Residents, who are evicted from their homes in a designated urban renewal, demonstrate against their removal. The police arrive and attempt to end the demonstration. A 20-year-old police officer and a 16-year-old boy, who is the son of a demonstrator, die during the melee. The boy's father is also arrested. Later, the father insists that he tried to protect his son from being beaten by the riot police. The deaths of these two people are then brought to court.
On the eve of the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, a whale swallows the Emperor's Seal of State being brought to Joseon by envoys from China. With a big reward on whoever brings back the royal seal, mountain bandits led by Jang Sa Jung go out to sea to hunt down the whale. But he soon clashes with Yeo Wol, a female captain of pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.