The phone rang four or five times before it was picked up. The background noise was a bit chaotic, as if he was in a noisy place.
"Yo, what's up?" a slightly hoarse male voice came through. It was Park Ji-hoon.
"It's me, Johnny," Johnny's voice was low.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and the background noise quickly diminished, as if Park Ji-hoon had walked to a quiet place.
"Wow! Mr. Zhang? What made you suddenly think of calling me? Have you come to Korea? Are you in trouble?"
Park Ji-hoon spoke very fast. After all, Johnny had helped him a great deal last time, not only saving his childhood sweetheart but also enabling him to take out Choi Mun-han.
And he is still the agent of Choi Group. As for why he is still the agent of Choi Group, this is due to his series of maneuvers.
However, he has managed to secure his position. In the future, Choi Group will still be Choi Group on the surface, but behind the scenes, Park Ji-hoon will be in power.
"I met someone," Johnny cut straight to the chase without pleasantries. "A man, very skilled, very professional. We had a confrontation today in an underground parking lot in Yeosu."
He then briefly described Leo's general physique and tactical characteristics, omitting specific details and the exact outcome.
"Do you know anyone like that? Or, have you heard any new developments in Yeosu recently?"
Johnny, of course, knew that Choi Conglomerate was a legitimate business on the surface, but behind the scenes, Park Ji-hoon must have had contact with many others.
Park Ji-hoon smacked his lips on the other end of the phone, seemingly deep in thought.
"But someone with the style you described… I haven't heard of any outside experts coming specifically recently. Wait… let me check…"
He paused, his voice dropping even lower, "Lee Joong-ku just went in this afternoon, and you encountered something like this? Interesting."
"You know about it too?" Johnny was not surprised.
"I just saw the information. This matter has caused quite a stir in Yeosu. Many people who were preparing to do business with Goldmoon Group are now observing. The Tiger Faction people are like headless flies right now."
Park Ji-hoon's tone carried a hint of schadenfreude, then became serious again, "However, the person you mentioned… I do remember someone. About half a year ago, a guy came over from Jeju Island. His code name seemed to be Shadow. He's said to be very powerful, but his whereabouts are very elusive. He takes jobs based on his mood and doesn't show up often."
Park Ji-hoon's tone paused, as if he was flipping through information on a tablet, "No one knows his true identity or appearance. But it's not certain if it's him."
Based on the intelligence provided by Park Ji-hoon, Johnny had reason to suspect it was this guy, but he couldn't be sure.
"Shadow…"
Johnny silently repeated the code name.
This was somewhat similar to the style of the person he had fought: professional, calm, and with an unclear objective.
"Mr. Zhang," Park Ji-hoon's tone carried a hint of warning, "According to the news I just saw, Yeosu is a whirlpool right now. Lee Joong-ku has fallen, but the Tiger Faction hasn't disbanded, and Goldmoon Group internally is even more… hmph, with Ding Qing not around, some people's ambitions are stirring."
As an outsider, Park Ji-hoon saw things very clearly. This series of events ultimately pointed to none other than Lee Joong-ku and Ding Qing.
"This incident you ran into might not be aimed at you personally, but more likely at… Representative Ding Qing."
"I know," Johnny replied.
Park Ji-hoon's view confirmed part of his speculation.
Yeosu City was already a large whirlpool, and many people were drawn into it, not just Ding Qing and Lee Joong-ku, but also police officers, and people like Li Zicheng who were suspected of being courted by the police.
"Be careful, especially…"
Park Ji-hoon hesitated, "Be careful of the people around you. Oh, right, it's Director Li Zicheng. He's getting too close to the police."
This surprised Johnny a bit. He didn't expect Park Ji-hoon, all the way in Seoul, to be so well-informed about the situation here.
However, on second thought, it made sense. After all, the other party is currently in charge of a large conglomerate like Choi Group, so his intelligence would naturally be extremely detailed.
It's not that simple to secure that position; a bunch of people are eyeing it, and if he didn't have some ability, he would have been removed long ago.
"I don't believe that Lee Joong-ku fell so quickly without someone pushing it from behind."
That capable secretary who had always been by Choi Mun-han's side had also grown, at least now he handled matters methodically and had his own views and suggestions.
"Thank you."
Johnny knew that he could probably only get this much information from Park Ji-hoon. Seoul and Yeosu were, after all, some distance apart, and Park Ji-hoon had his own position, so he wouldn't speak too plainly.
However, he was not wrong. Lee Joong-ku's downfall was too sudden. He was taken away by the police without any warning. There must be something fishy going on here; either Li Zicheng had already started to cooperate with the police, or there were other people manipulating things.
"If you come back to Seoul, buy me a drink," Park Ji-hoon said, then hung up the phone decisively.
He didn't think Johnny couldn't survive in such a whirlpool. On the contrary, he believed that with Johnny's strength, surviving would be incredibly easy. Although he had made a lot of money from here last time, that belonged to Choi Conglomerate, what did it have to do with him?
Johnny put down his phone, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the coffee table.
Shadow… Li Zicheng… the police… the Imperial Sun Faction… Ding Qing… Lee Joong-ku… there were many fragments of information, but they lacked a thread to connect them.
That assassin named "Shadow," if he was hired by the remnants of the Tiger Faction, his actions should have been crazier.
If it was Li Zicheng… why would he test himself?
Eliminating dissidents?
Or demonstrating his capabilities to the police?
Or, was it Ding Qing's own arrangement?
A cold test of loyalty?
Each possibility carried a bone-chilling coldness.
Disordered clues kept swirling in Johnny's mind, but it shouldn't be Ding Qing's test. After all, he was just an assassin, temporarily hired as his bodyguard, and he was American, so it was impossible for him to stay in Korea for long. Therefore, testing him was meaningless.
But what after ruling out the Ding Qing option?
It was a bit messy, and he couldn't figure it out.
"Damn it, I'm just an assassin, why think so much? Wouldn't it be better to just rush through it?"
Ultimately, Johnny forcibly ended this line of thought. After all, he was just an assassin, and a foreign one at that. It was impossible for him to stay in this place for long. If worse came to worst, he would use the bullet method to reason with them.
He rechecked the door lock and then used a small electronic detector to scan the room, confirming that no listening or surveillance devices had been installed. This was his basic operating procedure.
After doing all this, he sat back on the sofa. The air conditioning in the room hummed softly, making the surrounding silence even more pronounced.
He didn't need to turn on the lights; in the dark, his senses were sharper. Time passed minute by minute. He was waiting, like a lurking hunter, and also like hunted prey.
He didn't know how long passed, maybe an hour, maybe two.
Finally, an extremely faint, almost imperceptible sound of footsteps came from outside the corridor, stopping at his door.
There was no knock, no beeping sound of a key card unlocking the door.
Only dead silence.
Johnny's hand silently tightened around the grip of the glock 34, his index finger lightly resting outside the trigger guard, his muscles slightly tensed, his breathing slowed, and his gaze sharply fixed on the door.
Outside the door, no breathing could be heard either.
The other party was an expert.
Next, it would either be a storm-like assault, or… a silent retreat.
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