How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

”So what exactly happened?”

Former President Go Yeongjun had already heard Cha Jiham’s detailed explanation of Politburo Member Liu Peiqi’s predicament. Nevertheless, because he was carrying out Jiham’s instructions, he feigned complete ignorance and asked the question.

”[Sigh... Here’s what happened. Thieves broke into the warehouse where the safe was kept.]”

”Oh, come on. You’re making that up.”

”[Making it up?]”

”The gold bars must have been stored safely in a bank vault. How could thieves possibly get in there?”

”[For certain reasons, the gold couldn’t be kept in a bank.]”

Go Yeongjun instantly understood what those ”certain reasons” were. Politburo Member Liu Peiqi had received the gold as bribes, which was why he couldn’t deposit it in a bank. Since voicing that conclusion would only cause trouble, Go continued playing dumb.

”The bars were locked inside a safe. How did the thieves open it?”

”[The gold was stored in a hidden room at my villa. A large safe simply wouldn’t fit inside.]”

”I understand what you mean, but weren’t there surveillance cameras installed at the villa?”

”[Of course there were. It appears the thieves cut off the power before clearing out every single bar from the storage room.]”

”Then the cameras should have recorded them climbing over the wall.”

”[Sigh...]”

Liu Peiqi’s heavy sigh meant only one thing—they had recorded nothing.

”So you’re saying the power was cut from outside the villa. Is that right?”

”[I suspected that too, but we couldn’t find any trace of an external power outage.]”

”So what, were they wearing invisibility cloaks?”

”[...]”

Unable to come up with an answer, Politburo Member Liu Peiqi simply fell silent.

”And there weren’t any traces of a break-in inside the villa either?”

”[We searched every last inch. Not even a single hair.]”

Go Yeongjun had deliberately kept Liu Peiqi talking for this long solely to confirm that detail. Fortunately, Cha Jiham’s team hadn’t left the slightest trace behind. Since that was the case, there was no point in dragging out the conversation any further.

”Your situation truly has my sympathy, Politburo Member Liu, but I believe you should return the 850 million dollars I paid for the gold. What do you think?”

”[...Yes, that’s only right. I’ll transfer the money within the hour.]”

”Understood. I sincerely hope you catch those thieves.”

Click.

The moment he hung up, Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol hurried over.

”Director Go, report the contents of your conversation with Liu to Director Cha.”

”To summarize, they found absolutely no trace that Director Cha’s team had entered the villa.”

Ignoring Go Yeongjun’s answer, I praised Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol.

”You did an excellent job covering your tracks at the villa.”

”Haha. You’re giving me too much credit! By the way, shouldn’t we also recover the 37 million dollars in commission that was paid to Vice President Liu Shen?”

”Director Go, did you hear what Team Leader Lee said?”

Go Yeongjun nodded knowingly and dialed Liu Shen’s number. After a lengthy verbal battle, he managed to recover the commission as well. Watching him hang up, I decided to give him a glimmer of hope.

”Out of the 1.8 trillion won you embezzled from the company, 1.75 trillion has already been recovered or will be recovered shortly. I’ll personally cover the remaining 50 billion won.”

”What?!”

Go Yeongjun stared at me in utter disbelief. He clearly hadn’t expected anything like that.

”But there’s one condition.”

”Name it. I’m listening.”

”The fact that we emptied out Liu’s villa remains a secret forever. I don’t think I need to explain any further.”

”Y-Yes, of course!”

His voice trembled. Judging from the expression on my face, I had frightened him badly.

”Once the entire amount has been repaid, your punishment will be significantly reduced.”

”Director Cha, thank you so much!”

”No need to thank me. We’ll meet again back home.”

”Uh...”

Go Yeongjun hesitated, as though he still had something to say.

”Do you have something else to discuss?”

”I’ve fallen out of favor with Politburo Member Liu Peiqi, so there’s a good chance I’ll be barred from leaving the country.”

”We’ll take care of that ourselves, so you don’t need to worry.”

As soon as I gave a slight nod, Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol escorted Go Yeongjun back downstairs to the basement. Not long afterward, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan returned after selling Jeong Sanhak’s former base to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

”Chief Secretary Kang, did everything go well?”

”For the most part, yes. However, something unexpected happened.”

”Unexpected?”

”Vice Chairman Wei Chen bought Jeong Sanhak’s base for well above market value.”

Jeong Sanhak was planning to flee to South Korea, meaning he would never return to Macau. Wei Chen knew that perfectly well, so there was no reason for him to overpay. Yet, contrary to all expectations, he had offered far more than the property’s market value. I asked Chief Secretary Kang Inhan whether he understood Wei Chen’s intentions.

”I was curious myself, so I asked him directly, but he only laughed and refused to answer. Perhaps you should ask him personally.”

That seemed reasonable, so I called Vice Chairman Wei Chen. The phone barely had time to ring before he answered, as though he had been waiting for my call.

”[Director Cha, has Chief Secretary Kang already informed you?]”

”Yes, he has. I’m curious why you were so generous toward Mr. Jeong.”

”[If Jeong hadn’t established his base there, I never would have discovered Vice Chairman Chen’s schemes. This is simply my way of thanking him.]”

”I understand. By the way, how is the operation to eliminate Chen Zhihui’s forces progressing?”

”[With the exception of a handful of his key followers, everyone else has already been dealt with.]”

”Is there a reason those key followers escaped?”

”[It seems Chen warned them in advance, so they all went into hiding.]”

”That’s unfortunate. I hope you’ll be able to eliminate them as well.”

”[Director Cha, wait a moment.]”

Wei Chen called out just as I was about to end the call.

”Is there something else?”

”[I’ve thoroughly investigated everyone under my command. Fortunately, none of them turned out to be Chen’s spies. So who informed him that we were about to raid his hideout?]”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen suspected that we had leaked the information to Chen Zhihui. If I didn’t dispel those suspicions now, they could become a serious problem later.

Just in case, I’ll cast out a line...

”Keep in mind this is only speculation, but...”

”[I’ll keep that in mind. Go on.]”

”I believe the FBI leaked the information.”

”[The FBI? And I assume you have a reason for thinking that?]”

”The FBI’s ultimate objective is the complete destruction of the Triad.”

”[Hmm...]”

Wei Chen fell silent in thought. I understood exactly how he felt, but there was nothing more I could say. After a brief pause, he spoke again.

”[What would it take for the FBI to leave us alone?]”

The words The Triad just needs to quit dealing drugs rose to my lips, but I swallowed them. Even if I said it, Wei Chen would ignore me. Still, remaining silent wasn’t an option.

”If the Triad stays out of the United States, they won’t make serious trouble for you.”

”[I’ll keep your advice in mind, Director Cha.]”

After ending the call with Vice Chairman Wei Chen, I told Chief Secretary Kang Inhan everything without leaving anything out. He had listened to the entire conversation.

”...He said we’ll meet again if the opportunity arises. Well then, isn’t it about time we headed over to Director Om?”

”Director Om?”

”If we’re sending Director Go back home, we’ll need to join Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol’s group.”

”Ah, now I understand.”

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan nodded after grasping my meaning.

***

”Director Cha, what brings you here at this hour?” NIS Director Om Giyeon asked in confusion as he sat down on the sofa.

”I brought Director Go.”

”I see. The FBI agents watching you didn’t become suspicious?”

”Just to be safe, we transported him in the trunk.”

”Then there shouldn’t be any problems.”

”May I speak with Deputy Director Jo and Mr. Jeong for a moment?”

”Of course. No problem, but...”

I immediately understood why NIS Director Om Giyeon had trailed off.

”I want to hand Mr. Jeong the money from the sale of his base.”

”Haha, I hadn’t even thought of that!” Om Giyeon chuckled awkwardly and nodded.

At his signal, the waiting NIS agent escorted Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol and Jeong Sanhak into the living room. As soon as they sat down, Om Giyeon spoke.

”Deputy Director Jo, does the North Korean government know you’ve disappeared?”

”I reported that I was forced into hiding after Mr. Jeong’s base was exposed.”

”I see.”

After replying, I took an envelope from my pocket and handed it to Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol.

”What’s this?”

”A check from the sale of Mr. Jeong’s base to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.”

Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol immediately sensed something unusual. After all, his country had secretly supplied drugs and weapons to Chen Zhihui behind Wei Chen’s back. Logically, Wei Chen should have been furious with them. Instead, he had purchased their base. Jo asked Jiham whether he knew the reason.

”Thanks to the weapons and drugs found at Mr. Jeong’s base, Vice Chairman Wei was able to corner Vice Chairman Chen.”

”Ah... I see.”

Jo Ilcheol nodded before removing the check from the envelope.

After looking at the amount printed on it, he frowned in confusion.

”When we bought that base, we only paid ten million patacas.”

I immediately understood what he meant. After all, the check was for fifteen million patacas.

”The extra five million is my personal expression of gratitude to you, Deputy Director Jo.”

”Oh...”

Jo Ilcheol drew out the sound as understanding dawned on him.

”Use that money to help you settle in once you arrive in our country.”

”I sincerely thank you for your generosity, Director Cha.”

”There’s no need for thanks. Are you fully prepared to depart for our country?”

”For the most part, yes. But I’m worried about whether we’ll be able to board the submarine safely.”

At that moment, NIS Director Om Giyeon joined the conversation.

”Preparations for your transfer to South Korea were completed long ago, so there’s nothing to worry about, Deputy Director Jo.”

”I heard FBI agents are watching this place. How do you intend to get past their surveillance?”

Om Giyeon intended to incapacitate the FBI agents with Saho. However, Saho’s existence couldn’t be revealed in front of outsiders, so he answered vaguely.

”I’m afraid I can’t disclose every detail. I hope you’ll understand.”

”Very well.”

To reassure the dissatisfied Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol, I quickly stepped in.

”Deputy Director Jo, leave the FBI agents to us. There’s no need to worry.”

”Even so, I’d like to know exactly how you plan to divert their attention.”

”The FBI’s surveillance targets are Director Om and me. In a little while, we’re going out for dinner.”

Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol instantly understood Cha Jiham’s plan. Once Om Giyeon and Jiham left for dinner, the FBI agents would have no choice but to follow them. While those two occupied the surveillance team, everyone else could quietly make their way to the submarine’s rendezvous point. Jo openly asked whether he had guessed correctly.

”Your deduction is absolutely correct. Well then, Director Om, shall we go have dinner?”

”Hahaha! Let’s go!”

NIS Director Om Giyeon’s cheerful laughter echoed throughout the living room.