Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 128

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 128

D-DAY (3)

 

 

 

D-Day.

Suwon Military Airport.

 

An SUV came to a stop and the passenger door opened.

Creak.

“I’ll be back, honey.”

“Min-gi, you need to say goodbye to mommy and tell her to come back safely. Have a safe trip~”

Oh Su-heon smiled as she looked at her husband who was seeing her off while waving the baby’s hand together with his own.

Unlike herself who was armed in combat gear, her husband and baby were clearly ordinary civilians to anyone who saw them.

It had been a year since they moved in together without even having a proper wedding ceremony due to the sudden arrival of their child.

Even though childcare was difficult, the couple always felt like newlyweds.

“Be careful and come back safely. Don’t get hurt, okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back safely.”

Oh Su-heon was grateful to her husband who didn’t get angry asking how a baby’s mother could go to such a dangerous place, but always tried to understand her from her perspective.

Like the light kiss they always shared at the entrance when she left for work,

Oh Su-heon lightly kissed her husband’s lips and then headed toward the airport.

Now that she had received her family’s support, all that was left was to run forward.

Since it was still early dawn, the wind was a bit chilly.

“I wonder what the weather will be like today?”

A slight smile formed on Oh Su-heon’s lips.

 

* * *

 

Inside the transport plane heading to Tianjin, it was very noisy.

“Hahaha! What! You can still fit into those clothes?”

“I’m still in active duty shape, you bastard. Don’t you see these abs!?”

“It feels really strange riding one of these after so long.”

Some guys were laughing while looking at the old uniforms that brought back memories, while others were lost in nostalgia touching the surface of the C-130 they hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘I heard the atmosphere was relaxed, but I really can’t get used to it.’

Anyone looking would believe they were going on some group retreat.

Manager Eom Gi-seon shook his head.

It reminded him of when he first had a full meeting with these people.

‘They act like this, but when they actually entered operations… the atmosphere was deadly.’

From his perspective as someone from ASTRA, the old Thunder Unit and ASTRA differed greatly in many ways.

The Thunder Unit had a relatively free atmosphere.

Each person was given significant discretionary authority.

They left judgment calls for unexpected situations to individuals.

However, the responsibility that came with that was correspondingly heavy.

The atmosphere was different from ASTRA’s thorough top-down command structure.

‘I’ll be able to see what strengths and weaknesses emerge in this operation.’

With that thought, Eom Gi-seon glanced toward the back.

The ASTRA members, who could be called his former colleagues, were sitting quietly in silence while armed.

What were those participating as backup members thinking?

Just then, Michael Shepherd, whose eyes met his, waved his hand slightly.

Eom Gi-seon just nodded slightly and closed his eyes.

There was still time before reaching the operation area.

He planned to review what he had learned from Executive Director Ho during that time.

 

* * *

 

Vroooom!!

The four turboprop engines spun, creating tremendous noise and vibration that shook the C-130.

Takeoff had begun.

“……”

“……”

“……”

As if nothing had happened, Z-Team all sat in their seats arranged along the aircraft’s sides in silence.

Most were either checking equipment on their laps or briefly exchanging coded conversations with the person next to them.

An unspoken tension flowed through the air.

Kim Min-jeong found this moment very welcome.

Now she truly felt the emotion that Blue Thunder had been revived.

At the same time, she was very grateful to Eom Gi-seon and Seo Ae-ri, who might have felt uncomfortable as newcomers who rolled in.

The two had fit in well without any particular territorial behavior, as if they had always been Blue Thunder people.

‘Meeting people like this is also a blessing. Having people like this gather together is also a blessing.’

This place was full of good relationships with people.

So hopefully all the current team members could return safely together.

Kim Min-jeong offered her first prayer silently.

To her new guardian deity she had never met.

‘…No, should I call it a demon lord rather than a god? But what could its true identity really be?’

Day by day, her magic power was deepening at a frightening speed. The same went for bullets imbued with killing intent.

Thanks to this, her skills had improved dramatically compared to when she first became a Ranker.

But conversely, she was concerned that the myth she expected to unlock by now still hadn’t opened.

Of course, each time Lee Hyeon reassured her that she would know soon.

Kim Min-jeong deliberately shook off her complicated thoughts.

For now, let’s focus on the mission.

As Lee Hyeon said, the myth would open soon.

Just as she was thinking that.

Crackle.

『I’ll now begin a brief preliminary briefing.』

Lee Hyeon’s voice came through the intercom attached to their headsets.

All eyes turned toward Lee Hyeon.

『We already had a briefing before departure, but I’ll deliver additional instructions as a reminder. As I said, we’re dividing into three total callsigns: Storm, Bolt, and Cloud.』

These were callsigns the original Thunder Unit frequently used when running operations.

Storm handled explosives and heavy weapons,

Bolt handled infiltration and reconnaissance,

Cloud handled sniping and cover.

『Storm will be led by Eom, Bolt by Oh, and Cloud by Kim as respective callsign leaders.』

Z-Team had as many as three more Rankers besides Lee Hyeon.

Eom Gi-seon, Kim Min-jeong, and additionally Oh Su-heon who had joined them.

They were each given squad leader positions according to their specialties.

However,

there was something that hadn’t been revealed even during the preliminary briefing.

Where would the team leader go? The leader?

……Gulp.

The sound of dry swallowing could be heard from various places.

『To hide this operation, the Company has already begun large-scale operational movements with ten domestic teams led by A-Team. The National Intelligence Service and CIA are creating information confusion along with…….』

Lee Hyeon’s briefing continued rapidly.

『……And among the former Blue Thunder members who joined Ping Xin, we’ve confirmed that Omen Wing and Despair are also there…….』

At certain parts, team members showed slight tension or their eyes flashed coldly.

Omen Wing.

Despair.

Both were executives who had led Blue Thunder before Lee Hyeon became the leader.

When they heard that these men had joined Ping Xin following Xu Changyou’s proposal, how furious they had been.

But Lee Hyeon spoke in a calm tone as if they were completely unrelated to him.

『Our objective is annihilation. We will eliminate all Ping Xin members at the operation site and detonate it. I repeat. No prisoners are permitted. Annihilate everyone and detonate.』

Michael Shepherd stared intently at Lee Hyeon.

Blue Thunder, which had now become legend, and Ping Xin, which could be called its successor.

Soon, one of these two would disappear from the world.

‘The intelligence handed over by the CIA clearly stated that Blue Thunder would be completely destroyed. Even if Blue Thunder might have superior individual abilities, Ping Xin has far more personnel, and Xu Changyou’s power is also judged to be superior to Jet’s……’

The CIA classifies High Rankers, commonly categorized as ‘national power’ or ‘nuclear tactics’, into detailed 5-tier grades according to their status.

 

Transcendent.

Pinnacle.

Dominion.

Prime.

Frontline.

 

This was because their power allowed nations and factions to wield tremendous influence over world hegemony.

 

Frontline represents a level that nations can put forward on the front lines,

Prime genuinely symbolizes national and factional security, holding positions that can exert tremendous influence across society,

Dominion transcends national boundaries to influence continents,

Pinnacle refers to those classified as strategic weapons, being among the highest tier of High Rankers.

And finally, reaching Transcendent means moving beyond nations, factions, and continents to influence the world……

This was when they truly began to be called demigods.

 

Of course, above this exist the 9 Top Rankers who are absolute beings.

But since they are evaluated as having the position of gods within their sight, they’re beyond consideration.

In fact, their movements and status, positioned at the edge of the ‘Human Realm’, were being closely monitored.

The CIA’s observed position of Xu Changyou was between ‘Dominion’ and ‘Prime’ grades.

The Central Hero Committee grandly promotes Xu Changyou as aiming for Top Ranker status and such,

‘but anyone who handles information or is in the upper echelons knows. That it’s all Chairman Peng’s media play, and his real abilities fall far short of that.’

The world is filled with all kinds of legends and myths.

There are many gods whose names you might never hear in a lifetime.

This means there are countless High Rankers unknown to the public.

Even with White Burn, doesn’t the group called the ‘Executive Group’ far exceed Korea’s power level?

If you include the ‘axis of evil’ that tries to minimize exposure to external media for public safety, that number increases much more.

‘Just looking at the forces participating in the Middle East Front, they’re all monsters that could already be called supranational.’

So Xu Changyou’s position was by no means small.

Even the ‘Dominion’ grade alone was at a level that transcended national boundaries to continental scale.

It meant he was at a level that could represent the Chinese continent.

On the other hand, what about Lee Hyeon?

The CIA did evaluate Jet highly.

Despite being only a Ranker, he had single-handedly taken down Jang Baien, who was a High Ranker.

But that was all.

Jang Baien was merely ‘Frontline’ grade, having just escaped Ranker status,

and Jet was often evaluated as having far superior command abilities rather than individual skills.

Successfully carrying out the Ulleungdo operation and blocking the Gangneung incident were thanks to precisely these command abilities.

‘They can’t believe that a mere Ranker could surpass a High Ranker. If they did, they’d have to completely overturn the grade system they’ve established.’

In the CIA’s judgment, Ping Xin had reached a level comparable to the Blue Thunder unit from 4 years ago.

Of course, Z-Team had shown dominance over Ping Xin in recent incidents,

but they still maintained that Ping Xin’s power remained solid.

Because their ‘numbers’ were too many.

In this situation, could the current Z-Team of less than twenty people really properly strike Ping Xin?

They saw almost no possibility of that.

Like throwing eggs at rocks.

Moreover, Ping Xin was back in Xu Changyou’s hands, and now Lu Chen, awakened after decades, had begun supporting them from behind.

In this situation, it was natural for the CIA to question whether there was any need to forcibly support Z-Team.

However,

‘The Director simply dismissed the CIA’s opinion. And that’s because,’

Michael’s lips twisted.

‘I think the same way.’

This morning, he had received Gabriel’s revelation.

 

[Gabriel cannot read any future lines!]

[Gabriel seriously advises following Jang Lee Hyeon.]

 

As a faithful Catholic, Michael intended to follow that opinion.

No, it would have been the same even without Gabriel’s revelation.

‘Classifications based on our standards simply don’t apply to that guy.’

He was certain that Jet and Z-Team would be able to write a new myth today.

The eyes he saw when he first clashed with Lee Hyeon.

They were definitely filled with some kind of conviction.

Those with such eyes always tended to cause some kind of incident.

And……

‘Those eyes have spread to all of them.’

Seeing Z-Team, who had somehow gained the same eyes as Lee Hyeon, he trembled.

‘You can’t carelessly judge them by simply recalling Blue Thunder from 4 years ago. They’re not Blue Thunder. They’re Z-Team.’

Michael wanted to see with his own eyes Z-Team writing a myth greater than the Blue Thunder of the past.

Both as ASTRA’s intelligence analyst and chief of staff, and as a fellow Hunter pursuing world justice.

‘So Jet, show me. What kind of breakthrough are you planning to show to write that first page?’

Michael was certain that breakthrough was hidden in the operation Lee Hyeon hadn’t mentioned even during the preliminary briefing.

As a strange heat sensation stirred around his eyes,

『……And I,』

Lee Hyeon delivered additional instructions at the end of his long reminder.

『While you infiltrate from the outside and shake up the enemies, I plan to strike straight at their heart as a diversionary operation.』

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

In an instant, a strange heat wave swept through the interior of the transport aircraft.

Michael’s lips also twisted into a smirk.

As if his prediction had been correct.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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