Back to the Present
Rafael thought back to that incident. Yes, he had faked his death and had to remove any kind of scent from him. There was a necklace gifted to him with the book, but he had it sealed away so it couldn't be tracked.
The book, however, was a treasure trove. After Atlas secured its title as a global corporation, he formed a new task force called God Slayers (codename Omega-2). They were armed with experimental weapons and trained to fight supernatural entities. Joining their ranks was a brutal selection process that took around two months. Out of 150 participants, only 3, 5, or 10 were able to make it. Last year, only 5 succeeded, and 5 operatives died from a special recon operation. The 10-man operation's objective was to find the location of a certain woman, but they ran into a large group of vampires under her command. They were able to neutralize them, but the sheer numbers resulted in the deaths of 5 operatives in combat. The reason was that they were a splinter group that wished to use the woman's blood to bring about an age of vampires.
Due to Rafael's interference, he literally stopped them. But that wasn't all; Rafael mobilized the Red Right Hand and Wardens to take that group down. Within 24 hours, all of them were dead, and their plan was dismantled. Rafael tortured their leaders for more information about their community.
This wasn't the only problem. His agents reported that she had extended her influence into inner Europe and parts of the Middle East. Rafael gave a chilling order that nearly terrified the director of the ASIB.
'Impede her efforts by any means necessary. Prevent her from searching into Southeast Asia and the American continent. All resources are at your disposal,' Rafael recalled, leaning back.
While he figured out that he had a sister staying in Japan, he gave a secondary order to disrupt and intercept any information about him. He didn't want to risk a supernatural war just because he fought one of their royals.
A few hours later, they arrived back at his estate, where he ate a 5-course meal for dinner. After that, he took a shower and headed toward his work desk, where he began reviewing documents. These were the latest reports, intel reports, and developments of different projects. It was reported that there had been 2,000 engagements, and the majority of them were being taken down by Special Activities, who used any tactics to break the engagement—by either seducing, elopement, scandal, or eliminating the entire family. But for the selected large families, they couldn't do anything for now except gather information, since eliminating them would bring untold consequences.
After reviewing the intel, he got a call from the ASIB station chief in South Korea, who gave him a rundown of the cold war between the chaebol families and the internal battles among the different underground organizations for territory or influence. These families had a trend of assassinating their opponents using trucks and gangs or by hiring mercenaries.
"Good job on gathering this much information, but this time I want you to infiltrate the NIS and the ROK army command. I want to know which side they are on, do you understand?" Rafael said with an authoritative tone.
"Yes, sir. I will send the progress report next week," he replied and was about to prepare the teams for infiltration.
After the call ended, Rafael checked the reports one last time before leaving his desk. He prepared his clothes for tomorrow, which were a gray long-sleeve shirt and black long pants with rubber shoes from Atlas's finest. He also brought out a SIG Sauer P226 pistol with 6 magazines and a Cold Steel Gladius knife. After setting them near the bed, he crashed onto the bed and fell asleep.
Next Day
After doing his morning routine, he ate his food in comfortable silence since he had added a little routine of pulling an SUV. During that exercise, medical teams recorded the data and sent it to the development office.
With that done, he took a shower and changed into his prepared clothes. He exited the door, where three armored SUVs were waiting with his bodyguards. Graves was more prepared than the rest, and they soon left toward the park where Seo-Yun was set to meet him. Field agents were already patrolling it.
1 Hour Later, Namsan Mountain Park
As the convoy arrived at the parking lot, he saw another convoy with bodyguards, which meant Seo-Yun had arrived first.
"The lady has been waiting for you at the peak. Please follow me," a bodyguard said. Rafael gave a signal, and Michael and Graves followed him, while the rest made sure their talks weren't disturbed.
"Sure," he said.
Rafael's POV
'What the heck? Was she able to rent this mountain?' Rafael thought as he saw the entire park deserted, with only his and her bodyguards guarding each location or entrance.
A moment later, he arrived at the peak where an open and large area was covered in tall trees that were a few feet apart, with golden leaves falling to the ground. As he got closer to the location where she was waiting, he saw a bench where she sat, overlooking the blue, crystal lake.
"So, what's there to discuss?" Rafael said as he approached the bench. Seo-Yun made eye contact and spoke.
"Let's go for a walk," she said and stood up. She wore a marble-white summer dress with a white overcoat, and her hair was meticulously brushed.
"The shares are divided among the relatives, and I have mine inherited from my father, but I have to take some from my aunts and uncles. They have gangs and ex-military teams under them, and everyday incidents of kidnappings happen, so it has been annoying," she said while they walked the paved path.
"How experienced are they since gun laws restrict them from carrying guns or even purchasing them unless…" Rafael paused and realized something was off.
"You can say that they are getting outside support. Someone is only arming them and giving them monetary support, but the majority of the people trying to either harm or kidnap me are armed with knives," she said, looking at his bodyguards, who wouldn't leave him within a 50-meter radius since they didn't want to repeat the kidnapping incident.
"I want you to train my bodyguards to be on the level of the presidential bodyguard or Secret Service since your bodyguards are very experienced," she said.
"Why not hire guards from Atlas, since in the package they will be armed with pistols?" Rafael said.
"It's a matter of reputation. I must not rely on outside security, so that's why I hope for you to train my bodyguards," she said.
"Okay, fine, but I will not be training them. I will call someone who can train them, and I will send some of my men from my detail to give them security training. Lastly, I will provide you with equipment and weapons to better protect yourself," Rafael said and continued to list the prices, which would be discounted.
"When can you contact him?" Seo-Yun asked.
"In 24 hours, since his location isn't reachable by cell service. And for your bodyguard, select people who are considered trustworthy," he said and turned to look at Michael, who nodded and left the two.
"Okay, give me the largest to smallest shareholder," Rafael asked and looked around with suspicious eyes.
"Tell me, do family members spy on each other and how do you deal with it?" Rafael asked again.
"Yes, I know we spy on each other, but I haven't found a way to remove them yet," she said until Rafael pointed out two people in the distance.
"They are agents working for my aunt, and she owns a telecommunication company and manages the family's telephone company, so that's why she has spies. She's good at subtle manipulation," she said.
A few seconds later, she saw two park workers wearing face masks. One of them was pushing a large garbage bin, and the other pulled out a Daewoo K5 and fired four shots—two into each of the spies' chests. Another worker appeared behind them and stabbed an ice pick into the back of their necks.
They quickly grabbed the bodies. The one pushing the bin opened the lid and shoved them inside, while the one who fired the pistol picked up the shell casings and put them into a pouch on his utility belt and wiped the small bloodstains.
The agents under Seo-Yun's aunts that were tapping the communications of her bodyguards were cut off as Rafael's own agents found them and captured them. Some of them were let go, but this time they were sleeper agents under Atlas and would sow chaos when ready.
"His name is Darius Rivera, a former elite operative under the Philippine army who served in different special operations units and went MIA after many unrecorded missions. Long story short, he works for me by providing him with commissions, and he's training my jungle corps," Rafael explained. Michael walked near him and handed him a phone.
"This is Rafael speaking," Rafael said in a serious tone.
"What commission do you need from me, Mr. Villanueva?" a rough voice spoke.
"I have a job for you here in South Korea, and I will send someone to brief you over the details. A plane will be waiting for you at the nearest airport," Rafael said in Tagalog, which caused Seo-Yun to look at him with a confused expression.
"What's the catch?" Darius asked. Around him, a few bodies lay lifelessly on the ground with knife cuts, and on his other arm, he was holding an insurgent by the throat.
Crack.
On the other side, Rafael heard the neck crack and said, "The catch is that you work as my fiancée's head bodyguard for a year and train her bodyguards to be on the level of special forces." Rafael explained. The two found another bench and sat down.
"Sure, I accept it. I want them to be fully cooperative and capable of surviving the training," Darius said.
"Sure. Just send a list of items you need to Michael, and my fiancée will pay for the rest," Rafael said. He said the last part in English, which caused Seo-Yun to reel back in shock.
"Hey! I'm not spending cash on a freeloader!" she protested.
"Um, yes, you are, since I'm using my money to commission him, and it's your turn to provide the resources. Consider it a 50/50 split on a date, and you're rich, so money isn't your problem," Rafael said. While it was true that he had no problem spending a lot of money, he wanted to keep it and not put it in the negative.
"Fine, but I want to learn to fight," she said.
"Sure, we will have that arranged," Rafael said. She demanded to learn from him since what she had gathered from her grandfather was that Rafael was a good fighter.
"It's not negotiable to learn from me. First, learn from Darius, and if he approves of you completing his class, then you can learn from me," Rafael said. As of now, he wanted peace and didn't want to teach during this time.
"Okay, follow me. Let's do some paperwork," she said.
'Hah, the paperwork never stops,' Rafael thought. But all of his paperwork was sent to Michael, which didn't stress him out. The thing that bugged him the most was that major proposals were sent to him.
To be continued