Mercenary Black Mamba

Mu Ssang lit a cigarette in front of Hwa Ja's grave. Bad blood still was an acquaintance. Hatred wasn't the indifference, either. To the orphaned young Mu Ssang, his uncle's family was his only kin whether he liked it or not. He wanted to kill them and did intend to exact his revenge, but he never wished miserable death like this on anyone. The mountain-high, ocean-deep hatred felt futile now. Now that she was dead, he didn't feel attached to the hatred anymore.

Hwa Ja led a meaningless life and disappeared like a whiff of cigarette smoke. She had never done anything productive in her entire life. She spent her one and only life indulging in undesirable pleasures. She never went up the ladder of life but instead broke it. What a miserable life! She was but another poor soul.

Well-dying is as important as well-being. Hwa Ja and Chui Do Shik both filled their own lives with evil, but they differed in how they accepted death.

The soul that clung to evil till the last moment left an evil spirit behind. The soul that looked into herself at the last moment let her spirit disperse into nature. It was kairos of the moment.

According to Ancient Greek insight, the notion of time is divided into two: kairos and chronos. Chronos is the physical time of everyday life. Chronos is fair. Every living thing is ruled by Chronos once they sprout or are born until the destination called death.

Kairos means a moment where a new dimension opens regardless of Earth's rotation. It is the so-called moment of enlightenment. Kairos could be a supernova illuminating the universe or a faintly glowing firefly.

A human is nothing but a being like a particle of dust who lives for a fraction of the vast space-time. What meaning do all the division and distinctions have? When the soul departs, the body returns to atoms. Once forgotten by everyone, the soul disappears too.

Thus, the real meaning of human existence lies in kairos. Hwa Ja chose death at her last moment. Her kairos was no more significant than a firefly's, but most humans don't even experience that moment of enlightenment and get dragged around by chronos just to perish.

* * *

"Jeong Pil-su, I believe you clearly witnessed the scene where evil clashed with evil, savages maimed each other, and kin hurt their own kin?"

"I am scared," Jeong Pil-su said honestly.

"Cannibalism is the instinctual nature engraved in the genes of Homo sapiens. If civilization is a place of cannibalism under the guise of law, ethics, and religion, this jungle is the stage for cannibalism where raw power clash. You must have felt that you cannot even serve as a snack for beings here. Do you still want to remain here, the dog-eat-dog world?"

"Ah!"

Jeong Pil-su's heart was deeply touched and trembled. Mu Ssang's sincerity moved his soul deeply. He hastily judged Black Mamba without any power and with such pettiness. Guilt and shame flushed to his face.

There came a moment of kairos albeit being more meager than a firefly. When one's stomach is full, it is hard to understand the hunger of others. The powerful are ignorant of the sorrows of the powerless. The rich don't understand the difficulties the poor face. Mu Ssang was not called Dubaiburupa for no reason.

"Wakil, I feel like I have lived a flawed existence so far. I told myself that it was for my country but I myself was soaked in authority. The people were being increasingly more enlightened. Yet, we tried to suppress them and committed many immoral acts. I want to live as my own person away from the abnormal regime and corrupt power. I cannot ever be a patriot, but if it can benefit my country even in the slightest, I can offer my own life. The former North Korean general is now your henchman. I can surely be one too. Don't toss me out. Make use of me," Jeong Pil-su said passionately with clenched fists.

"Is he losing his mind?" said Kim Myung-jin in his mind.

Kim Myung-jin looked at Jeong Pil-su with eyes full of shock. The lazy Jeong Pil-su finally became insane.

"Wakil, I'll be your henchman too. I may be a poor fighter but I am good at interpreting. I can speak French, Bantu, and Swahili. I will die by your side, Wakil," Kim Myung-jin said too.

"Hahaha! The South Korean fellows are infected by the Ombuti virus too! At last!" said Sun Woo-hyun in his mind.

Sun Woo-hyun smirked. The Ombuti virus was the most potent psychological virus that infected the two million Novatopians. It only took a day or two to convert these snotty capitalists.

"Are they both high?" said Mu Ssang in his mind.

Mu Ssang looked at both Koreans with dismay. He was suddenly reminded of Dr. Giz's mirror neuron theory. Through mirror neurons, humans experience other people's behaviors and emotions as if they experience them firsthand. When used well, it is empathy. When misused, it is a mass frenzy. These two are dangerous.

"Idiots, what do you think this jungle is? Save those speeches for National Assembly. Go back to sleep if you have nothing to do!" Mu Ssang yelled and went back inside his tent.

"Hey, fellas. Not everyone gets to serve him. You have to renounce everything. It took me five years to shed my previous ways. You are still stuck in your previous ways. If you get close to Wakil with ulterior motives, I will kill you myself."

Sun Woo-hyun left with a stern glare.

"What ways?"

Jeong Pil-su looked back at Kim Myung-jin.

"Don't you understand? Empty words like patriotism and benefitting your own country would not convince him."

"Hey, you said you wanted to serve him too."

"I don't get how you could be hired by the ANS with that intelligence."

"What's wrong with my intelligence?"

Jeong Pil-su frowned. He still didn't understand Mu Ssang truly.

The half-moon faded into the sky. As dawn neared, the swarm of mosquitoes raged to get their last meal of the day. Kim Myung-jin repeatedly swatted the sesame-seed-sized mosquitoes that pushed through the mosquito net's mesh. The outer side of the net was covered with honeybee-sized mosquitoes. If it were not for the mesh, they would have been drained of their blood and mummified.

"Let me get some sleep!" Jeong Pil-su grumbled.

"These mosquitoes will swarm over us. Can you get yourself to sleep in this situation?"

"Just cover yourself with the tarp and sleep. The commie said we must shed our previous ways. You may bother Wakil with the noise."

Jeong Pil-su poked Kim Myung-jin's side and gestured. Mu Ssang was resting on a beach chair while smoking a cigarette. When the cigarette glowed red, the light revealed his gloomy face. When the light subsided, the black silhouette looked lonely.

"For him to be able to convert Jeong Pil-su, the rabid dog of the ANS, Mu Ssang is quite someone," said Kim Myung-jin in his mind.

Kim Myung-jin shook his head.

* * *

The next day, Canal+ employees swarmed out of their tents. They were wearing uniforms emblazoned with the logo of their broadcasting station. They stood in line in the clearing with an ENG camera with stickers on, a boom mic, a steady cam, and all the other equipment required for photography. The clearing still reeked of blood.

On one side, three Gazelles were lined up and dead bodies were covered in white funeral cloth. The agents laboriously loaded the aircraft with the bodies. This was the world of spies. Death didn't mean the work could be delayed.

"Do you think it will be useful, Advisor?"

Besson and Fabius looked at Mu Ssang with eyes full of anxiety. They were wearing windbreakers with Canal+ logos, shading their faces with wide-brimmed hats and with sunglasses.

"You did a good job!"

The two men's expressions brightened. Mu Ssang was in fact impressed. They were not in Paris. He had told them to prepare it in three days but he didn't expect them to pull it off so perfectly.

"Those are henchmen."

Mu Ssang pointed at Jeong Pil-su and Kim Myung-jin who stood absentmindedly, looking discouraged.

"Thank you."

The two men ran to get their uniforms, their faces suddenly turning bright.

"What perverts. They are practically entering their graves and are all smiley faces."

Mu Ssang grinned.

"South Koreans are better than North Koreans! In North Korea, loyalty is only a pretense. I am your subordinate and they will be mine!"

Sun Woo-hyun giggled.

"Pretended loyalty is better than pretended patriots that actually serve Japan."

Mu Ssang remarked and called Fabius.

"Fabius, the Americans won't allow the journalists. Make a fuss at the entrance of their camp."

"Yes, sir!"

"Wakil, a pretty girl will be sufficient to distract the horny Americans," Jeong Pil-su added.

Mu Ssang looked at Fabius.

"There are two in Comms."

"Yeah? Get them Canal+ uniforms right now."

"What about bikinis?"

"No. There are too many horny gorillas and chimpanzees."

Mu Ssang waved away. With bikinis, the women will be eaten alive by the venomous insects in less than 10 minutes.

"Hahaha!"

"Haha!"

The fake journalists giggled out of their anxiety.

"Fabius, come to the camp entrance by three o'clock. I will check the infiltration routes in advance. If things go amiss and a battle breaks out, don't enter and just retreat immediately."

"Yes, Advisor. I suggest you use the half truck up to Teturi."

"The Americans will definitely spot it. I will infiltrate without any noise. Zulu!"

Zulu dropped the body he was loading onto a helicopter and ran up to him immediately.

"Fabius, Predators may appear. Accompany Zulu."

"Thank you. What are you doing? Practice!"

Fabius scolded the "journalists". Mu Ssang disappeared with Sun Woo-hyun, Jeong Pil-su, and Olonge.

* * *

At the chemistry analysis chamber, Green Camp, Ngpanwaza, the trident-shaped metal debris glinted gold. It was as big as a tabloid newspaper. "Trident" is a Latin-derived word meaning "three teeth."

"Mac, are you still on it?"

Professor Samuel showed up again in the lab even before an hour could pass before his last visit. It was so. The day before, the exploration team discovered a piece of metal debris thought to be Oparts. Professor Samuel and everyone involved entered a quasi-trance state.

"I cannot burn this trident. It is hardier than diamond."

Professor Mac looked back at Professor Samuel with a face full of fatigue. To figure out the component elements and calculate their proportions, it was needed to be analyzed by the AAS and ICP-MS. But the sample inserted in the combustion chamber remained intact.

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"With the equipment here, no. I need to put it in the Hephaestos at Princeton."

Professor Mac shook his head.

"Did you get the readings on the XRF electronic energy?"

"I swear this substance is extraterrestrial. I bet my tenure on it."

"Haha, we finally found Oparts."

Samuel grinned contentedly. Finally, Oparts was in their hands. God favored Americans indeed. This will shake up the scientific community and he was going to rake in stipends.

Oparts, buried deep underground, was exposed to unimaginable temperature and pressure, and it touched radioactive substances like uranium and thorium. The trident was clearly made of an extraordinary material that could stay intact for hundreds of millions of years despite the harsh surroundings.

"Don't be too glad. It is harder than diamond but its tensile strength is not that great. On Brinell, it would be near where glass is."

"So?"

"It's like the glazed material inside a kiln. I think it covered the inside of a fusion reactor."

"Hmm. I'm guessing it will have limited application," Samuel said grimly.

"Physicists and material scientists will drool over it. For starters, it can make some good bunker gear."

Unlike Professor Samuel, Professor Mac was calm. The trident was made of a great substance but compared to the Room-Temperature Superconductor, it was nothing.

"It would've been great if the outer shell was discovered too."

"That will change it all. It will be like Cinderella wearing the glass shoes to become a queen."

Still, tridentem, the substance making up the trident, was a tremendous discovery. To quote Executor Davis, a fire started at last from the wood they were rubbing.

"Fuck. The core is stolen by some insane woman and we are toying with the empty shell," Professor Samuel muttered.

A fire-resistant brick was nothing compared to the Room-Temperature Superconductor.

"Let's send the report to the Committee first. At least, this proves that you are not a con man. That's a great achievement."

Professor Mac giggled. He was delighted to see Professor Samuel be disappointed.

"That is so."

Professor Samuel sniggered. The Mambasa theory was finally proved to be true with the discovery of lithium heavyhydrogenide, tridentem, and Room-Temperature Superconductor.

"That b*tch!" Professor Samuel yelled.

The stupid girl kicked out her god-given honor. No one resented Hae Young more than Professor Samuel. Of course, no one among the 7,500-person personnel on the camp knew that hatred would invite an asura to them.

* * *

Executor Davis let McKinley command the Shadows and marines once the tridentem was found. Brigadier General Dyson was in charge of the Predators with new units.

Davis's plan panned out. McKinley, finally getting back his position, laid waste with full wrath. Anyone approaching the camp was eliminated without identification. Guerillas were eliminated with armed recon squads. The areas suspected to be their base of operations were bombed with MLRD and napalms.

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