Codename Anastasia Novel (End) - Chapter 17

Should he break free and run? Dealing with the two of them bare-handed was not impossible. He was just worried that by escaping, he would implicitly admit to an unknown charge and unnecessarily turn the Russian police into enemies. There was no benefit to increasing his pursuers when he was in hiding.

First, he calmly asked for the reason.

“Don’t I deserve to know why?”

“Sir, the card you just tried to use has been reported stolen.”

What? That couldn’t be. There had been no problem when he used it at the hostel just now. To Kwon Taekjoo, who didn’t believe him, the owner showed the card terminal. It really was displaying a warning message.

“Now, let’s go, no more stalling.”

The officer urged Kwon Taekjoo, who stood there dazed. What to do. If he was dragged away like this, it would be difficult in many ways. With headquarters out of reach now, he couldn’t expect any support. Was subduing the two of them and escaping the only way? While he was agonizing, the officer, who had been urging him to come along, tried to put handcuffs on him. At that instant, he sharply raised his arm.

“…Kuh!”

He struck the officer’s face with the back of his hand, and then followed up with an elbow to his chest. The burly officer, clutching his nose and chest, fell weakly backwards. Red blood gushed between his thick fingers. His colleague, who watched the scene, glared with wide eyes and charged.

“You bastard!”

He shook off the grabbed arm and was about to kick him in the stomach when the distinctive jingle of the bell at the entrance rang. Both Kwon Taekjoo, who had his long leg raised in the air, and the officer, who was about to retaliate, froze at the utterly peaceful sound.

The person who entered at that moment was Zhenya. His heart immediately felt at ease, recognizing a familiar face. He figured everything would be fine now that the card’s owner had arrived.

He dropped his attack stance and straightened his body. Immediately after, the opposing officer tackled Kwon Taekjoo, pinning him down. In an instant, his wrists were twisted behind his back, and handcuffs were snapped on. Kwon Taekjoo, helplessly pinned, glared at Zhenya. He kept gesturing with his head, urging him to quickly resolve this damn situation.

However, Zhenya merely leisurely scanned the interior of the restaurant. He was probably assessing the situation himself, but shouldn’t he choose the time and place for such nonchalance? Kwon Taekjoo, whose body was pinned by the officer, was roughly pulled up. The officer, who had handcuffed Kwon Taekjoo’s wrists, took a deep breath. Only then did he ask his stumbling colleague if he was alright. The officer with a bloody nose snorted and approached Kwon Taekjoo. The hand that pushed his back, urging him to go, clearly held resentment.

Kwon Taekjoo stubbornly held his ground, not moving an inch. His eyes still fixed on Zhenya, who remained contemplative, urged him on.

“Move it, now!”

The burly officer shouted excitedly. Yet, when Kwon Taekjoo didn’t budge, he raised his hand as if to strike. A brutal fist was about to smash into his face. At that moment, something swiftly and fluidly blocked his path.

“…Gasp!”

His vision was obscured, so he couldn’t tell what was happening. Zhenya was now standing tall like a wall in front of Kwon Taekjoo. He had the officer who had charged at Kwon Taekjoo by the throat with one hand. He squeezed so hard that the officer’s face turned blue in a moment. His wide eyes looked as if they would pop out of their sockets at any moment. Zhenya released him with a dismissive shove, not even breathing a sound. With that effortless motion, the burly officer fell away helplessly. As blood rushed back, his face and neck instantly turned bright red.

“Let’s see first for a moment.”

Zhenya looked down at the officers and demanded gently. The two wary officers looked at each other with puzzled expressions. After repeatedly exchanging glances, one of the officers gestured for him to follow. Zhenya glanced back at Kwon Taekjoo once, then silently followed him outside.

Meanwhile, Kwon Taekjoo was made to sit near the window. He could see Zhenya talking with the officers outside the window. The man occasionally wore a business-like smile, carrying on the conversation without difficulty. He tried to guess the contents by reading their lips, but it wasn’t easy. The officer with him kept hovering right in front of his face. His ample backside kept intruding into his vision whenever he tried to focus.

Soon, Zhenya and the officers returned to the restaurant. He looked at Zhenya, seeking an explanation. The man just smirked and shrugged. The officer who had gone out with him also didn’t offer any explanation to his curious colleague. He simply gave a slight nod towards Kwon Taekjoo and gave an unexpected order.

“Release him.”

Whether the conversation had gone well or not, the glance at Zhenya was displeased. Immediately, the handcuffs that had been tightening around his wrists were released.

The two officers exchanged brief greetings and left the restaurant. The owner, who had watched the entire situation unfold, tilted his head. Kwon Taekjoo was just as bewildered.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing. Just gave them a few rubles for drinks.”

He brushed it off vaguely. Still deeply suspicious, Kwon Taekjoo crossed his arms and scrutinized Zhenya thoroughly. The man smiled languidly, meeting his gaze as long as he wanted. He was always grinning like that, yet he exuded a strange oppressive aura. It was hard to shake the suspicion that his nonchalant demeanor wasn’t his true nature.

He seemed relaxed, but he was not a loose man. He was audacious and uninhibited, yet he didn’t act thoughtlessly. He wondered how he had found Kwon Taekjoo, but it seemed he had thought this far in that short time. He must have intended to first track the card’s usage, and if they missed each other, he would report it stolen, just like now. And the other party’s predicament probably wasn’t a consideration in that process. His personality was remarkably bad. Even though it was Bogdanoff’s car, he had fired relentlessly despite knowing his partner was in it.

Zhenya paid no mind to Kwon Taekjoo’s suspicious gaze. Instead, he acted shamelessly, as if saying, “Look all you want.” His arrogance bothered Kwon Taekjoo, who openly sneered.

“What makes you so busy? Is it really that hard to see your face?”

“Why, do you want to keep seeing it by your side?”

No. I want to pull both your ears and sew them into your mouth.

He gritted his teeth and forced a smile. His gaze, which had been fixed on Zhenya, suddenly shifted beyond his shoulder. He grabbed Zhenya’s jaw, who was about to turn and look, and then met his eyes again, his lips barely moving.

“Some bastard’s been glancing over here for a while. Are we being followed?”

“…Huh?”

“You’re not careful.”

“What should we do?”

“Shake him off.”

“Then you stay here. I’ll take care of it and come back.”

“Tell me now if you need help.”

“Thanks, but I’ll decline.”

He replied with a smile and left. As Zhenya stepped out of the restaurant, the person hiding around the corner of the alley was startled. Zhenya walked quickly towards him, his long coat fluttering. The flustered spy immediately bolted. Zhenya slowly followed him, and soon the two disappeared from Kwon Taekjoo’s sight.

Zhenya reappeared just two or three minutes later. Kwon Taekjoo’s brows furrowed deeply when he saw him. The cumbersome, excessively long coat he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen.

“Your coat?”

“I threw it away.”

He didn’t ask why. He vaguely understood the reason. However, Zhenya deliberately explained the situation he had omitted earlier.

“Because it got something dirty on it.”

He glanced at the man’s fingertips. Even if he tried not to notice, his eyes involuntarily went there. Those fingers had pierced someone’s eyeballs. Where was it today? If he threw away the entire coat, was it the neck? Perhaps he crushed their nose and mouth to cut off their breath. The thought, though absurd, was entirely plausible for the man, and it instantly turned his stomach. Somehow, the man seemed more like Psikh Bogdanoff than the one who died in the river.

Zhenya’s finger, which had been glaring at him, suddenly flicked. He flinched without realizing it. A low chuckle then erupted from above his head. When he grudgingly looked up, Zhenya’s face was spread with a mischievous smile. He really didn’t like it.

Zhenya casually handed something to Kwon Taekjoo, who was frowning intensely.

“Stop looking elsewhere and look at this instead.”

What the man handed him was an invitation. There was an upcoming banquet at the Kremlin to celebrate the signing of the Russia-Japan contract. Japanese delegates and various Russian dignitaries were expected to attend. Kwon Taekjoo intended to infiltrate it as Sakamoto Hiro. But the sudden terror attack had thrown all his plans into disarray.

However, the date written on the invitation was different from what he had known. It seemed they had changed the schedule due to the unfortunate incident at the hotel where the Japanese delegation was staying. Inspections, searches, and security would surely be tightened.

How was he going to infiltrate? While he was pondering, Zhenya took back the invitation he had been looking at.

“This is just for show. The real party will be held after this.”

“The real party?”

“Not far from the Kremlin, there’s the Bogdanoff family mansion. The head of that family is the de facto head of Gazprom. The second son is close friends with the president. After state-level events, they always hold an after-party banquet at their mansion. Even those who weren’t invited to the Kremlin attend that event, apparently. The kings of the underworld, the big shot who control Russia’s cash flow. They’re the true VIPs, you see. They’re the kind of people who’ll do anything for money, so they’re quite useful sources of information. If you meet them, you might get a clue about ‘Anastasia.’”

“You don’t mean that Bogdanoff is the Bogdanoff I know, do you?”

“Why wouldn’t he be?”

“They’re holding such a party even though their own flesh and blood just died?”

He couldn’t understand. By now, Psikh Bogdanoff’s body would have been found. How could they host a banquet, even for a state event, when there was a death in the family?

“Do you really think he died?”

“Then he didn’t?”

“Unfortunately. I made some inquiries, and only two bodies were found in that river.”

No wonder. It had been too easy, considering how many times he had been warned. Still, he had been unconscious, and the gunshot wound had caused significant bleeding, making him think recovery would be difficult. Moreover, the river water was so cold that the edges were frozen solid, rapidly draining body heat. To survive in such harsh conditions, he truly was no ordinary man, just as he had heard. His survival meant that Kwon Taekjoo could become his target again at any time. He felt uneasy but tried to shake it off.

“How can you guarantee we’ll get a clue about Anastasia there?”

Zhenya seemed to have anticipated the question and immediately handed him something. It was a folded envelope. He snatched it and immediately checked the contents. It contained copies of old newspaper articles and an unidentified ledger. The ledger listed dozens of Russian and Korean names.

He scanned the names, then flipped through the copies of the articles. Each article detailed who had died and how, on a certain past date. But somehow, the names of the deceased seemed familiar.

He double-checked the list with a suspicious expression. His eyes widened. The names of the deceased listed in the articles largely matched the names in the ledger. Zhenya explained the reason.

“These are the people who participated in the development of Anastasia. They’re all dead now, though.”

“Why did they die?”

“Well. Why do you think they died?”

He asked back, his lips curving upwards. His expression was mischievous, like someone teasing a clueless child. He vaguely had a guess, but he couldn’t jump to conclusions. The nagging suspicion kept him from making progress in his thoughts. He nudged Zhenya’s constantly grinning shoe and urged him to answer. Zhenya only opened his mouth after savoring Kwon Taekjoo’s impatient expression for a long time.

“Anastasia is a weapon of mass destruction with unprecedented destructive power. As such, much is hidden. Everyone talks about Anastasia, but in reality, there are many cases where they don’t even know what kind of weapon it is. They fear it vaguely without knowing what it is. No, they fear it precisely because they don’t know. Perhaps the fact that nothing is known about it, that might be Anastasia’s true power. But once development is complete, the story changes. Those who participated in the research will scatter, and someone among them might carelessly blab about Anastasia’s true identity and principles, which have only circulated as rumors. That can’t be allowed, can it? Anastasia must be, and always will be, an unprecedented terror.”

Kwon Taekjoo’s brows furrowed. He didn’t need to hear the rest to understand the correlation between ‘Anastasia’ and the ledger. Zhenya nodded, adding conviction.

“They were all slaughtered. So that a weapon like that can never be developed again.”

For a moment, he was speechless. They weren’t killed for stealing secrets or turning traitor. They were simply preemptively eliminated to prevent any such attempts.

He looked down at the list again, bewildered. Then he noticed something strange and raised an objection.

“But…!”

“Yes, there are some who survived even through that.”

Names from the Bogdanoff family also appeared on the list. Yet, they were clearly alive and well. How should one interpret their survival, when most participants in the ‘Anastasia’ development met their deaths? Kwon Taekjoo, continuing his conjectures, looked at Zhenya with a struck expression. A knowing smile spread across Zhenya’s lips.

The Bogdanoff family was clearly involved in the ‘Anastasia’ research. However, while almost all involved parties died, they remained unscathed. Doesn’t that prove they were the ones who eliminated the researchers? To fully possess the absolute weapon, so that nothing similar could ever be created again.

Zhenya stared intently at Kwon Taekjoo’s now serious face.

“Well. Do you feel like enjoying the party now?”

“…It’s a tiger’s den. And I’m about to jump in naked.”

Kwon Taekjoo shook his head and lamented. If the information Zhenya brought was correct, the Bogdanoff family was likely to know Anastasia’s whereabouts. The problem was his own situation. The party was tomorrow night. Even if he contacted headquarters through Zhenya, it would be difficult to receive material support in just one day. And infiltrating unarmed was out of the question.

“Surely headquarters wouldn’t have failed to prepare for something like that.”

Zhenya chuckled and said, “Let’s go.” After paying for the food, they stepped out of the restaurant, and a convertible was parked outside. Its sleek appearance perfectly matched its owner. Zhenya practically shoved the bewildered Kwon Taekjoo into the passenger seat and sped off down the road.

About 30 to 40 minutes passed. Gradually, tall buildings disappeared, and people became scarce. What could be in such a place? As he looked around suspiciously, the car stopped.

“Get out.”

He obeyed obediently, constantly surveying his surroundings. There were no warehouses or garages in sight. Only one dilapidated, crumbling building caught his eye. It was a shop with a bookstore sign, but it seemed to have closed long ago; there likely weren’t any customers.

Filled with doubt, he followed Zhenya. The man, striding ahead, personally lifted the shutter and went inside. Kwon Taekjoo followed him into the unlit building.

Zhenya opened another inner door and disappeared down a dark staircase. Kwon Taekjoo inadvertently followed, almost missing a step and tumbling down. He wished Zhenya could have at least mentioned there were stairs; the man utterly lacked such consideration. Suppressing his annoyance towards Zhenya, he fumbled along the wall, continuing to descend into the pitch-black darkness.

Finally, his feet touched a flat floor. His vision was still black, but he could feel the thick layer of dust. Each movement stirred up a hazy white powder, making his nose tingle.

But something was a bit strange. If it was a bookstore basement, there should be old books piled up, but there was no peculiar smell of them.

A moment later, a click sounded, and the lights came on.

“……?”

The ceiling lights allowed him to distinguish objects, but his vision was still dim. He frowned and slowly looked around. Soon, he understood the source of the persistent strangeness he had felt. Large bookshelves stood on all sides of the basement, but there were no books anywhere. Only an old telephone sat in the middle of the empty shelves.

Why on earth had Zhenya dragged him all the way here? As questions and annoyance swelled within him, Zhenya approached the telephone. He picked up the receiver and slowly dialed. 3, 9, 1, 6, 5. As the dial, pulled back to ‘5’, spun back to its original position, a faint mechanical beep sounded from somewhere.

Following that, the empty bookshelves began to rotate with a heavy grinding sound. This stirred up thick dust. When he squeezed his itching eyes shut and opened them again, the old bookshelves were gone. In their place stood sleek metal storage cabinets. The cabinets displayed a neat array of firearms, advanced equipment, and small bombs.