Chapter 46

Chapter 046: A Path Different from One's Intentions (5)

The person who came out to escort Hee-soo at the disaster scene was the Mokpo City Disaster Safety Management Controller.

His eyes widened when he heard Hee-soo ask them to delay the withdrawal.

The controller stopped walking and asked,

"Did you say there are still victims inside?"

"Yes. There are still people alive in there. How is the search for missing people going?"

"Well, that's... there are no missing people."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Everyone who needed to be rescued has been rescued. We also finished confirming the dead."

"There are definitely still victims inside, so please leave one or two teams here."

The Disaster Safety Management Controller did not accept Hee-soo's request.

"The mayor is waiting for you, so let's go there first."

"May I ask your name and position?"

"I'm Jo In-ha, Controller of the Mokpo Disaster Safety Management Headquarters."

"Understood. Please take me to the mayor."

Hee-soo stopped asking him and went to where the mayor of Mokpo was waiting.

The moment he entered, he spoke before the mayor could greet him.

"Stop the withdrawal immediately and add four teams for rescue operations."

The mayor froze in the middle of greeting him.

"Director Choi, what do you mean?"

"There are still three victims inside who need to be rescued urgently."

"How do you know that?"

The mayor did not believe him.

When Hee-soo looked like he was about to lose his temper, Chief Jang quickly grabbed him.

"Hee-soo. You promised not to interfere, remember?"

"People's lives are at stake. How can I not interfere?"

Hee-soo took off his jacket and threw it aside.

Chief Jang's eyes widened.

"You're planning to go in like that?"

"I'm going to borrow firefighting gear here and go in."

"Wait here."

Chief Jang went back to the car and returned carrying a large suitcase.

Hee-soo stared at him in confusion.

"What's that?"

"Your protective suit. What else?"

"You carry this around?"

"Of course. Don't firefighters usually carry theirs too?"

"Anyway, thank you."

Hee-soo quickly put on his protective suit.

Then he told the mayor,

"If you won't send anyone in, I'll go alone."

Hee-soo immediately started walking toward the accident site.

His actions were so confident that the mayor hurriedly stopped him.

"Director Choi. Where are you going?"

"Are you sure worker management is being handled properly here?"

"When I return to Seoul, I will not overlook what happened here."

The mayor flinched at the threat.

"W-well..."

"Four teams. There is still time."

Hee-soo did not wait any longer.

He headed toward the victims.

He could not afford to wait.

It seemed exterior work had been underway on the 600-ton car ferry.

The right side of the ship was piled with debris as though it had been bombed.

Even at a glance, heavy equipment was clearly needed.

Hee-soo became irritated.

How did they even conduct the search?

Hee-soo went toward the victim's location.

Steel plates and metal pipes were tangled together.

It looked impossible for anyone to be alive inside.

There was no visible route into the debris.

Hee-soo shook his head.

"I need to find a way in..."

The victims were clearly buried near the concave inner structure of the ship.

They appeared to be about ten meters inside the debris.

With such enormous steel structures collapsed on top of each other, there was no way they would move easily.

The reason nobody had called for help even through all this noise was probably because they had already lost consciousness.

Hee-soo carefully moved pieces of debris and searched for an opening large enough for a person.

He found a gap that seemed to lead inside, but it was far too narrow.

It would be good if someone could lift this part slightly...

As he prepared to enter, a rough voice came from behind him.

"Dis where da person's trapped, is it?!"

Hee-soo turned around.

It was one of the shipyard workers.

Hee-soo frowned, though his expression was hidden behind his face mask.

He answered bluntly.

"Yes. There's someone trapped underneath. I need to get inside..."

"Urgent?"

"Their life is in immediate danger."

"So you're saying they might die soon? Then why are we standing around? What do you want us to do?"

"What?"

"Quickly. Tell us what to do."

"Ah, well... if you could lift this section slightly so I can get inside..."

"That so?"

The rough-looking worker spoke into the radio he was holding.

"Mr. Kim? Bring da crane over here. And send about thirty workers over quick."

The moment he finished speaking, the arm of a massive crane used for lifting ship modules began moving toward them.

Workers were already crossing the police line from the entrance.

Even the police officers who tried to stop them eventually stepped aside because of their forceful momentum.

A man who seemed to be leading the workers bowed slightly.

"We're here."

"Good. See that firefighter? Follow what he says and clear out all this crap lying around."

"Yes."

The man leading the workers asked Hee-soo,

"What should we do?"

"What?"

Chief Jang, who was beside him, translated the dialect.

"He's asking what you want them to do."

"Ah. There's someone trapped under that steel framework. I need enough space between the beams for me to get inside."

"That little? Why bother? We can just lift the whole thing."

Hee-soo was startled.

"The structure is extremely unstable. If you lift it carelessly, the victim could get hurt."

"Ah, worrying too much is a disease too. Do we really look that sloppy to you? We've worked here forever. Don't worry about it."

The man spoke roughly but confidently, then turned to the workers.

"Boys! We need to lift this collapsed mess! Hook it all up!"

Hee-soo urgently said,

"You have to lift it very carefully!"

"Ah, come on!"

The leader looked at Hee-soo with annoyance, then spoke into the radio.

"Hey, lift that crane real gentle. If you yank it up all at once, everything's screwed."

"Don't worry. I'll handle it like my girlfriend."

"You ain't even got a girlfriend, bastard."

Around thirty workers attached ropes at different points and connected them to the crane.

Hee-soo felt chills.

At first glance, they seemed to be hooking the lines carelessly.

Yet each hook was placed exactly on the ends of structures that would not collapse under load.

The work was completed in an instant.

The foreman checked how the ropes were placed and spoke over the radio.

"All hooked. Lift it. Like that imaginary girlfriend of yours."

"Hahaha. Got it."

The crane slowly began putting tension on the ropes.

Amazingly, equal tension was applied to more than thirty lines without a single section sagging.

Hee-soo was impressed.

They did all of this just by eye?

The leader's expression turned sharp.

He checked every line and every hook over and over again to make sure nothing was wrong.

After confirming that the tension was properly distributed, he asked Hee-soo,

"Tell me how high to lift it."

"Yes. Stop when I tell you."

"Got it."

He gave the order over the radio.

"Lift."

"Okay."

As the massive bundle of steel beams began moving, Hee-soo also grew tense.

The leader looked at the workers standing around behind him.

"What are you standing there staring for? If we pull someone out, we need people ready to carry them!"

Immediately, four workers stood behind Hee-soo.

Hee-soo quickly shouted,

"That's enough! Stop!"

"Stop."

A large enough gap had opened.

Hee-soo told the leader,

"I'm going underneath."

"Isn't that too narrow?"

"It's fine. The structure is balanced very badly. Lifting it any higher might make things more dangerous."

"Got it."

Hee-soo crawled through the relatively wide opening.

He had to crawl completely flat against the ground.

The leader spoke over the radio.

"Someone's under there now, so be careful."

After crawling about five meters, Hee-soo found a space between the ship and the collapsed scaffolding.

A person was pinned beneath the wreckage.

One arm already looked almost impossible to save.

The bone was obviously broken, and almost half the flesh had been torn away.

The broken bone was even visible outside the body.

Blood was still pouring from the artery.

That was not the only problem.

The person's leg was also caught beneath the steel structure and appeared broken.

He could not pull it free.

There was no way Hee-soo could remove the victim alone.

Hee-soo radioed Chief Jang.

"Can you send about five people in here? I also need a tourniquet."

"Understood."

Chief Jang told the worker leader beside him,

"Someone is pinned down inside. He needs help."

"There's space in there?"

"Apparently."

"How many people does he need?"

"About five."

"What equipment?"

Chief Jang asked Hee-soo,

"They're asking what equipment you need."

"The space is too narrow. They probably can't bring in anything bigger than crowbars."

Chief Jang repeated the message.

"He needs to lift a steel structure off the victim, but the space is very narrow."

"Then five ain't enough. Boys, about ten of you get in there and help pull somebody out."

The workers answered casually.

"Okay."

Chief Jang told Hee-soo,

"About ten people are going in."

"No. There's not enough room. Even five will barely fit."

"Understood. I'll tell them."

Chief Jang immediately explained that there was very little space.

The leader looked disappointed.

"Then send five of the strongest ones."

"Yes!"

Five workers carrying steel pry bars crawled into the opening Hee-soo had used.

The leader radioed the crane operator.

"Five more are going underneath. Lift it a little more."

"Is that safe?"

"It's fine. Lift!"

"Okay."

Chief Jang urgently said,

"He also needs a tourniquet."

"We ain't got stuff like that."

At that moment, an ambulance entered the site with its siren blaring.

"We heard you found a victim?"

The worker leader pointed toward the paramedics with an indifferent expression.

"There. Looks like they got it."

Hee-soo heard that the paramedics had arrived and radioed them.

"There's someone trapped under the structure. The arm has a compound open fracture and a severed artery with heavy bleeding. The leg also appears to have a compound fracture. We need a tourniquet and a splint."

"Understood. The paramedics will go in."

"The space is too narrow. You can't come in yourselves. Send the equipment in with the workers."

"Understood."

The paramedics ran toward the workers carrying the necessary supplies.

The inside remained dangerous.

If even one of the temporarily placed hooks slipped, the heavy steel structure could crush everyone underneath.

The paramedics seemed frightened by the situation.

Once they handed over the equipment, another worker crawled inside carrying it.

The crane operator anxiously said over the radio,

"Hurry it up! The vibration is getting worse!"