Chapter 98
***
'Amazing...!!'
Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs Wilson was impressed as he watched the news.
The report said that a Korean had foreseen a typhoon in Oregon, allowing people to avoid serious danger.
Having always been interested in the mysteries of the East, the news excited him considerably.
So he looked into it, and was even more impressed.
The typhoon was not the only thing he had foreseen.
He had foreseen and prevented a shooting in the United States.
He was also someone who used internet broadcasts to foresee and prevent people's misfortunes.
'He's an extraordinary person...!!'
Cuffs had chosen the military as his career because he believed that protecting people was more important than anything else.
He was someone who wanted to protect America and freedom.
He liked exposing corrupt practices, upholding the law and freedom, and protecting people.
That was why, even after joining the military, he worked as an inspector.
To protect American soldiers from corrupt practices.
That was why he couldn't help being shocked when he came to the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
Because the Kang Noah he had only seen on the internet was standing right in front of him.
'My God!! Should I ask him for an autograph?!'
He wondered whether a dignified soldier could do that.
But wasn't this someone he admired?
A hero who had protected countless people by using his abilities without holding anything back.
He wondered whether it could really be wrong to show respect to such a great man.
'It should be fine, right? An autograph, at least...'
As he thought that and began to take out the notebook he always carried, the Asian man who had come with him approached and spoke in English.
"Mr. Kang says that a great deal of the meat in the freezer behind here has spoiled."
"...Pardon? What does that mean? Wait... Is there a problem?"
"If Mr. Kang mentioned it deliberately, then there probably is."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
One of the reasons he had come to Yongsan in the first place was the recent military-procurement scandal.
Some of the goods being supplied to the military were substandard.
He had come to investigate that, but still hadn't found a satisfactory answer, so he asked seriously.
"Military-procurement corruption. Is that what you mean?"
The man who had identified himself as Philip asked Kang Noah, and the hero who looked younger than his own high-school-aged son nodded.
His head spun.
The American soldiers here had been sent abroad to defend freedom.
How could anyone try to harm such people by feeding them substandard food?
He could never forgive it.
"Mr. Kang. If you don't mind, could you help me?"
Cuffs Wilson.
The U.S. Army inspector spoke to Kang Noah solemnly.
He would surely help.
Because he was someone who wanted to protect people.
But he wasn't completely free of tension, so he clenched his fists.
'Please...!!'
He desperately hoped that the hero he admired would make the right choice.
After hearing Philip's translation, Kang Noah stared at Cuffs and answered.
"yes."
Cuffs barely managed to suppress the cheer that almost burst from him at the thought of working alongside his hero.
***
Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs's request for help.
There was no particular reason to refuse.
If I hadn't intended to help in the first place, I wouldn't have stepped forward.
Philip seemed somewhat troubled, but wasn't the CIA also an American government agency working for the country?
Perhaps finding it awkward to refuse a soldier's request, he let out a small sigh.
"I'll handle the interpreting."
"Please do. Then let's go."
With Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs and Philip at my sides, I headed into the dining hall.
Several soldiers tried to stop me when they saw me coming in, but when Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs glared at them, they immediately stepped aside.
"Here we are."
Past the dining hall and through the back, there was a small storage room.
Food supplies were stored here.
"The food is stored here."
Just then, a lieutenant came running over.
The slightly overweight, platinum-blond lieutenant came rushing over, saluted, and began earnestly chattering away in English.
"Who is he?"
"Apparently, he's the food service officer. He says he's in charge of this dining hall."
"Oh-ho."
"According to Inspector Cuffs, this place was checked yesterday."
"But he couldn't have checked everything."
When I told him to open the storage-room door, the anxious-looking lieutenant hesitated.
But the moment Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs barked an order, he hurriedly opened it.
We found a storage room packed with countless American food products.
Among them, I spotted one conspicuous can.
Heinz.
It was a can of tomatoes from the famous American food company, one I knew as well.
Aside from those, most of the things here were also made by companies that were fairly well-known in the United States.
"So there was a refrigerator here too. Hmm... They say meat and fish are stored inside, and there don't seem to be any expiration-date issues..."
"That's not the only refrigerator."
"Pardon?"
I stared intently at the lieutenant.
He was also involved in the military-procurement corruption.
"Hmm... Was it here?"
When I placed my hand on a small chest of drawers in the storage room, the lieutenant's face stiffened.
I smiled at him and pushed the chest of drawers.
It was heavy with various food ingredients on top, so it didn't move easily.
"Give me a hand."
At my words, Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs and Philip came over.
When the three of us put our backs into it, the chest of drawers began to move.
"What the...!!"
Beneath the chest of drawers was a small door.
When I lifted it open, the lieutenant finally sank to the floor.
"Let's go."
I tapped the flashlight app on my phone, illuminating the darkness below.
I climbed down the ladder and pressed the switch beside it, revealing the area below in stark detail.
It wasn't much different from the food-storage room above.
But there was something different.
"These are past their expiration dates. And... where is this, anyway?"
Cans, cooking ingredients, flour, and other items.
Rather than products from the famous companies upstairs, these were all goods from small companies whose names I didn't even recognize—and every one of them had expired long ago.
I opened the refrigerator.
The meat and fish inside it...
Even being charitable, they didn't look to be in very good condition.
"My God... Mr. Kang!! Look at this!!"
In one corner, there was a pile of product stickers from famous companies.
They looked like the stickers attached to the Heinz cans we'd seen earlier.
There was also a device beside the stickers, and judging by its appearance, it seemed to be used to relabel them.
"Huh... There are documents here."
There were relevant documents as well.
While Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs ground his teeth and read them, Philip gave me a rough explanation of their contents.
They claimed to have received deliveries from famous companies, but in reality used products from small companies whose names were barely known.
They reported using products from major companies, then received goods from different ones.
And were those goods even any good?
Not at all.
They were pocketing the difference made in the process.
Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs picked up a can, examined it from side to side, and ground his teeth.
Then he immediately went upstairs and began shouting something in English.
"What is he saying?"
"Half of it is profanity..."
"Then what about the other half?"
"He's saying he'll strip you of your uniform right now and throw you in the military prison... and that since your superior is involved too, he'll investigate him immediately. Something like that."
"But do you think they'll catch the person at the top?"
"I'm not sure."
Military-procurement corruption was a serious matter.
But in the worst case, they could simply cut off the tail.
In other words, it could be treated as an individual's deviation.
"It's best to deal with something like this quickly, right?"
"That's for the best. Giving them time is practically giving them a chance to cover it up."
"Then may I take a look at the guy upstairs?"
"Of course."
I went upstairs with Philip and approached the lieutenant, who was being held by Cuffs and was on the verge of tears.
Then I held out a card.
"He doesn't look like he'll turn it over just because I hold it out... Just a moment."
Philip said something to Cuffs.
And Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs growled with an icy chill in his voice.
The lieutenant quickly turned over the card.
I was curious what exactly Philip had said, but decided not to ask.
The card that appeared was Death reversed.
"This man was only following Major Fatimona's orders."
"Major Fatimona...!!'
Grind.
Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs ground his teeth.
.
.
.
And so began the hunt for the culprit.
I worked with Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs to methodically apprehend everyone involved.
As we kept making arrests, our side grew as well.
They had come at the request of Lieutenant Colonel Cuffs and Philip.
"I'm Colonel Boismacha. I'm the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea Inspector General's Office."
I nodded at Philip's introduction, and the colonel greeted me and held out his hand.
It was a large hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kang. It is an honor to meet the hero of America."
"Oh. You speak Korean well."
"I lived in Korea for a long time once."
The elderly colonel answered bitterly, then looked around at the inspectors working busily.
"We've confirmed that this incident is connected to Major General Fatimona."
"Who is that?"
"One of the trash eating away at America."
So he was one of those useless generals.
Under his orders, there had been serious problems with the food entering U.S. military bases.
Colonel Boismacha let out a heavy sigh.
"It's truly shameful. A man with nothing to do with America protected Americans, while a bastard of a soldier drawing a salary from the United States tried to feed Americans this garbage just to line his own pockets."
There was only one thing I could say to him as he seemed to despair.
"That's just how the world is."
.
.
.
A few days after the incident at the U.S. military base had ended.
"I'm telling you, the Fateful Shackles set is the best for a Berserker."
-Doesn't that make your main attack too weak? It seems like you use it only because of the bonus attack power.
-Bro, you're such a Dungeon noob...
"What?! You called me a Dungeon noob?! Come to the Arena!!"
It was while I was talking at length about Dungeon Fighter in my spare time after telling ten people's fortunes, as usual.
-Huh? Bro? What's this?
-Link
What is it?
When I checked the link, it was an American news report.
It showed an American major general being arrested and dragged away.
Then the screen changed, and Colonel Boismacha, whom I'd seen earlier, was being interviewed.
...
I don't know English.
"Someone translate this for me!!"
-Holy shit!! Bro!! You uncovered corruption in the U.S. military's procurement system too?!
-That guy is giving you a huge shout-out, bro...?
-He says they'd even give you a position as a U.S. military officer if you wanted one...
-What on earth have you been up to?
"Hmm..."
Well, it wasn't all that important.