunition, but the problem is we don't have enough guns.”
Kim Tae-hoon turned his attention to Lee Soo-young. It was her job to get guns and other weapons from the 17th Division.
”We're working on a route.”
But now she had few weapons in the subordinate units of the 17th Division.
”You know that it's a good distance, and it cannot be done in a short period of time, as we have to go over a mountain.”
There were many reasons. The biggest one was the distance. It was quite a distance, and they had to cross a mountain in between.
She would like to bring an armored car to carry the weapons, but the condition of the road did not allow it. She was trying to secure a route to supply and receive weapons, cleaning up the vehicles on the road and removing the surrounding monsters. It was a task that would take time.
”Of course, I know this is an excuse, and if you give me an order, I'll take risks and get things done quickly.”
But the situation had changed, and she was willing to do it if she had to do it.
The pack of Wolf-crocodiles approaching now was not monsters that could be killed without suffering damage.
”A week. For a week, I will stop the Wolf-crocodiles from approaching, so you'll have to get as many weapons and ammunition as you can.”
”Boss!” Jang Sung-hoon asked the cross question directly. ”How will you make a week? By the speed of their movements, they will be in Bucheon City as early as two days, and on the third day, they will be in Bucheon City Hall.”
It was not easy for anyone to see a group of four hundred Wolf-crocodiles moving at a rapid pace, eating monsters or humans like bulldozers.
If there was a way, it would be fantastic for everyone.
”I will check them out alone.”
”Yes?”
”What?”
”What the hell is that…”
Everyone made a foolish expression at Kim Tae-hoon's answer.
”Boss alone?” Jang Sung-hoon asked the question, with the narrowed eyes. ”Is it possible?”
Kim Tae-hoon nodded lightly instead of answering.
The crowd looked dumb again.
”Major, no matter who you are, you can't stop a group of four hundred monsters including the yellow-grade one...”
”The lieutenant is right. It is impossible for the boss to do that…”
Kim Soo-ji and Jang Sung-hoon changed their complexion and spoke to stop Kim Tae-hoon somehow.
If this decision came from Kim Tae-hoon's brave spirit and self-sufficiency, the result would be terrible. However, Kim Tae-hoon 's decision was never something that rose from a brave spirit and self-sufficiency.
”The goal of guerrilla warfare, with a few troops in operation, is to kill a large number of people.”
It was a decision made by cool judgment. There was no choice but to judge it calmly
”That's my specialty.” That was what Kim Tae-hoon had done. ”There's no reason for me to get involved in the street battles.”
Moreover, a city was a world that man made for man, no matter what they say. It meant it was not a world that they made for monsters.
”Do you have any further opinions?”
Everyone was silent in the face of Kim Tae-hoon's confidence.
9.
A crocodile slid its huge head into the building's door. The sight of it putting its head in was bizarre. It was about three meters long and had the same shape as a crocodile, but all over it was not armor-like leather, but fur-covered leather reminiscent of a wolf.
Its legs were much longer than a crocodile, making it possible to run faster and more stealthily than a crocodile.. The Wolf-crocodile's steps into the building were so quiet that its huge body was meaningless.
Slurp!
Rather, the sound of a tongue as long as an anteater, coming out of the snout, was louder. It licked the red blood on the floor, and its red eyes began to glow because the blood was still warm. The heat in the cold winter meant that the owner of the blood had just spilled blood.
Slurp!
As soon as it thought about it, the Wolf-crocodile began to move along the blood trail without any hesitation, just as Hansel and Gretel in fairy tales followed breadcrumbs.
The thing waiting for the Wolf-crocodile was not bleeding prey, but a man holding a silver thermos with blood dripping out of it.
Shiyik! Shiyik!
The Wolf-crocodile flicked its tongue at the man. It was excited to see prey alive after a long time.
That was its last action.
Shiyik!
With a gruesome sound, the Wolf-crocodile's head rolled on the floor, still sticking out its tongue.
Tsreung!
The Sword that cut the head off the Wolf-crocodile in a single stroke went back into the sheath on the back of Kim Tae-hoon. At the same time, he filled the thermos with the blood pouring from the body of the Wolf-crocodile.
The hot blood filled the thermos. Kim Tae-hoon, closed its lid, cut through the Wolf-crocodile's stomach, ripped the monster stone from its heart and put it in his mouth.
The last act of the hunt was to renew the number of Wolf-crocodiles he had killed today.
'This is the eleventh.'
Eleven, the moment he remembered the number, a memory from two years ago came to mind.
Two years ago, Kim Tae-hoon was in Syria. When ISIS appeared in the land of Syria, which was ravaged by civil war, countries around the world dispatched special forces to counter it. Kim Tae-hoon and his men were the same. They were sent to Syria after being disguised as mercenaries under orders.
Their instructions were as follows: kill as many IS agents as possible in the city.
Their purpose was to keep the IS agents from escaping the city in fear after the death of their colleagues, and it was to earn the time needed to perform operations elsewhere.
Kim Tae-hoon completed the order surprisingly well. In other words, he killed so many people that they would call Kim Tae-hoon a monster, despite not even knowing his name.
'Not much different from then.'
What Kim Tae-hoon did now was not much different from what he had done in Syria two years ago, either. He was removing the Wolf-crocodiles outside the pack to hunt for food.
The method worked well enough.
A group of simple monsters would have ignored it. However, the group of Wolf-crocodiles was not just a pack but had a hierarchy.
In addition, the reason why the group of Wolf-crocodiles moved was that they were forced to move by the green-grade monster. They had no choice but to be sensitive to changes around them, and be careful.
In fact, the number of Wolf-crocodiles searching increased, and the speed they were traveling slowed down. It was evident that they were alert. But they were literally alert, not in fear.
Therefore, it was necessary for him to instill that fear in order to slow their feet, just like he had done against ISIS two years ago in Syria.
In the end, Kim Tae-hoon would tell the group of Wolf-crocodiles and its leader, even though they could not speak, ”This is my territory.”