Empire of the Ring

Chapter 129: Trans-Siberian Railway (1)

“Youngho, get up, the train just stopped in somewhere that’s not supposed to. There’s not even an announcement.”

After waking up Youngho who had fallen deep into sleep and started to dress up. He then woke up Ilkwon. If it was a dangerous situation, the ring must have given him a sign but he did not feel anything. Since the lights were on, it did not seem like the train had broken down either.

“Why are you getting dressed?”

“Let’s go out and see what’s going on. Don’t you think it’s weird that the train has stopped in an empty field in the middle of the night?”

The train had set off from Irkutsk Station located below Lake Baikal in the evening and was on its way to Krasnoyarsk Station. It was the company’s third night on the train.

“Let’s go together.”

Some of the passengers had woken up and was sticking their heads out the window to see what was going on although there was nothing to see in the dark except for the train’s lights. Since Youngho’s room was located in the front part of the train and it was close to the engine, the group went upfront but being an old train, the engine was separated by the passenger cars. The group could not find out anything.

A railroad security officer was trying to talk to locomotive engineers on an interphone but he was startled because no one replied to the phone. Looking at the security officer’s face, it was certain that something had gone wrong. There was no way for the two engineers to sleep at the same time. If the train was stopped, it must have been forcefully stopped by someone.

Youngho introduced the gang as security company employees to the security officer and asked if he could search the front of the train. He gladly opened the passenger car’s door. After the door was opened, the cold April wind of Lake Baikal rushed in. There was a 1.5-meter gap between the footplate and the ground. Many people would find it difficult to get off and to climb back on from the height. Youngho let Ilkwon standby at the door and he jumped off the train with Jongil. It would seem reckless to jump off a train that was staying in an empty field without knowing what was going on but Youngho decided to check for himself since the engine drivers were not responsive.

If something bad happened, someone on the train also should try to resolve the matter since they could not be stuck in there forever. It did not seem like there were more skilled people on the train than those three. Also, he had in mind that if he resolved an issue here, he could advertise Zeynep Security Service, that its employees resolved the problem for all the passengers.

“Jongil, I think I see some images of people moving ahead in the engine locomotive.”

“I don’t see them.”

Because of the ring’s power, Youngho’s improved vision could see everything as if he was in the daylight but he only said so since he could not say the truth to Jongil. He was told that there were two engineers but there were more people near the engine riding on horses, which was telling him that they were the ones who stopped the train. He had never heard of railroad workers riding on horses to fix railroad, and he only wished that there would be no trouble but he had also heard about train hijacking.

A few years back, robbers would often put obstacles and fire on the railroad to stop the train and once the train was stopped, they would rob people in the first and second cars of the train. He hoped that this was not the case.

***

Youngho and Jongil did not go straight to the front but went around to slowly approach them and since they were using the leather shoes, no one noticed their subtle and swift moves.

In front of the train, a wagon was on the railroad with one of its wheel taken out and one on the other side, a brazier’s flame was burning brightly. Although the wagon did not seem like it could be an obstacle for the train, the engineers must have stopped the train to see what was going on. The weird thing was that the people around the flame did not seem nervous at all. They were smoking cigarettes. Among them, he could see people in the engine driver’s uniform. They were not trying to get rid of the cause of stopping the train but smiling and smoking with the others. It was a funny situation that Youngho had never expected.

Although it was dark, Youngho and Jongil looked at each other’s eyes and frowned.

‘A sweetheart deal.’

They nodded at each other. The situation could not be explained in other ways than to think that the engineers and the people who stopped the train were a team working together. If there was an obstacle on the railroad in the dark, the engineers should have called a railroad security officer and receive further directions before or after stopping the train. If in urgency, they could even run over the obstacle especially since there had been robbery cases like this in the past. If the train did not stop, there was no way for intruders to get on a moving train. It all made sense how past robberies had been all a success. As engineers voluntarily stopped the train, robbers were able to get on the train to rob its passengers. It was such a preposterous situation.

There was no need to think deeply. He was going to subdue them first. There were eleven people on the opposite side. Youngho and Jongil went around to each side of the group of people sitting down and attacked them fast. With the gun’s handle, Youngho beat them randomly and began to strike them with his hands and feet. The guys who were caught off guard were helpless. A few of them were loading their guns but they soon screamed in pain as Youngho shot them in their thighs using his keen eyesight.

Although they may have been experienced robbers, they were defenseless against Youngho and Jongil’s skills. They could not possibly be of a match to them who jumped up high with the leather shoes on. It did not take too long until they had subdued everyone. The engineers did not fight back but they were frozen and shaking in fear.

Hearing the gunfire, Ilkwon jumped off the train and ran to the front. However, when he arrived, the situation was already covered by his two friends. The robbers and engineers had planned on robbing people in the empty field where there was no signal for phone calls and internet. Since there was no way for the passengers to inform the outside of their situation, they would fall in group fear.

Although the engineers were the most suspicious ones, Youngho pretended that he did not know anything and let them drive the train. The robbers were tied and locked in a compartment with the security officer’s help. Soon, the train began to move slowly.

***

Through Kim Ilkwon, who could speak Russian, the gang told the officer about the situation. Youngho told Ilkwon to emphasize that the engineers and the robbers were connected since they stopped the train even though they could have pushed through the wagon on the railroad and moreover, they were smoking and talking with the robbers near the fire.

Doubting the security officer too, Jongil and Ilkwon stayed the night in the compartment where the robbers were captured. Because Russia was where corruption and graft prevailed, they did not know whom to believe anymore. Youngho also watched the engineers in the driver’s room until they reached a way station and as soon as the train stopped, he took them. Thankfully, at the way station, smartphones worked every now and then and there was also a wired phone. The people who could resolve this situation were neither Russian police nor Russian army. The only people Youngho trusted in Russia were, of course, Yaniv and Sergey. Not to mention, calling them was the most efficient way to resolve the situation since they were directly connected to President Putin.

When Youngho got off at Volgograd Station, it felt like he had come home. It was because he was used to the scene and also there was a friendly face waiting for him. Sergey smiled nicely as he greeted Youngho and his company.

“Shall I spread the word that your company specializes in catching robbers and thieves? Or should I say that you guys also take care of the security of Trans-Siberian Railway?”

“Poof, brother. It was just a coincidence that we got to catch them.”

“It was such bad luck that they planned to get on the train where you guys were on. Isn’t that really funny for a coincidence? You guys are destined to be in Russia.”

It was understandable that he thought it that way. Coincidences were happening too much in Russia as if they were following Youngho around. He had a point but the truth was that the world was full of these kinds of event every day. Youngho was only able to deal with those situations more actively than other people since he had the ring and leather shoes.

“I’m just glad that we found out the locomotive engineers and the robbers were a team. Because of that, more people will now know about Zeynep company.”

“Boss is exuberated by this, It’s going to be a bloodbath among Russian officials. President Putin won’t let this pass.”

Sergey did not seem to realize that this was thone of the ills of a Communist Society, not the problem of bureaucratic society. The society was too corrupted; Youngho did not know where to point his finger first, although it was sometimes beneficial since he could also cheat for his advantage.

At Yaniv’s mansion, there was a banquet waiting for Youngho’s company. Since Zeynep Security Service had resolved the robbery issue at the warehouse complex in Vladivostok and even received permission to use weapons, the business would be a smooth sail from now on. Moreover, Youngho did not spread the word about the incident of Trans-Siberian Railway but quietly let Yaniv know. Yaniv must have been complimented by President Putin, or maybe such a huge welcome was natural for Yaniv.

Later when the passengers or people might complain about the train robbery but the Russian government would pretend as if nothing happened. From this incident, President Putin’s trust for Yaniv had grown even more, since he was thankful for Yaniv who did not let out the word to the press and cleaned it up spotlessly. If the press had found out, Russia would have been made fun of by the world.

Train robbery in the twenty-first century? It is unheard of that the engineers of the National Railway teamed up with robbers to rob the whole train. Russia was like a lawless area, the society was corrupted from the core. It was a great place for many naïve Western minded businessmen to starve to death.