Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 178

Vroom!

A car entered the parking lot of Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office.

It was the car of Son Baek-geum, who had arrived after receiving Kim Seung-hwan's call.

As Son Baek-geum stepped out of the car, he looked up at the building, muttering to himself.

"Well, I never thought I’d walk into the prosecution office on my own two feet."

He’d met with prosecutors before—usually to deliver bribes—but he’d never come to the prosecutor’s office willingly.

Bribe-takers were always fond of receiving money, but they hated when those offering it showed up in their territory.

Because of that, Son Baek-geum had always tried to avoid being seen by the prosecution.

It was a matter of business etiquette for him.

Yet now, being summoned by the prosecutor, and coming here as a part of the process, made him feel... uneasy.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

Vrrr!

Was it Kim Seung-hwan?

No, it wasn’t.

It was a number he had saved but never really used.

It was Pi Seong-yeol.

Curious, he answered the call.

"Yes, Director Pi."

– "Where are you right now?"

Pi Seong-yeol didn’t greet him with pleasantries, immediately asking for his location.

He was the same as always—rude.

Son Baek-geum sighs inwardly, deciding to take the call without putting up a fight.

"I’m outside. What’s going on?"

– "Let’s cut to the chase. What’s the situation with Vice President Park Gyu-min?"

Of course.

It was about Park Gyu-min.

That’s the only reason Pi Seong-yeol would be calling him.

Son Baek-geum chuckled, the irony of it not lost on him.

"What do you mean?"

– "What do you mean, what do you mean?"

Son Baek-geum asked again, feigning ignorance, and the change in Pi Seong-yeol’s voice was immediate.

His tone dropped, lowering in a way that made Son Baek-geum flinch.

It was automatic—Pi Seong-yeol had that kind of effect on people.

But Son Baek-geum quickly shook off the unease, forcing himself to relax.

It wasn’t fear—it was more like a reflexive reaction.

After all, Pi Seong-yeol didn’t scare him as much as Su-ho did.

With that thought in mind, his confidence slowly returned.

Straightening up, he rested a hand on his left hip and responded.

"What do you mean by that?"

– "You... are you serious? Are you out of your mind?"

"Out of my mind? You’re the one talking nonsense here, Pi Seong-yeol."

– "What the hell, Son Baek-geum? Have you lost it? Did you take some poison or lose your sense after hearing my voice?"

"I didn’t take poison, and I haven’t lost my senses. But you, Pi Seong-yeol, seem to have forgotten your place. You may be a public servant, but you’ve gone too far with this."

– "Public servant, huh? Seems you’ve forgotten what your position is. You’ve been living among commoners so long you’ve lost your sense of who °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° you are. Let me remind you: I’ll personally take care of dismantling the Baekgeum-pa for you."

"Go ahead."

– "What?"

"Go ahead. What’s the big deal? You think you’re some president or something? Shut up, Pi Seong-yeol. Why don’t you focus on doing your job? You’ve been kicked out of the Great Korea Association, and you still act like you're in charge?"

– "You...! What did you just say?"

"Shut up. I’ve got somewhere to be. Hang up."

Son Baek-geum ended the call and quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Phew."

His lips trembled slightly as he processed the outburst.

He had lashed out without thinking, but now that the words were out, his heart was racing.

Yet there was no turning back now.

The water had been spilled, and the words spoken—there was no going back.

"F*ck it. At this point, I’m dead either way."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He feared Pi Seong-yeol, but the one who made him truly terrified was Su-ho.

So, he had bet on the greater fear.

In the end, it was the primal things that drove people.

Trying to calm himself, he lit a cigarette.

After a few moments, he took a long drag and immediately dialed Su-ho’s number.

Inside the Special Operations Unit of the Great Korea Association, Pi Seong-yeol sat in the dark, illuminated only by the city’s lights filtering through the window.

He stared at his phone screen, looking at the call he had just ended.

His blood pressure was rising.

To him, Son Baek-geum wasn’t even a dog.

If he had to call him something, it would be a stray mutt—no, a rabid dog.

He’d never paid any attention to the man, and now, after everything, to have that mutt bare its teeth at him?

That was almost more than he could handle.

Pi Seong-yeol closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

He wouldn’t scream or shout—he wasn’t going to let his anger show.

If he let his emotions take over, he’d look like someone who couldn’t handle his business, and that wasn’t the image he wanted to project.

Instead, he would cool down his rage and let it settle into something cold and controlled.

That was the true danger—a cold rage.

"Alright. I’ll handle this like a wild dog."

With a final breath, Pi Seong-yeol made a call to someone.

The next phase was already set in motion.

***

"...This should be enough."

"Yes, thank you, Prosecutor."

In Kim Seung-hwan's office, the final draft of the redevelopment gate case was prepared.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to set everything in motion.

The content in Son Baek-geum’s report was minimal—nothing more than an acknowledgement of the redevelopment cartel involving Park Gyu-min. A small mention of how Park Gyu-min had benefited from it, with the plea that he now wanted to be part of the action.

"This might be small, but it's the spark needed to ignite the fire."

The redevelopment cartel was poised to become the next big scandal.

Once Park Gyu-min was involved, this spark would spread.

After the report was finished, Park Gyu-min, who had been eating gomtang (beef soup), spoke.

"Mmm, thanks for the hard work, Mr. Son."

"No problem... But is it possible for Vice President to eat while all this is going on? Aren’t you nervous?"

"What’s there to be nervous about? The work is done, and there’s no way out now."

After sleeping the whole day, Park Gyu-min had ordered some gomtang as Son Baek-geum was writing the report.

Son Baek-geum watched him for a moment before turning to Kim Seung-hwan.

"Prosecutor, I know this is a non-smoking room, but could I have just one cigarette? I have something to discuss."

Kim Seung-hwan, still focused on the report, nodded.

"Sure."

"Thank you. Then..."

After Kim Seung-hwan gave his consent, Son Baek-geum carefully lit a cigarette, taking a long drag.

As the smoke escaped his mouth, he began to speak in a low tone.

"I received a call from Director Pi Seong-yeol just before I got here."

The moment Pi Seong-yeol’s name left his lips, both Kim Seung-hwan and Park Gyu-min froze, their attention fully on Son Baek-geum.

Park Gyu-min carefully put down his spoon, and Kim Seung-hwan, noticing the sudden tension, lowered his report and asked.

"What did he say?"

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"He asked what happened between me and Vice President Park Gyu-min. So I told him to f*ck off. He threatened to dismantle Baekgeum-pa."

Son Baek-geum’s words shocked Park Gyu-min.

"Mr. Son... you really told Director Pi to f*ck off?"

"Well, I didn’t say it quite like that, but I did tell him to stop acting like an old man. I think he was pretty pissed. By the way, has anything come up on your end, Prosecutor?"

When Son Baek-geum referred to “acting like an old man”, Park Gyu-min couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

Kim Seung-hwan also chuckled, but it wasn’t because of Son Baek-geum’s comment.

"So the pressure from above was really because of Pi Seong-yeol."

He’d suspected it, but it was surprising to learn it was true.

Then there was the question of how Pi Seong-yeol had managed to build such a network—it had to be related to the redevelopment gate’s influence.

Kim Seung-hwan finally spoke.

"The reason I called you in early, Mr. Son, was because of the report, but I also had a feeling the pressure was coming. Just a few hours after I called you in, I got an order from above to transfer this case to Seoul. They said to stop everything and move the case to the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office. The transfer procedure starts tomorrow, so I had planned to start the redevelopment gate case tonight."

"Wait, so... are you saying..."

"Yes. Looks like Pi Seong-yeol put some pressure on them. The man’s clearly on edge. He probably felt threatened by both of you, getting tangled up in this case."

"Well, if he’s that scared, he should have lived a cleaner life."

Kim Seung-hwan narrowed his eyes at Son Baek-geum's comment.

"...I don’t think that’s something you should be saying, Mr. Son."

"Hmm, well, it was just a figure of speech. But it doesn’t matter now. Vice President and I are done with the report, and if we release the article before the transfer, there’s nothing Pi Seong-yeol can do about it."

Kim Seung-hwan glanced at Park Gyu-min, who suddenly looked a bit more serious.

"What’s wrong?"

"Well... I was thinking about something."

"What are you thinking?"

"I heard rumors about a secret organization within the Special Operations Unit, under Pi Seong-yeol’s direct command."

"A secret organization under Pi Seong-yeol?"

"Yeah. It's just a rumor, but I’ve heard it before. Think about it. Pi Seong-yeol suddenly awakened and was assigned to the association without increasing his level. How could he have climbed up to be the head of the Special Operations Unit without some serious connections?"

Park Gyu-min continued, his tone serious.

"The Special Operations Unit is divided into two sections: the Investigation Section and the Special Section. The Investigation Section handles all crimes related to awakened individuals, while the Special Section takes on additional responsibilities, including everything the Investigation Section does. So, the Special Section is more powerful. I’ve heard this secret organization operates in the Special Section."

"If they’re in the Special Section, they should be on the roster. How can they be a secret organization?"

"There’s only one team in the Special Section. This secret organization is known as Team 2, and they’re not official government employees. They’re like Pi Seong-yeol’s personal soldiers."

Both Chang Kyung-hwan and Park Gyu-min were only repeating rumors, with no real proof.

Just then, a knock echoed through the room.

Knock knock.

"Who’s there?"

"We’re from the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office."

At the mention of Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office, Kim Seung-hwan stood up instinctively.

But just as he was about to open the door, something stopped him.

"Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office? What are they doing here?"

The transfer process wasn’t supposed to start until tomorrow.

And it was already late at night—how did they even know he was here?

His thoughts were interrupted as Pi Seong-yeol’s secret team flashed in his mind.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

"Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office... Where exactly are they from?"

There was no answer.

In the next instant, the door burst open, and standing in the doorway was none other than Su-ho.