Chapter 1512 Uncovering (2)

The Martial Assembly’s importance to the current administration, and to the country of South Korea itself, should never be underestimated.

The truth was, though, its importance grew exponentially in the past few years. But the truly explosive growth only happened in the past several months.

I mean, who could have imagined that the American government would become so interested in the Assembly?!

The NIS or the Korean government had no way of knowing what had gone down in recent times, but the Martial Assembly somehow bypassed the administration altogether to negotiate directly with the Chinese and the American governments.

But the bigger problem was the leaders of those nations acknowledging the independence of the Assembly and directly engaging its representatives without bothering to go through the Korean government!

For obvious reasons, the current administration couldn’t accept this state of things.

After all, the Assembly isn’t some kind of independent nation in our territory.

This situation was somewhat similar to a new country being established within the borders of a sovereign nation. That was the current situation, so if something major happened, the Korean government would be powerless to do anything. It simply had to fix the damaged relationship between it and the Assembly.

At this stage, wiping the Assembly out with the Korean army was out of the question. Such an option had always been unviable in the past, yes, but now? It might as well not even exist. After all, the Assembly was independently making deals with the Chinese and American governments. So, what would happen if the current Korean administration unilaterally decided to launch a military strike against the Assembly?

That would be akin to committing suicide!

This state of affairs pretty much created an urgent need for the NIS to mend the frayed relationship between the Korean government and the Martial Assembly. And that was why Bak Seong-Jo tried to have a... reunion with Yi Dong-Wuk that time.

The problem with that approach was that, in hindsight, the approach itself had been misguided.

Bak Seong-Jo tried to calm down first before addressing Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Since the Assembly is asking a favor, I’m sure it can’t be something simple in nature. Even so, we’ll do everything in our power to make it happen, Mister Lee.”

Bak Seong-Jo sneakily put more emphasis on the ‘favor’ bit. It was his way of reminding Lee Hyeon-Su that the Martial Assembly was approaching the NIS first, hat in hand and all.

Lee Hyeon-Su was too smart not to notice Bak Seong-Jo’s intention, and could only smirk wryly. Even so, he didn’t call the NIS deputy director out for it.

I’m not gonna waste my energy on an unnecessary war of nerves.

This was what was so bad about the civil servants. What was so important about establishing who was doing whom a favor, anyway? No, what mattered in such a case was figuring out who would benefit how during the proceedings. That was all.

Indeed, as long as they got the desired outcome, who cared about whether the NIS was ordered to do this or asked for a favor? No one, that was who.

“Deputy Director Bak... We’d like you to investigate the backgrounds of certain individuals.”

“Investigate the... backgrounds?” Bak Seong-Jo asked back, his expression becoming strange.

Lee Hyeon-Su subtly cocked an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Is this request too demeaning to your agency?”

“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant,” Bak Seong-Jo hurriedly waved his hand. “Things like demeaning or shameless don’t matter to people in our profession, after all. Besides, we can’t say our line of work doesn’t include such investigations, anyway.”

In all honesty? Most of the NIS’s work involved such investigations.

“It’s just that for a favor from the Assembly, it sounds a little too simple...”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned. “Shouldn’t the beginning be simple? Asking something difficult right off the bat would have been too shameless, after all.”

Bak Seong-Jo slowly nodded. Then, a grin spread on his face after figuring out Lee Hyeon-Su’s intention. It seemed the other party simply wanted to create an opportunity to restart dialogue between the two sides.

“Then, who are these individuals?”

Lee Hyeon-Su asked quietly. “Would it be okay?”

“Our egos can take a backseat this time. Besides, trying to do things by the book when we already know so much about each other is rather humorous, don’t you agree?”

Lee Hyeon-Su and Bak Seong-Jo stared at each other and grinned strangely.

“Then, here.”

Lee Hyeon-Su pulled out a large manila envelope before handing it over to Bak Seong-Jo. The deputy director of NIS used the look in his eyes to ask if it was okay to unseal the envelope here.

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded briefly to give his permission, allowing Bak Seong-Jo to expertly open the envelope and pull out the documents contained within.

“Hmm...?” Bak Seong-Jo tilted his head while perusing the documents. “But these individuals are...”

He smartly omitted the words “mere nobodies” at the end of his sentence.

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded. “Investigating them should be simple enough. But the situation is a little tricky for us to make a move.”

“Hahaha! I didn’t know there were situations that even the Assembly would find tricky to handle.”

“If we make a move, there will be a bloodbath, you see?”

“...!”

Bak Seong-Jo hurriedly clamped his mouth shut. The corners of Lee Hyeon-Su’s lips subtly curled up at that reaction.

“If we had people who are as calm and professional as the NIS agents on our side, my job would have been so much easier. Unfortunately, every single person on our side is a hot-blooded idiot. Plus, this is a delicate situation for us, you see? That’s why I have no confidence in handling this matter in a lawful and pleasant manner.”

“...”

“I’m sure you don’t want to see that happen either.”

Bak Seong-Jo dazedly nodded.

The NIS and the Korean government at large truly dreaded the prospect of the Martial Assembly causing an incident. They would rather jump in a lake than witness it happen under their watch!

“Yes, we’ll definitely do this for you.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned. “Thank you very much.”

Bak Seong-Jo sneakily wiped the sweat off his brow. “By the way, you said these people’s backgrounds, but... What should we look for, exactly?”

“Well, the thing is...”

While looking a little troubled, Lee Hyeon-Su began explaining the situation.

***

Bak Seong-Jo stared at Lee Hyeon-Su in dismay at the end of the explanation.

“Okay, so, these... bastards got paid off by some other unknown company or companies to ruin MK’s business venture?”

Lee Hyeon-Su coolly nodded. “Yes, that’s what we believe.”

Bak Seong-Jo narrowed his eyes. “I see. For the time being, we...”

“A word of advice,” Lee Hyeon-Su abruptly cut Bak Seong-Jo off. “Don’t underestimate the severity of this situation.”

Bak Seong-Jo’s head snapped back up. He saw the unsettlingly bright smile on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face.

“Because I see this situation as indescribably important, you see?”

Bak Seong-Jo frowned in confusion. “I agree, Mister Lee. It doesn’t matter which organization it is, protecting one’s source of revenue should be its utmost priority, after all.”

“It sounds like you’re still mistaken about something.”

“I’m... sorry?”

The smile on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face remained, but his glare was getting colder now.

“Our Assembly Master invested an exorbitant amount of money into this business venture for the sake of the martial artists retiring from the Martial Assembly. And the ultimate goal of this business is to prevent martial artists from slipping into the shadowy underbelly of society and becoming criminals. Yes, our aim is to turn them into regular citizens and well-adjusted members of our society. In short...”

Bak Seong-Jo finished Lee Hyeon-Su’s sentence.

“This venture will benefit... the nation.”

“Something like that, yes.”

That wasn’t what Lee Hyeon-Su wanted to say, but the intention was roughly similar, so he didn’t bother to correct the man from the NIS. Besides, considering the vibe of their conversation so far, maybe leaving it alone was for the best, anyway.

“But now, an unknown party is interfering with that. Unsurprisingly, our Assembly Master is very concerned with this situation. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say here.”

Bak Seong-Jo’s expression tensed up while he nodded.

Who was insane enough to provoke these people? Of course, he had already guessed, more or less, how this situation had unfolded. And he also had his suspicions on who might try something this stupid, too.

What made him tense, though, was that those crazy sons of b*tches just had to provoke the one and only MK!

“Now, I want you to think carefully about this,” said Lee Hyeon-Su lazily. “Who do you think was responsible for this incident?”

“It could only be companies with business interests that compete against yours.”

“Sure. Or...”

Lee Hyeon-Su’s voice suddenly grew icy and dug mercilessly into Bak Seong-Jo’s hearing.

“It could also be a group that views us antagonistically.”

Bak Seong-Jo’s face froze stiff. “Chief Lee...”

“Oh, no, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suspecting your side or anything like that, but merely stating one of the possibilities. It’s just that...” Lee Hyeon-Su stubbed the cigarette on the nearby ashtray, then stared straight into Bak Seong-Jo’s eyes. “Well, we’d love nothing more than the NIS to thoroughly uncover the truth and resolve any lingering doubts.”

“Of course.”

Bak Seong-Jo subtly clenched his teeth.

Lee Hyeon-Su studied Bak Seong-Jo’s reaction as his satisfaction level climbed higher. That should be enough “stick”, so it was now time to offer “carrots” next.

“Deputy Bak, I think you should know that our Assembly Master is planning to expand the cafe business. And he also wishes to launch different franchises in the future.”

“I see. I didn’t know that.”

“The National Tax Service would’ve been overjoyed to hear that, but I guess it doesn’t mean much to the deputy director of the NIS. Still, don’t forget that in the past, martial artists who quit the Assembly almost always turned into criminals.”

“...”

“With our careful management, we will pull them back out into the light. Shouldn’t the NIS be happy about that?”

“Yes. We can’t ask for more if you could do that for us.”

“Good. Then, it’s obvious that you will help us,” said Lee Hyeon-Su, a bright smile blooming on his face again. “If the NIS steps in and helps with uncovering the truth, and if our Caffe Luogo clears its name and enjoys healthy profit margins... Don’t you think it’d benefit all the parties involved?”

Lee Hyeon-Su had added an extra layer to the request just then. Initially, it was a simple favor of investigating the backgrounds of some random people, but as they chatted, the scope of this “favor” kept growing and growing.

So, you want us to mobilize the cops and prosecutors, too?

Or, more correctly, the Assembly wanted the NIS to use the information already uncovered to investigate as thoroughly as possible before releasing the findings to the media. Then, neither the cafe franchise nor the NIS would have to explain the situation, since the news coverage would do that for them.

Bak Seong-Jo cautiously spoke, “I see. Then... Can you speak to the Assembly Master on our behalf?”

“Of course.”

“We will handle this matter as thoroughly as humanly possible. So that the Assembly won’t have any lingering doubts afterward.”

“Why, thank you.”

“In return, we... No, that’s not quite right. I have a request, actually. Is it possible to arrange a meeting between the Assembly Master and our director of the NIS?”

“Hmm...?” Lee Hyeon-Su grunted while scratching his chin. “That depends on the Assembly Master, of course. However, I’m sure it won’t be too difficult to arrange a meeting. Our Assembly Master doesn’t really mind things like that, after all.”

“I see. We’ll leave it in your hands, then.”

Bak Seong-Jo bowed deeply, prompting Lee Hyeon-Su to casually wave his hand, a deep smirk etched on his face.

“You don’t have to thank me like this. I’m merely a proxy, after all.”

“That’s my story as well.”

“I guess you’re right. Well, since we’re both busy men... Let’s part ways here. If something new happens, or if we uncover new information, we’ll contact you again.”

“How about joining me for a meal and...”

“Hahaha! Thank you for the offer, but do you mind if I take a rain check on that?” Lee Hyeon-Su got up and politely bowed at Bak Seong-Jo. “Then, until next time.”

While smiling brightly, Lee Hyeon-Su exited the private room. Bak Seong-Jo stood up to see him off, and after the man from the Martial Assembly was gone for good, he plopped down on the couch again.

While rummaging through his pocket to dig out a new cigarette, he began swearing reflexively. “Sons of b*tches...!”

Although there had been plenty of beating around the bush during this chat, the conclusion remained the same: some bastards were interfering with the Assembly’s business, so they wanted the government to throw its considerable weight on top of the culprits, crush them, and make an example out of them so that no one else would dare try their luck again.

“F*ckers who had been hiding in the shadows of our society and enriching themselves until now want us to use the power of the government to crush the law-abiding tax-paying civilians? What kind of dogsh*t nonsense is this?”

Bak Seong-Jo tried to think positively about this, but doing so only pissed him off some more.

Of course, he wasn’t going to deny that those who started the whole thing were at fault this time. Even then, he still couldn’t think of the Assembly bastards as good people or victims in this situation.

Despite his personal feelings, though...

Yeah, I know. This and that are separate matters.

It didn’t matter what his feelings on the matter were. What did matter, however, was that he had finally found a way to get into the good graces of the Martial Assembly. This was an opportunity he simply could not afford to mess up. Because, he’d become a kite with its strings cut if that happened!

If the Assembly hadn’t come to him in the first place, fine, there would’ve been nothing to worry about. But it had come to him. And if he failed to handle the Assembly’s demands and worsened the relationship between it and the Korean government, the higher-ups would simply get rid of him and try to appease the martial artists again.

For obvious reasons, Bak Seong-Jo couldn’t let that happen.

He exhaled a large puff of cigarette smoke, then picked up his phone.

“...Director, it’s me. Yes, sir. I’ve spoken to him just now. They want us to do something for them. I’ll give you the details once I’m back in the office. Yes, sir. I’m on my way now.”

After ending the call, Bak Seong-Jo grinned bitterly.

Since we’re going to do this... Let’s go all out!

So that the Martial Assembly wouldn’t have anything to complain about later!