Chapter 141: Looking in the Wrong Place

Director's Office, MGM Macau Hotel.

Politburo member Liu Peiqi stood by the window with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were fixed on Macau's night skyline as he sank into deep thought.

Sitting silently on the sofa were his younger brother, Director Liu Haoran, and his nephew, Vice President Liu Shen.

After a long silence, Liu Peiqi finally finished thinking. Returning to the sofa, he sat down and began speaking.

“Director Liu, do you think what the Korean Police Commissioner General said during the press conference was true?”

“I don't believe he had any reason to lie.”

“Let's assume he was telling the truth. Then who did former President Go Yeongjun buy the gold from, and to whom did he sell it to make that much money?”

“I believe Go Yeongjun stole your gold and sold it, Brother.”

Liu Peiqi didn't believe Liu Haoran's words at all.

At most, only five people knew the gold bars were stored at the villa.

It was an absolute secret.

Naturally, Go Yeongjun wasn't one of those five.

So how could he possibly have stolen the gold?

Liu Peiqi asked Liu Haoran what he thought.

“That bastard must have known you received the gold as a bribe. Which means he also knew you couldn't keep it in a bank.”

“How would he know that?”

“You promised to hand him the gold the following morning. The only way you could have done that was if it was stored somewhere near Macau.”

As he listened to the conversation between Liu Peiqi and Liu Haoran, Vice President Liu Shen felt his mind go blank.

He remembered that, while drunk, he had been the one who accidentally let the storage location slip to Go Yeongjun.

But there was no way he could confess that to Liu Peiqi.

If he opened his mouth now, exactly one year from today would become the anniversary of his death.

While Liu Shen struggled internally, the conversation between the two brothers continued.

“That bastard must have heard from you—or someone else—that you owned a villa nearby.”

“I never told him about the villa.”

“But your acquaintances know where it's located.”

“So you're saying one of my acquaintances leaked it to him?”

“Very likely. He became convinced you kept the gold at the villa and boldly robbed it.”

“The villa is covered by surveillance cameras. Breaking in should have been impossible.”

“But it was robbed, wasn't it? That means getting inside was possible after all.”

“Hm...”

Liu Peiqi stroked his chin and fell into thought once again.

Fortunately, it didn't take him long.

“How exactly did he rob the villa?”

“Judging by the fact that absolutely no evidence was left behind, professionals must have helped him.”

“Professionals?”

“There are rumors that the Triad has a base here.”

“You're saying he enlisted those Triad bastards?”

“That's highly likely.”

At that moment, Liu Peiqi noticed Liu Shen's nervous expression.

His nephew looked far too suspicious to ignore.

“Why do you suddenly look so uneasy?”

Liu Shen would rather bite off his own tongue and die than admit he had contributed to the villa robbery.

Pushing his brain to its limits, he finally managed to answer.

“I think you and Father are looking in the wrong direction.”

“How so? Speak.”

“We don't even know where the Triad's base is, so how could Go Yeongjun have known? And even if he did, he never would have asked the Triad for help.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Let's say he successfully robbed Uncle's villa with the Triad's assistance. Would the Triad really have left him alive afterward?”

“But they could have killed him after taking the gold.”

Liu Shen shook his head.

“I spoke to him on the phone the afternoon after the gold was stolen.”

“That's right! I spoke with him too. Then who helped him?”

“The only people capable of robbing Uncle's villa without leaving a single trace would be highly trained military professionals.”

“Hm... That does make sense.”

“There's a high probability the culprit was someone in the military with whom he had close ties.”

“Tang Guochang!”

Liu Peiqi roared as he shot up from the sofa.

Not understanding what was happening, Liu Haoran and Liu Shen stared at him in shock.

Feeling their eyes on him, he slowly sat back down and continued.

“Colonel General Tang Guochang is the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Liberation Army. We're currently engaged in a fierce struggle over a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee.”

“Brother, are you saying Go Yeongjun was close to him?”

“I don't know for certain, but I've heard they met several times.”

“Then Go Yeongjun must have acted with his assistance.”

“Haa...”

Liu Peiqi's heavy sigh spoke louder than {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} words.

“Brother, shouldn't we move against Tang Guochang?”

“His influence exceeds mine. We can't touch him so easily.”

“Then what if we secretly kidnap him and force the truth out of him?”

“He's protected by an entire security battalion. Kidnapping someone like him would require enormous preparation.”

“Then we'll simply wait until everything is perfectly prepared.”

“We'll have to.”

Leaving Liu Peiqi's answer at that, Liu Haoran turned toward Liu Shen.

“Do you know where Go Yeongjun's hideout is?”

“I only heard it was somewhere in one of Macau's luxury residential districts. I've never been there myself.”

Liu Peiqi suddenly interrupted again, as though remembering something.

“And why would you need to know where his hideout is?”

“He fled in such a hurry before the Korean police raided it that there's a good chance his belongings were left behind.”

“That's a reasonable point. But wouldn't the Korean police have cleaned the place out already?”

“Now that I think about it... you're right, Brother.”

“Never mind that. Where is that bastard now?”

“If I were him, I'd have escaped abroad with Vice Chairman Tang's help.”

Liu Peiqi thought differently.

Go Yeongjun had been carrying the stolen gold bars from his villa.

That severely limited his options.

He asked his brother what he thought.

“He must have disposed of the gold long ago.”

“It would take an astronomical amount of money to buy my gold.”

“Do you really think Vice Chairman Tang would help him for free? I don't know exactly how much, but he probably took at least a hundred and fifty bars for himself.”

“That bastard is certainly capable of it. Still, which country did Go Yeongjun flee to?”

“He couldn't have used an airplane. If he escaped by sea, then it was probably the Philippines.”

“The Philippines...”

“It's the closest country.”

“Hm. I see. We need to dispatch a pursuit team to the Philippines as soon as possible.”

Liu Peiqi was searching for the answer in entirely the wrong place.

***

That same night.

Jiham was speaking with Triad Vice Chairman Wei Chen over the phone.

“Mr. Wei, were you able to determine Liu Peiqi's movements?”

“Politburo member Liu arrived at the MGM Macau Hotel immediately after Commissioner General Choi's press conference ended. He remained there for about two hours before heading to the airport and flying back to Beijing.”

“So they held an emergency meeting there?”

“My opinion matches yours, Director Cha.”

“Who does he believe stole the gold from the villa?”

“Commissioner Choi identified Go Yeongjun as the culprit.”

“Ah, right. That was a foolish question.”

“One moment. I'm receiving an urgent call. I'll call you back later.”

Click.

Wei Chen abruptly ended the call.

Left with nothing to do, Jiham looked toward Saho, who was lying at the edge of the bed.

“Director Om called me earlier. He said the wildcat they found for your mating is too weak.”

“Rrrr!”

An explosive reaction.

As if enraged, Saho instantly sprang to his feet, bared his fangs, and assumed a fighting stance.

Normally, Jiham would have smacked him upside the head to knock some sense into him.

But since he was actually guilty this time, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

“Hey, you idiot. At least let me finish before you get angry.”

“...Meow?”

“Considering everything you accomplished in Macau, I've decided to give you a week's vacation. I'll take you back to the temple where you lived with Monk Popchin. You can spend your time there playing with all the local wildcats.”

Judging by the way Saho wagged his tail and eagerly nodded, he seemed to love the idea.

Whew... Thank goodness.

“I'm a little busy right now, but as soon as I'm free, I'll take you to the temple.”

Bzzz—

Just then, the phone in Jiham's hand vibrated.

Knowing exactly who it was, he answered without hesitation.

“Hello, Mr. Wei.”

“Our man overheard Vice President Liu Shen's conversation. Liu Peiqi is convinced Go Yeongjun stole the gold with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang's assistance.”

“And who exactly is Vice Chairman Tang Guochang?”

“A man with enough authority to effectively command the People's Liberation Army.”

“Do you know why Liu Shen mentioned him specifically?”

“Liu Peiqi believes Go Yeongjun had close ties with him.”

“Ah, I understand now.”

“Liu Peiqi believes Go Yeongjun escaped to the Philippines with Tang Guochang's help. How should we deal with this?”

Jiham felt he needed to reassure Wei Chen.

“To prevent the worst-case scenario, I already sent Go Yeongjun to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.”

“But that contradicts Commissioner Choi's statement during the press conference.”

“That lie was intentional. It was meant to lower Liu Peiqi's guard.”

“Ah... I didn't know that and worried for nothing.”

“But it's still too early to relax.”

“Why is that?”

“Liu Peiqi is convinced Go Yeongjun already sold the gold to someone. Until we've melted down every gold bar, we can't afford to let our guard down.”

“You don't need to worry about that.”

Since those words came from Wei Chen, the man who controlled the entire Triad, Jiham saw no reason to worry prematurely.

“I'll leave it in your hands, Mr. Wei.”

“Agreed.”

“Now I'd like to discuss something else. How is the matter I asked you about?”

“We thoroughly investigated every card cheat and fraud syndicate operating here. We found no criminal organizations made up of Koreans.”

What a relief.

Now they could concentrate on wiping out the Scorpion Gang without distraction.

However, that sense of relief vanished only seconds later.

“Earlier today, though, I happened to run into an underworld boss who used to be quite famous in Korea.”

“Can you tell me who he is?”

“I only met him once about fifteen years ago, and today was the second time. I don't know his name.”

“That's unfortunate.”

“It certainly is. He was gambling in the casino with four Koreans.”

“Do you think his base is in Macau?”

“If that were the case, we'd have crossed paths far more often. Incidentally, my men recorded them on video. I'll send it to you as soon as we finish this call.”

Shortly after the conversation ended, the promised video arrived.

Jiham watched it, but none of the faces looked familiar.

He immediately forwarded the video to Kang Inhan before calling him.

After explaining everything Wei Chen had told him and how he had obtained the footage, he made his request.

“...Find out who the people in this video are.”

“I'll identify them as quickly as possible and report back immediately.”

“Do that. And finish preparing to eliminate the Scorpion Gang.”

“I finished all those preparations a long time ago.”

“Haha. Excellent work. Talk to you later.”

Click.

After ending the call, Jiham lay down on the bed, intending to get some sleep.

However, curiosity about the underworld boss Wei Chen had mentioned refused to let him rest.

As he tossed and turned, Saho quietly climbed onto the bed.

“I'm not asleep yet. Get off the bed.”