Empire of the Ring

“What a thief. What’s all this? He stole this much from the Kazakh people but lied that he devoted his whole life for the country.”

In the basement, the two found a breath-taking amount of gold bars and a wad of cash. The half of a stash of money that the president stored could create countless jobs for Kazakh local people. To think about the people who went abroad to find jobs, Youngho unwittingly uttered harsh words.

“How much do you think all of this amount to?”

“There are 50 boxes of gold bars. Each box would have about 1,000 bars. I don’t even know how much are those euro and dollar cash.”

“I’ll take all of them.”

“Um, how are we going to do that?”

“Even if I have a flat wheel on the way, I’ll make it happen.”

“Jeez, how can I stop you?”

“If left here, they will be taken to the president’s overseas bank account. I can’t let that happen.”

“You’re worse than me. Don’t you need to leave him some?”

“No, he won’t blink even if we take all of this. He’d have a bunch more hidden in overseas accounts and other places.”

“Alright. Let’s call the trucks. We’ll figure it out as we load them.”

Gold bars and cash had been stored in packages, so Youngho and Jong-il could load them onto the trucks with forklifts.

The problem was to avoid inspection of the police outside. Thankfully, the president’s villa was located in a remote place, and it was close to a highway. Once they entered the highway, they would be fine, but they had to figure out how to get to the highway.

It was early in the morning, so there would not be a lot of policemen, but the Kazakh police were on the emergency line of duty due to the border area conflict.

“The security cameras on the way are all disabled, right?”

“Yeah, our agents are experts at that. The problem is stopping through checkpoints. Should we just run through them?”

“Do you know why I told you to prepare two 25-ton dump trucks? I thought about driving in the field.”

“How will they stand driving on rough dirt?”

“You know these trucks can carry 30 tons easily. The gold bars, money, and other stuff will only be about 25 tons. Look at those tires. They’re completely fine.”

“The cash estimate is roughly worth over three billion dollars.”

“It will be more than that because there are euros too. I am sad that I can’t take all of the antiques.”

“Lee Youngho, you’re finally becoming greedy.”

“Yes, I am. I also want to explore this place so bad.”

“Is there any more to take?”

“There’s a little safe on the second floor, but that’s quite heavy. I don’t know how to carry it.”

“You should roll it down from the second floor. Nobody’s going to blame you for being rough on the safe.”

The linear distance between the autonomous state and Almaty was about 1,900 kilometers, but it was way longer in real life because of the rough roads that were not straight. Also, divers would have to eat, take care of nature’s calls, and sleep, so their running time was only about 15 hours a day at maximum.

Jong-il, Youngho, and intelligence agents of the state took turns to drive two trucks. They had to drive on rough fields to avoid police officers. It took them three full days before they arrived at the autonomous state.

Which on the way, they checked with the agents who resided in Almaty, and they reported that there was no special movement at the president’s villa. The president must be either too shocked or ignorant because this much property was nothing to him.

Youngho checked what he had brought. There were 50 tons of gold bars, which were close to 2.7 billion dollars in cash, and the total cash they brought, which included euro and dollars, was worth a little more than 3.5 billion dollars. It was quite shocking that the president had this much stored in his villa.

Maybe the president could not even report it to the police since it was his secret money. Even if he did, with Kazakh police’s ability, it would not be easy to find the criminal with a careful plan.

***

At Arirang Wharf, a car ferry was sounding the boat horn to leave. On the ferry, two trucks that carried gold bars and cash were loaded. Youngho was moving them to the Serbian ranch in Baku.

Jong-il had a satisfied smile on his face.

“Hey, why don’t we buy some fighter jets and attack helicopters with this money?”

“We should be cautious or the president will suspect us.”

“It was a perfect crime. Who’s going to doubt us? The president is too busy to pay attention to the autonomous state now.”

Youngho was intrigued by Jong-il’s suggestion.

Since the president had already given a billion dollars as an investment for strengthening national defense, it did not seem so crazy to buy such aircrafts. Judging by the current situation at the border, buying military aircrafts and reinforcing the autonomous state’s force would be welcomed by the military too, especially when such aircrafts could not be delivered right after the purchase unlike tanks and armored vehicles.

The first step to take was to train pilots and engineers for the aircrafts. The autonomous state already had nearly 200 pilots that had been training, so some talented people from them could be recruited for the fighter jets and attack helicopters.

“I should go to Istanbul.”

“To buy the jets?”

“Yeah. They will take time anyway, so let’s prepare them in advance.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Even if the president decides to step down easily, I don’t think can I forgive him. He’s been filling his stomach with the Kazakh people’s money. The money we stole is only the tip of the iceberg. More money should be hidden somewhere else. I’ll find it all.”

“You’re going crazy over money now.”

“You know when people find missing money, they’re rewarded with some percentage of the money they found, right? Just think of it like that. We’re getting rewarded for giving the Kazakh people’s money back.”

“You’re going to take over the whole country with the money you took?”

“Be quiet. People will hear you.”

“Oh, let them all hear. Is this even a country? I don’t know where to start since the whole governmental system is rotten and stinky.”

“If the state wants to live, the government must be overthrown.”

“Let’s bring some more Special Forces junior soldiers from Korea. They’re all suffering without a decent job. They’d come running if we say we’ll hire them as our foreign soldiers.”

In order to take the state’s fragile military power to the next level, hiring former Special Forces members in Korea were the best alternatives.

“You want me to make a foreign legion?”

“Yes. If we have a civil war or a battle, there’s no way we’re not going to stand the whole Kazakh military force. We have to go on guerrilla-style non-regular warfare to win.”

“Okay. Contact the Union right away. Let’s see how many people are willing to come. If they want to bring their family, tell them we’ll also provide a house for them.”

“You want their families to move here too? We never know when the battle will take place.”

“If their families come along, I’ll let them live at the farm in Baku. We’ll expand our farms and wine factories, so we need more workers anyway. More people will apply if we let them settle down in Baku.”

“That’s a good idea. The families of Zeynep Security Service employees are all living on the farm, so they’ll adjust to the farm life easily.”

“When Kazakhstan is stabilized, then we’ll let them settle down here.”

“I don’t know when that day will come.”

“Oh, trust me. We’ll make that happen.”

***

From the day the ring and leather shoes landed on Youngho’s hands, his fate had already been determined. When he visited Fatima after searching the streets of Istanbul, he felt some joy. The spirit of the ring led him to Fatima. It was also the power of the Ring that enabled him to make the autonomous state.

He could not let the president use the state as a scapegoat for mere transfer of power. Various circumstances had determined that the president had no intention of giving power to Youngho. The huge amount of the slush money that came out from the villa really made his mind completely turn around. The president was never a patriot, nor was he a leader that many Kazakh people thought he was. All he cared about was his family’s wealth and preserving it.

The news covered the border dispute as a top news item day after day, and the world was also paying attention to Kazakhstan as well.

If Kazakhstan failed to properly protest to China, President Nazarbayev’s leadership would fall to the ground.

However, things were going in an unexpected direction. The world’s media was focusing on criticizing the life of the president of Kazakhstan, which was encouraging a non-democratic system.

For the sake of the state, this was a great sign that could cause instability in the political situation.

“We didn’t mean it, but it turned out that we provoked something for the media.”

“That’s great. I’m sure the president will be alert this time. The issue of long-term rule, which no one cared about, is being talked about repeatedly now. It’s the beginning of the democratization of Kazakhstan. The opposition party is excited, too.”

“The president shouldn’t be pushed too much into the corner. I’m afraid it will shake up the regime.”

“Wouldn’t Russia send its troops under the pretext of protecting their own people in Kazakhstan?”

“That’s what worries me. When the power of the president is weakened, the demands of the minority people for autonomy will come out like a flood. Especially the entire northern industrial city where there are a lot of Russians will be shaken hard.”

“I hope we didn’t make it too big.”

“It’s a border dispute. It’s always been there. The problem is the prolonged rule that the world press is talking about. If Kazakh people find out about his hidden property, they won’t stay put. You know once the good guys turn their backs, they become the fiercest enemy.”

“When the people stand up against him, he’ll have to find a place where he can get exiled first.”

“He’ll hold out with his key supporters. He might get ready for a civil war.”

“What if he asks for our help?”

“I would’ve helped him before, but I’ll stand on the other side of the war.”

Eventually, what Youngho was worried about came to life. The European press mentioned the assets held by Nazarbayev’s daughters. It revealed the title of the eldest daughter as the deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan and the astronomical wealth of the second daughter.

The Kazakh media, which had been controlled by the government, also began to carefully cite the news from European media. The media had to deal with the news because the world’s major media outlets had already aired it in real-time before then.

Soon, the news sent shockwaves through the Internet.

People were curious about what the president did to make his daughter’s property that was worth about twelve billion dollars. This was because it would have never happened if the president had not given it to her.

Kim Chun entered Youngho’s office with an excited look on his face.

“Have you seen the news, prince consort?”

“I saw it. Even the Kazakh media is focusing on this.”

“It’s proof that the government is in a state of limbo, beyond the control of the press. The president’s approval rating is also dropping sharply. There are anti-government protests in the city of Almaty.”

“It’s a place where a lot of elites live. It’s not great if a civil war is triggered there…”

“That’s not the problem. Almaty has other minority people than the common Kazakh people. If they rebel against the government, no one will be able to control them.”

The situation was twisted as the influence-peddling scandal involving the president’s family surfaced.