I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 231

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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231 – Rhythm
231.
“My apologies. We lost him.”
The voice of Team 2, who had been tracking the limping man, crackled through the Earset.
“Understood. I’m heading over.”
I hurried toward Team 2’s location.
I needed to see the scene with my own eyes.
Whether that person was Adrian,
I had to confirm it myself, with my own eyes.
When I arrived at the narrow alley,
Team 2 was holding their position.
Their expressions were hardened.
They looked like they carried the weight of a grave mistake.
“···.”
I couldn’t say anything.
“It’s fine. The order to keep distance came from me. My judgment was wrong.”
“My apologies.”
Team 2 lowered their heads.
But this wasn’t their fault.
The instruction to observe from a distance was my order.
And I hadn’t anticipated that old bastard would be carrying something like a smoke grenade.
This was clearly my mistake, my failure.
I left them behind and examined the scene.
The acrid stench of smoke grenade still lingered in the alley.
I checked the point where the grenade had detonated.
The spent casing of the smoke grenade lay abandoned on the ground.
But beyond the smoke, there was nothing.
No footprints, no traces.
Clean.
“A decoy.”
He hadn’t fled through the smoke.
He’d simply made us believe he had.
“Check the other side.”
We dispersed to examine the surrounding buildings.
Both sides of the alley, the buildings, the entrances.
We checked each one methodically.
Before long, the radio crackled to life.
“Over here.”
I immediately headed in that direction.
“There are signs of forced entry through the door here, leading to the rooftop.”
The door’s lock mechanism was broken.
I pushed the door gently with my hand.
Creak.
The door opened easily.
On the rooftop, faint traces of someone’s brief presence lingered.
I was certain.
The limping figure was definitely Adrian.
Though I’d lost him, I’d tracked him down properly.
The direction was correct.
Adrian probably thought he’d escaped,
but instead, he’d given us confirmation.
I called Tian Zihao over the radio.
“Search the CCTV footage. Find someone wearing beige slacks and a gray windbreaker.”
“Understood.”
I paused briefly.
“He might have changed clothes. Instead, look for anyone whose gait appears even slightly impaired. Once you find them, stay on them no matter what.”
“We’re already on it. However…”
“However what?”
“Luxembourg doesn’t have many CCTV cameras. Especially in the Old Town District—there are significant blind spots.”
A moment of silence.
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll cover it ourselves.”
I switched the radio to the full channel.
“All Obsidian units. We’re changing operations effective immediately. Search for anyone with impaired mobility. Whether they’re limping, dragging their leg slightly, or anything in between—check everyone.”
“Maintain distance. No direct contact.”
“Understood.”
Wind swept through the narrow alley again.
I gazed in that direction.
Adrian was somewhere out there.
“Go on, run. It wouldn’t be fun if you were caught too easily.”
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
“Hide well.”
.
.
.
Adrian didn’t stop walking.
He turned through the narrow alleys of the Old Town District multiple times.
Down stairs, then back up,
weaving through crowds of people.
But he wasn’t hurrying.
His pace remained steady.
It wasn’t the gait of someone being pursued.
Yet the limp in my leg was difficult to conceal.
I’d inserted support pads inside my shoes to balance the weight.
I’d paid attention to my stride length as well.
Still, it wasn’t perfect.
It wouldn’t stay hidden.
The rhythm kept falling out of sync.
My body remembered the limp.
The harder I tried to conceal it, the more pronounced it became.
Adrian pulled a phone from his pocket.
An old 2G model.
“Protocol Delta. Primary checkpoint abandoned. All personnel withdraw. Repeat: Primary checkpoint is abandoned. All personnel withdraw.”
“Move to secondary checkpoint. Rendezvous at Iron Castle.”
“If surveillance is detected, disperse immediately.”
“Roger.”
The voice on the other end gave only a brief acknowledgment before the line went dead.
The call ended there.
Adrian didn’t press the end button.
Instead, he snapped the phone in half.
Crack.
The sound of the device breaking echoed.
Without even glancing at it,
Adrian tossed it into the nearby stream.
Throughout it all, Adrian never broke stride.
His pace, his flow, his rhythm remained unchanged.
He walked like any other tourist.
The moment I emerged from the Old Town District, the air shifted.
The narrow alley opened into a wide road.
My vision cleared.
Adrian swept the surroundings in a brief glance.
Left, right, behind.
Nothing amiss.
Then, from across the road,
a car approached at high speed.
It screeched to a halt as if about to collide with Adrian.
The door opened.
Adrian glanced at the person inside once,
gave a slight nod, and climbed in.
The door shut, and the car immediately accelerated away.
“We may have a tail. Watch behind us while I drive.”
“Understood.”
The car quietly headed toward the outskirts of Luxembourg.
Along the way, I switched vehicles several times.
The secondary stronghold we arrived at.
Iron Castle.
A very ancient fortress located on the outskirts of Luxembourg.
After surveying the surroundings and confirming no one was present, Adrian limped into the castle.
Footsteps echoed against the stone floor.
Irregularly.
.
.
.
Tian Zihao’s fingers froze as he watched the monitor.
He stared at the monitor again intently.
The entrance of a narrow alley on the outskirts of the Old Town District.
Time stamp: 12 minutes ago.
Beige slacks, black short-sleeved shirt.
Completely different person.
But the gait caught my eye.
I rewound the recorded footage multiple times.
I examined it frame by frame.
Then it became visible.
The moment the left foot touched the ground,
the center of gravity wavered very briefly.
It seemed like an attempt to hide it,
but ultimately failed to conceal it.
The corners of Tian Zihao’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Found you.”
I muttered to myself while watching the monitor.
“Must have been in such a hurry you only managed to remove the windbreaker.”
Tian Zihao didn’t hesitate.
I immediately opened the radio and made my report.
“Target acquired. West of Old Town District. 12 minutes ago baseline. Currently moving north.”
“Beige slacks, black short-sleeved shirt.”
“Real-time tracking in progress.”
“Confirmed. Continue tracking.”
“Roger.”
The response came easily,
but the tracking was not.
There were too many blind spots in the CCTV coverage.
There weren’t many security cameras,
but there were far too many blind spots.
If someone deliberately hid, they were difficult to find.
The Obsidian Unit filled that gap.
“Target confirmed. Moving north. I’ll maintain distance and tail them.”
“Don’t tail. No contact.”
Alex’s sharp voice cut through.
“… No contact acknowledged.”
The operative responded, startled.
“Launch the drone.”
“Launching the drone.”
Alex chose the drone instead of direct contact.
At a height no one would notice,
a single drone rose silently into the air.
There was no sound.
It looked like a tourist filming device.
But the lens was different.
The screen switched, and the lens locked onto Adrian.
“Lock acquired.”
Tian Zihao spoke in a low voice.
The drone moved automatically in response to the target’s movements.
It set its altitude and direction independently, flying on its own.
At a height low enough not to draw the enemy’s attention.
Tian Zihao watched Adrian’s figure reflected on the screen.
With an expression that said I won’t let you slip away.
As Adrian emerged from the narrow alley,
a vehicle suddenly rushed toward him at high speed.
It stopped precisely in front of Adrian,
and Adrian climbed in without hesitation.
“Vehicle boarding confirmed. Switching pursuit—following the vehicle.”
Tian Zihao shouted as he confirmed Adrian’s entry into the car.
The drone’s target shifted from Adrian to the vehicle.
The vehicle left the city.
It began to accelerate.
But the drone didn’t lose it.
It followed the vehicle at a steady pace.
When Adrian switched vehicles,
all that was needed was to change the target to the new vehicle.
And at the very end,
I could see Adrian stepping out of the vehicle.
Tian Zihao alternated his gaze between Adrian on the screen and the ancient fortress standing majestically behind him.
“Got him.”
*******
Adrian stumbled into the fortress and collapsed into a chair.
The plush cushion embraced my weary body.
Exhale.
I drew in ragged breaths.
I opened my hands.
They were drenched in sweat.
My palms glistened with moisture.
I must have been tense.
I couldn’t even remember when I’d last felt such anxiety.
When had I walked with such heightened vigilance,
conscious of every narrow alley,
careful with each footstep,
evading every camera?
This situation felt unfamiliar.
No—I’d simply forgotten it after so long.
“Ha..”
A breathless laugh escaped me.
I survived.
That was all that mattered.
I grabbed the whiskey bottle from the table,
and drank straight from it without bothering with a glass.
The harsh liquor burned down my throat.
A searing sensation in my chest.
Yet somehow, it felt right.
The tension gradually melted away.
My rigid shoulders relaxed.
It had been an exhausting day.
Ever since leaving Mauritius, I’d been cautious about everything.
Movement was just the beginning—communications, lodging, the organization itself.
I thought I’d hidden perfectly,
yet they’d followed me all the way to Luxembourg.
Still, I was fortunate.
I’d used smoke grenades to shake off my pursuers and relocate my base.
There was no sense of being followed.
In my unease, as I moved to Iron Castle,
I lost count of how many times I glanced over my shoulder.
Yet no one was there.
At least today is safe.
Perhaps even until tomorrow.
But before that, we’ll relocate.
I won’t leave them any trace, any leverage.
Once safety is secured, then comes the counterattack.
Adrian, leaning back against the plush sofa, settled deeper into it once more.
.
.
.
At that very moment.
Outside the castle.
People were gathering in the darkness.
But they didn’t assemble in one place.
Two here, three there.
Following the forest.
Following the ridgelines.
Moving without a sound.
Coming from different directions,
they took positions spread apart from one another.
No words were exchanged.
No signals were given.
They simply and silently encircled the castle.
“Eastern approach complete.”
“Northern high ground reached.”
Brief, terse reports followed.
Allen was monitoring the drone footage Tian Zihao had sent.
Watching the footage, he gradually adjusted the positions of his team members.
From the aerial view, it became clear where to position the operatives.
Escape routes, entry points, vehicle movements—he systematically eliminated each one.
He positioned them so no one could enter or exit the castle.
The problem was what lay inside the castle.
I had no idea what the interior looked like or where it connected to.
I contacted Tian Zihao separately to ask.
“Tian Zihao, do you have the blueprints for that castle?”
“I looked, but there aren’t any.”
Tian Zihao answered as if there was nothing to be done.
“But when old buildings get re-permitted, don’t they have to submit blueprints according to building codes?”
“Sometimes they do, but they don’t match reality. A lot of the time they just submit whatever they can see. And this building doesn’t even have that much.”
“I see.”
I understood there was no way around it.
Is there another way?
“What about thermal imaging?”
“The walls are too thick. We’re not picking up anything.”
We’ve surrounded the exterior, but the interior is pitch black.
We can’t just charge in blindly.
Without blueprints, we have no idea what’s inside.
We can’t even predict where gunfire might come from.
Where the corridors bend, where the stairs are located.
And we have absolutely no idea where Adrian is hiding.
We have no reason to take that risk.
No matter how much this is Dennis’s vendetta, we can’t sacrifice our lives for it.
That’s also why we didn’t deal with Adrian directly back in Mauritius.
So the answer is simple.
“All units, prepare the mortars.”
My order set the team into motion.
They began moving quietly from their positions.
Cases opened,
and equipment was retrieved.
Over my radio, all units began setting up
the thermobaric warheads that Leon and Toto had worked so hard to create.
“Coordinates locked.”
“Angle adjusted.”
“Targeting complete.”
I nodded.
“Fire when ready.”

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