Codename Anastasia Novel (End) - Chapter 33

Zhenya couldn’t escape the same fate. A man, who had been meticulously searching his body, kept tilting his head as he reached Zhenya’s crotch. It seemed he wondered if there was really a human body part in there. His gaze was suspicious, as if he suspected Zhenya was hiding something else, pretending it was his genitals. The outline even somewhat resembled a firearm. As the man seemed to be debating whether to check, Zhenya smiled slyly. Immediately after, Zhenya’s penis wiggled from side to side. The aghast man cleared his throat awkwardly and quickly retreated.

Around that time, a stout Russian man descended, leading his subordinates. It was Sergei Ilyich, said to be a distant relative of Vissarion, the true power of the Bogdanov family. At one time, he too was a Duma member, but that glory was long past. Having been plagued by all sorts of scandals and rumors, he had been virtually expelled from politics and hid himself here. It was said that he had turned his attention from the public world of power to the underground world from then on.

The old mansion built on Siberian land seemed to reflect his circumstances. He understood why he had hidden the meticulously developed ‘SS-29’ here. No one would suspect that the Bogdanov family, Russia’s most powerful family, would entrust such an important item to a distant relative in the provinces.

Sergei Ilyich stood with his hands clasped over his cane. He was fleshy, but his legs didn’t appear particularly impaired. Thus, the cane, inlaid with large jewels, was nothing more than an ornament. He stopped midway on the steps and looked down at Kwon Taekjoo from afar. Kwon Taekjoo calmly met his gaze. A gaze trying to ferret something out and a gaze trying to conceal something were sharply opposed.

Sergei soon broke into a sly smile.

“How did you get here?”

“I found a good item, and I thought I’d show it to you.”

It was Zhenya who answered the question. Sergei’s gaze shifted past Kwon Taekjoo to him.

“A good item?”

“Let’s go inside and discuss it slowly. It doesn’t seem like a product to be revealed casually out here.”

“Well, the house is a mess right now…”

He made a flimsy excuse, stalling. Zhenya, with a voice full of certainty, urged him on.

“You’ll definitely like it.”

It was a voice that would tempt anyone. Is that why he’s called a salesman? It conveyed strong conviction and confidence, even the coldness of this being the only chance. Sergei’s expression became quite serious.

He couldn’t help but ponder. Currently, Hong Yewook was staying in his mansion, and the ‘SS-29’ was hidden there. If he carelessly let guests in and related secrets were leaked or unnecessary trouble arose, his position would be quite awkward. But to give up checking the item Zhenya brought without even looking at it, his insides seemed to itch with curiosity.

Sergei smiled awkwardly, looking back and forth between Zhenya and Kwon Taekjoo. Then, firming his resolve, he gave a brief nod. As he turned and ascended the steps, his subordinates released the two they had been holding. Kwon Taekjoo brushed off his wrinkled clothes and followed Zhenya, who was walking ahead. They seemed to have successfully piqued Sergei’s interest. It was a good start.

Soon, the two were led to Sergei’s private study. Sergei, sitting at the head of the table, offered a handshake first.

“It’s been a long time.”

Zhenya lightly nodded his head and clasped his hand. Sergei gestured towards Kwon Taekjoo, as if seeking an explanation.

“This is from the Korean intelligence agency…”

“Im Daehyung.”

Kwon Taekjoo extended his hand first. He shamelessly impersonated Director Im. Since the real Director Im would be doing well in Korea, he wouldn’t be unjustly accused by being mentioned in this matter. Things might get a little complicated and he might suffer a bit, but that much was the price for Kwon Taekjoo pushing himself into this operation.

Sergei freely clasped Kwon Taekjoo’s hand.

“I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

His thick fingers were completely covered in rings. If there was an Earthling who was sad to have only ten fingers, it would be him. As he released his hand, whether it was his imagination or not, Sergei’s fingers subtly tickled the center of his palm as they withdrew. He flinched without meaning to. As if he had seen everything, Zhenya silently snickered.

“We don’t have much time, so let’s get straight to the point. You said you brought a good item?”

Sergei asked without preamble. Zhenya began his prepared explanation.

“Though not yet known in the industry, about three months ago, a program was created as a joint Korean-American venture. The two countries, having recognized the importance of information preemption early on, devised a method to spy like ghosts. With that program, there’s no need to dispatch elite agents to directly steal information or painstakingly breach robust security networks. Strictly speaking, it’s hacking, but it leaves absolutely no trace. There’s no need to risk direct contact with the enemy. All you need to do is borrow a communication device from one of their acquaintances for a short time. The moment that acquaintance sends a call, SNS message, text, or email to the enemy, the malicious code automatically transfers. This allows you to track all information entering and leaving the enemy’s phone in real-time. The target will never know their information is being extracted. What do you think? Isn’t it intriguing?”

“Hmm? That sounds like something out of a spy movie.”

“Now it’s reality.”

Zhenya pulled out his phone and placed it on the table. Sergei, half-doubting, gingerly picked it up. The first menu he checked was messages. As he meticulously scrolled through thousands of messages, his cheek intermittently twitched. His expression was ambiguous, as if he was smiling but not. How would it feel to find messages he had sent to a specific person on a third party’s phone?

Sergei soon put down the phone and rubbed his hands together.

“This is… awkward.”

“You don’t have to answer immediately. If you want, I can wait for about a day.”

He offered a day’s grace. Sergei looked at Zhenya with significant eyes and chuckled. Still, he seemed to be agonizing, repeatedly tapping his forehead, lost in thought. Occasionally, his eyes darted back and forth between Zhenya and Kwon Taekjoo. He coveted the product itself too much, but he seemed suspicious as to why such a good item had been brought to him of all people.

Sergei hesitated for a long time, then finally nodded.

“Understood. I will consider it carefully and make a decision. The price won’t be cheap, and yet, it’s a quite attractive item to just let go of. In the meantime, would you be able to stay here, humble as it is?”

It would take at least a day for those connected to the ‘SS-29’ to arrive. For Sergei, it was simply a matter of deciding before then. If he was interested, he could acquire the item; if he ultimately hesitated to buy, he could simply send the two away. The only thing to be careful about was not to reveal the existence of the ‘SS-29.’

In other words, during that one day, before Sergei made his decision, they had to find the ‘SS-29.’

Kwon Taekjoo smiled and readily accepted his offer.

“Of course.”

As soon as he entered the room, he became busy. He stood with his back to the door, surveying the overall structure of the room. Walking along the walls, he also checked all the windows. He meticulously examined the shape of the window frames, the quality of the glass, then tried pulling them inward and pushing them outward. The fixed windows wouldn’t budge. Moreover, outside was a sheer cliff. Everything was as expected. They wouldn’t give a good room to an unfamiliar guest. It seemed difficult to move anywhere within the mansion without going through the guard-patrolled corridor.

He took out a lighter from his pocket. It was a small device that used high heat to cut through glass or thin metal sheets. He had used it before at the Bogdanov mansion. When he pulled out the burner, a long tube came out with it. He bent it into an L-shape and spun the flint wheel. A few flashes appeared at the end of the burner, and then a high-temperature flame shot up. With it, he cleanly cut a large hole in the window facing the cliff.

He temporarily set the cleanly cut piece on the windowsill and extended his left wrist through the hole. He pressed his head close to the window, pointing his wristwatch towards the sky. When he pressed the time adjustment button on the side, the watch face opened and something shot upward. The object, soaring in a straight line, quickly disappeared from view. Before long, a click echoed in the air.

Kwon Taekjoo took off his wristwatch, opened the inner cover, and pulled out a miniature memory chip. He inserted it into his phone and brought up the saved files. Immediately, a cross-section of the mansion appeared on his phone screen. As if he had x-rayed the mansion from the air, he could grasp the building’s structure at a glance. Even hidden spaces in the walls and floor were revealed without a filter.

Kwon Taekjoo sent the cross-section to Zhenya as well, then deduced the storage location of the ‘SS-29’. There were three or four places he suspected: the basement storage, the attic of the spire, behind the second bookshelf in the study, and a hidden space within Sergei’s bedroom.

He pressed the earpiece to try and communicate with Zhenya.

“It looks like we’ll have to search everywhere.”

“I’ll study. The security there is particularly tight; it should be interesting.”

“Don’t kill innocent people. It’s a pain to clean up afterwards.”

“I’ve never laid a hand on an innocent person. I was merely protecting myself, legitimately.”

‘Legitimate’ is not a word that exists for you, you bastard. He clicked his tongue in displeasure, then ended the meaningless conversation.

“Then I’ll start with the basement. Good luck.”

As soon as the communication ended, he alternated glances between the door and the bathroom. He quickly made up his mind and headed for the bathroom. Given the mansion’s purpose, surveillance cameras would likely be hidden not only in the corridors and stairwells, but also in ordinary fire extinguishers, framed pictures on the walls, and even potted plants. With uninvited guests, security would be even tighter. In a situation where he couldn’t be certain where the ‘SS-29’ was, a reckless frontal assault was out of the question. When outnumbered, avoiding conflict was the best option.

According to the cross-section, a ventilation fan seemed to be installed in the bathroom ceiling. The vents of all rooms were connected to each other, leading directly to the spire to discharge air. The basement was no exception.

He locked the bathroom door and turned on the shower. A vigorous stream of water poured out. He drew the opaque shower curtain to conceal his absence.

After completing a series of tasks, he stepped onto the toilet and removed the ventilation fan cover. When he put his head into the neatly opened vent, a dark passage came into view. It wasn’t a spacious area, but it seemed feasible for crawling.

He effortlessly climbed onto the ceiling. The low ceiling of the ventilation shaft pressed against his back. Even a slight wiggle caused a cloud of dust to rise, tickling his nose and throat. He buried his face in his arm and suppressed his cough for a long time.

He turned on his headlamp and illuminated the path ahead. He thought he could distinguish about 1 meter in front. He took a short deep breath, then began to crawl, alternating his elbows. He was careful, so careful, not to make the ceiling reverberate.

As he passed a room and approached the corridor, he heard muffled voices from below. They seemed to be the guards stationed in front of Kwon Taekjoo’s room. Leaving their mundane chatter behind, he advanced with bated breath.

Soon, a fork appeared. Kwon Taekjoo briefly turned on his phone to recheck the cross-section. To go to the basement, he had to turn left. As he twisted his body and moved to the left, a sloping incline appeared. It seemed to be the path to the lower floor. As before, he shifted half his weight onto one elbow and stretched his upper body forward. At that moment, the floor suddenly gave way.

“……!”