Chapter 1165: Chapter 1165

“Sons of b*tches...!”

Jeong Yo-Han grimaced deeply.

No one would be happy to stay awake in the early dawn as winter fast approached. Thanks to how he still couldn't get used to this coldness digging into his sides, the air felt even colder than the actual temperature reading suggested.

Worse still, getting hit in the face with the ocean's unforgiving winds had this effect of strengthening the coldness by at least three folds, too!

Even though Jeong Yo-Han wore gloves, it still felt like his fingertips were getting numb and stiff from the cold. While repeatedly bending his fingers to keep them warm, he continued to scan the ocean before his eyes.

“Those f*cking bastards. I should just bury them in the sea or something!”

He subconsciously began gritting his teeth at the sight of the Chinese vessels floating eerily on the ocean surface.

Those vessels, with some rust and fading paint, were half-hidden in the veil of darkness. Anyone unaware of the situation might think those were ghost ships from this visual alone, but Jeong Yo-Han's expression was one of pure irritation, not fear.

South Korean citizens most likely had heard of the news of Chinese fishing vessels illegally crossing the maritime borders to fish without a permit. Their blatantly illegal acts even created a serious diplomatic row between the two countries, too.

However, what most people had heard was nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.

What made Jeong Yo-Han think that? Simple.

People were sensitive to "visual stimulation." As proof, the public only became outraged after the video of a large Chinese illegal fishing fleet chaining themselves to fight back against the Korean Coast Guard patrol boat was broadcast on the news.

However, unlike what that video might suggest, the most active hours for illegal fishing activity were in the middle of the night, not during the day.

The popular misconception said that the Chinese fishing fleet was not afraid of the Korean Coast Guard. Technically speaking, they were indeed not all that bothered by the possibility of the crackdown. That didn’t mean they didn’t care about running into the Coast Guard, however.

The purpose of these fleets was to fish. Once the Coast Guard discovered them and started the crackdown, that day’s fishing operation would be as good as ruined. Being forced to return without recovering their fishing nets meant the fleet wouldn’t even get to recoup the cost of fuel to come this far.

That was why the fleets tried their hardest to evade the Coast Guard’s detection. And the method they chose was to switch off all the lights and fish in the middle of the night.

Anyone with a functioning brain would never come up with such a dangerous idea, though.

Dragging heavy fishing nets in the middle of the ocean was unimaginably dangerous. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say life-threatening accidents always lurked around the corner.

So, restricting one's sight by turning off all lights on the boats was not that much different from asking to be killed.

However, these Chinese fishing fleets carried out such insane, suicidal acts without batting an eyelid. No wonder the Coast Guard found it so tricky to crack down on their illegal activity!

‘I mean, look at them!’

The sight of all those vessels steadily charging forward without any lights on sent a sliver of chill down Jeong Yo-Han's spine.

If it hadn't been for the sudden declaration of emergency that led to heightened surveillance of the maritime borders, those fleets would've surely evaded detection!

Jeong Yo-Han glanced to his side. “Sir, what should we do about those bastards?”

Inspector Choi Gu-Hyeon yelled in irritation. “What do you mean, what? Of course we’ll have to arrest them.”

“But, sir! They are not showing any signs of slowing down.”

“Goddamn Chinese bastards...! If it were up to me, I’d have shot them all down with a damn gun or something. I’m telling you, these Chinese bastards just don’t have any bloody common sense!”

Jeong Yo-Han looked up as a hint of anxiety crept into his heart.

‘Hang on. I hope those bastards aren’t thinking of coming aboard our patrol boat!’

As a brave Coast Guard personnel charged with protecting Korea’s territorial waters, he should not be thinking this way, but... If Jeong Yo-Han was being honest, the Chinese fishermen invading the patrol boat was a bothersome and somewhat scary prospect.

Being a cop did not make you stab-proof, after all!

Besides, the Chinese's mindset differed from that of the Koreans.

When Koreans were confronted by law enforcement officials, the first thing they did was debate whether to resist arrest or obediently turn themselves in. If the crime was minor, most would choose the latter option rather than digging themselves deeper into trouble.

However, the Chinese did not think this way. If they were confronted by cops, the first thing they did was utilize every means at their disposal to resist arrest.

As such, it was rather common to see the Chinese fishermen waving around steel pipes with knives welded to one end as if they were some kind of spear.

When the picture of one such fisherman went viral online, most commentators laughed it off as a meme, saying it was the second coming of Guan Yu or some such. However, in the eyes of those who had to deal with such weapon-wielding fishermen, things were definitely not funny at all.

Some Coast Guard officers had already lost their lives in the line of duty. And the number of the injured was too high to even count.

These incidents happened countless times before, but the Korean government couldn’t even lodge a strongly worded complaint because it was worried about its relationship with the Chinese.

On the other hand, Russia fired live shells at the illegal Chinese fishing fleets and sank them without mercy. Meanwhile, Indonesia destroyed the captured Chinese vessels on the sea to send a message.

What about the Korean government, then? It forbade its own damn Coast Guard from harming even a single hair of the Chinese fishermen!

‘F*cking hell! Do they want us to do our job or not?!’

Jeong Yo-Han wouldn't have been this anxious about the possibility of the Chinese invading the patrol boat had he and the rest of the officers been permitted to do whatever it took to do their job.

Unfortunately, in Korea, a cop would get punished with pay cuts if they dared to shoot a sashimi knife-wielding murder suspect in the leg. Things had gotten so ridiculous that officers often joked that guns weren’t meant to be fired but wielded as clubs, instead!

To think Jeong Yo-Han and his colleagues were told to suppress knife-wielding bastards without injuring them! If such a thing was possible, why would he be working as a cop? He could've made his debut as a pro MMA fighter and raked in all the money in the world, instead.

“Those f*cks, have they really gone insane?!”

In the end, Choi Gu-Hyeon couldn’t help himself and swore loudly.

The patrol boats were using the loudspeakers to warn the Chinese to stop, but the fishing vessels showed no signs of slowing down. As a matter of fact, those damn things continued to approach the Coast Guard at full steam.

It'd be impossible to block the path of ships of such sizes charging in at full speed. What if the Coast Guard haphazardly tried to get in the way, only to cause a massive collision...?

“...Inspector Choi, sir? Don’t you find it a bit weird?”

Choi Gu-Hyeon glanced at Jeong Yo-Han. “About what?”

“I mean, something about this doesn't feel right, sir. In many ways, I'd say. For one, those ships look way bigger than what we're used to seeing, and...” Jeong Yo-Han furrowed his brow. “Why would they come this far, anyway? If they wanted to fish, shouldn't they be in the known fishing grounds? What's the point of approaching the shore ? I think this must be the first time this has happened, sir.”

When he heard that, Choi Gu-Hyeon couldn't help but stare at the incoming Chinese vessels in renewed interest.

Whether it was the size of this fleet or the method used, none of it seemed ‘normal.’ Although Chinese fishing vessels showing up in large numbers to resist the Korean Coast Guard had become a fairly routine occurrence these days, coming so close to land still never happened before.

‘This is getting a bit worrisome, isn’t it?’

Choi Gu-Hyeon narrowed his eyes and glared at the approaching vessels.

These fishing vessels were so much larger than what he was used to seeing. And there were over twenty of them, to boot!

What was even more suspicious was the fact that, despite several patrol boats surrounding the area, not a single fisherman had appeared on deck to see what was going on.

The usual thing was to see the fishermen panicking and running around on deck once the Coast Guard showed up, and not too long after that, they would desperately try to turn their vessels around to head back to China. But not these vessels.

They continued to charge forward as if the last thing they'd ever do was reach the Korean shore!

“Stop your vessels immediately! This is your last warning! We will open fire if you do not stop!”

The patrol boats’ loudspeakers continued to issue the warning. As if to prove how friendly and considerate the Coast Guard was, the warning in Korean was swiftly followed by Chinese.

Unfortunately, the fishing vessels refused to stop even then.

Choi Gu-Hyeon gritted his teeth. “So, they want to have a throwdown? Is that it?”

Jeong Yo-Han worriedly asked, “Sir? Shouldn’t we do something?”

“You think I don’t know that? Get ready, okay? We’ll receive our orders soon enough.”

“...Also, tell the rest of the team to get ready for a showdown. We don’t know what might happen today.”

“Sir, I’ll get on it right away.”

While Jeong Yo-Han spoke into his walkie-talkie, Choi Gu-Hyeon tightly fastened his life jacket.

‘What the f*ck are they trying to do here?’

The deeper they entered the Korean territorial waters, the harder it’d be to escape.

Although it was impossible to directly block the path of an oncoming ship, the Coast Guard could potentially ram into the side of the fishing vessel to slow the latter down. Of course, doing so carried a little bit of risk, but it was within the realm of possibilities.

Once the patrol boats rammed into them from the sides to sufficiently slow them down, the Chinese wouldn't be able to escape anymore. Although there weren't enough patrol boats to attempt this right now, reinforcement should be arriving soon.

Chinese fishermen should know this, so why were they so determined to push ahead? Choi Gu-Hyeon just couldn’t understand it.

Just as his thoughts reached that far, however...!

A loud siren-like beep went off in the patrol boat.

“What was that?” Choi Gu-Hyeon cried out while urgently turning around to look.

That siren only went off when the Coast Guard was alerted to the presence of dangerous criminals. So, that shouldn't have gone off in this situation where they were dealing with illegal fishing vessels.

But it had gone off. Why, though?

However, that was when Choi Gu-Hyeon’s walkie-talkie loudly beeped at him.

—Alert, alert! You’re hereby ordered to stop the unidentified vessels from entering the territorial waters! Repeat, you’re hereby ordered to stop the unidentified vessels from entering the territorial waters!

Choi Gu-Hyeon’s eyes quaked slightly just then. He was supposed to stop a fishing vessel moving at full steam? How?

This order made no sense, logically speaking.

The deeper they entered the Korean territorial waters, the harder it'd be to escape.

The Coast Guard could craftily herd the Chinese deeper into the Korean territory, then block the way back to China. That would naturally force the Chinese to stop and surrender after their fuel ran out or their vessels broke down.

But now... the Coast Guard must stop them from getting closer?

‘Are we supposed to cheer them on while they escape, too?’

“...! Yes, captain!” Choi Gu-Hyeon replied immediately to the yell coming out of his walkie-talkie.

-We've been ordered to stop them no matter what, even if we ram our boats into them! It doesn't matter even if our ships sustain damage, our priority is to arrest all those on the unidentified vessels!

—Hurry up, Inspector!

Choi Gu-Hyeon couldn't understand it at all, but a superior office's command was absolute during operations . Rather than individually searching for the right answers, everyone sticking to the incorrect order was much safer. Not to mention, it boasted a higher arrest rate, too!

“You heard the captain! Grab on to the railings! We're ramming them!”

Choi Gu-Hyeon reflexively yelled at his subordinates. Since the order had been issued, the Coast Guard had no choice but to ram into the illegal fishing vessels using their patrol boats, which had been padded on the sides with tires.

That meant the Coast Guard personnel should get ready to...

That was when Jeong Yo-Han cried out, “Inspector Choi! Look!”

“What is it?! Didn’t you hear the order? Grab the railings and shut up, will ya!”

“No, that’s not... Look over there, sir! Look!”

While making a shocked face, Jeong Yo-Han pointed at the fishing vessels, forcing Choi Gu-Hyeon to reflexively turn his head to look as well. And his complexion instantly paled after he took a good look at the deck of the fishing vessel.

Only until a minute ago, not a single soul could be seen on the vessel, yet now... Large crowds could be seen on the deck! With so many people present, the deck barely had any room left.

However, what spooked Choi Gu-Hyeon even more was how those dark silhouettes remained standing upright without any discernible safety equipment despite their ship rising and falling from the rough sea below.

‘W-what the f*ck are those guys doing?’

Before Choi Gu-Hyeon could answer that...!

“...! What the hell?!”

Choi Gu-Hyeon cried out in alarm at the sight of all those people... suddenly jumping into the ocean!

“What are those crazy sons of b*tches doing?!”

Of course they couldn’t hear him. But he still had to shout. After all, no matter how close to the shore this spot was, they were still stuck in the middle of the ocean at night. Not only that, but it was also the onset of winter, too. Anyone crazy enough to jump into the water now wouldn’t even last thirty minutes.

However, Choi Gu-Hyeon could see not just one or two individuals, but at least several hundred people diving into the freezing water below!

This spectacle defied all common sense, and Choi Gu-Hyeon could only watch on in disbelief.

The ocean was covered by the veil of darkness. And on top of a rusted, eerie-looking fishing vessel, people were throwing themselves into the freezing water below.

Even before the people in front reached the water’s surface, the ones behind them would unhesitantly dash toward the edge of the deck, and then...!

And it wasn’t only that one vessel, either! The exact same thing was happening to all twenty-plus Chinese fishing vessels.

The Coast Guard was so thrown off-guard that it even forgot to broadcast its warnings over the loudspeakers.

Choi Gu-Hyeon tightly clenched his fists at this sight, his eyes powerfully quaking.

‘Just... Just what the f*ck is going on here?!’

The boundary separating common sense and the surreal was crumbling right before his eyes, in this very place!