Chapter 195: Two Billion Dollars?

Following Vice Chairman Wei Chen into the dining room, I widened my eyes in astonishment.

The enormous dining table was so completely covered with all kinds of dishes that there was hardly any empty space left.

"Vice Chairman Wei, don't you think you've prepared a little too much food?"

"Director Cha, I'm sure you understand perfectly well what all this is for."

In other words, Vice Chairman Wei Chen was trying to drive down the price of the golden Buddha statue.

"I don't have much of an appetite, so your maneuver has failed, Vice Chairman Wei."

"A true player fights and gives it everything he's got until the very last second."

"Haha. Is that so?"

I smiled somewhat awkwardly and sat down in an empty chair.

As we ate and chatted casually, Vice Chairman Wei Chen suddenly spoke in a conspiratorial tone.

"Director Cha, I have a favor to ask."

"I'm listening. Go ahead."

"Demand compensation from the U.S. government on our behalf for destroying the naval base."

The U.S. government had officially designated the Triad as a criminal syndicate that posed a threat to society.

For that reason, American officials went out of their way to avoid direct negotiations with Triad representatives.

Vice Chairman Wei Chen understood that perfectly well.

That was precisely why he had decided to go through me and ask me to present the bill to the U.S. government.

Well, I'd even granted requests from the dead, so why would I refuse one from the living?

"Give me a moment."

Interrupting my breakfast, I immediately called Director Griffin.

Something strange happened.

Extremely cautious by nature, he usually answered only after the phone had rung three or four times.

But this time, his voice came through the instant the call began ringing.

[It seems you and I are thinking about the same thing, Director Cha.]

"Oh, Director Griffin, did you have business with me as well?"

[NIS operatives interrogated Major General Lee Cheolseung all night. Could you tell me what happened?]

"Weren't CIA agents present during the interrogation?"

[The NIS didn't even invite us.]

Now I completely understood the situation.

Major General Lee Cheolseung's laptop, which had been seized at Politburo member Liu Peiqi's villa, contained an enormous amount of extremely valuable information, including the hacking group's emergency communications channels.

NIS Director Om Giyeon had deliberately excluded the CIA because he wanted to monopolize that intelligence.

Having seen through his intentions, I couldn't simply tell Griffin everything.

I squeezed my brain for all it was worth and instantly came up with a convincing answer before continuing the conversation.

"Perhaps they interrogated Lee Cheolseung to obtain information about the escaped Commander Kwak Taesu?"

[Director Cha, do you know what connects those two?]

"I have no idea, but the NIS is grasping at every straw it can right now."

[What exactly is that supposed to mean?]

"China is going all out trying to capture the fugitive Commander Kwak. The NIS, meanwhile, is doing everything in its power to get him into Korea."

[Are you saying China decided to accommodate North Korea and agreed to detain him?]

I could feel the conversation veering completely off course, but I was the one who had started this mess.

"Commander Kwak headed the Guard Command and was personally responsible for the security of Kim Jonghun's family. It seems China wants to capture him alive to obtain classified information about North Korea's leadership."

[Hmm... That makes sense.]

Deciding that was more than enough, I changed the subject.

"May I tell you why I called now, Director Griffin?"

[Of course. I'm listening.]

"I'm currently with Vice Chairman Wei Chen. He's demanding two billion dollars in compensation for destroying the naval base."

[Two billion dollars?]

From Director Griffin's tone, it was obvious that he thought the amount was excessive.

However, I already had an ironclad argument prepared to persuade him, so I wasn't worried in the slightest.

"The fleet sunk by the Triad members included a state-of-the-art thirteen-thousand-ton destroyer. A single ship of that class costs roughly seven hundred million dollars to build. On top of that, they sank two modern landing ships. The construction cost of the remaining seven vessels substantially exceeds five billion dollars."

I paused to catch my breath before continuing.

"The Triad members also blew up an arsenal containing six months' worth of weapons for the entire naval fleet stationed in Dalian. Moreover, they skillfully shifted the blame for the destruction of the base onto North Korea."

[How did they manage that?]

"One of the Chinese Navy's high-ranking generals is a member of the Triad. I don't think I need to say anything more, do I?"

[That's obvious enough, but will China's top leadership really agree to blame North Korea?]

"With the base reduced to ruins, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang is facing the greatest crisis of his career. If he wants to survive, he desperately needs a scapegoat."

[Let's say that's true. But would North Korea ever admit responsibility?]

"North Korea has never once admitted to its crimes throughout its history. Vice Chairman Tang will use that very fact to pin everything on them anyway."

[I understand. We'll pay the Triad two billion dollars.]

I achieved my objective without much difficulty.

"That's the right decision."

[However, transferring two billion dollars directly to the Triad could create legal complications. How should we handle it?]

"I'll hand the phone to Chief Secretary Kang. Discuss it with him."

Chief Secretary Kang Inhan took the smartphone from me and began negotiating with Director Griffin.

At that moment, Vice Chairman Wei Chen quietly asked me,

"What did Griffin say?"

"As I demanded, he agreed to pay two billion dollars."

"Hahaha!"

Vice Chairman Wei Chen laughed in delight.

After some time, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan finished arranging all the details and handed the phone back to me.

"Director Griffin, I'm listening."

[Director Cha, we'll transfer the two billion dollars before noon today.]

After exchanging a few more words with Director Griffin, I ended the call.

As soon as I lowered the smartphone, Kang Inhan spoke.

"Director Cha, Director Griffin will transfer the two billion dollars to the account I specified."

"Understood. As soon as the money arrives, transfer it to the Triad's account."

Director Pan Kai joined the conversation.

"Director Cha, there's no need to rush to transfer those two billion dollars."

"Is there any reason to delay it?"

"We still have to buy the golden Buddha statue from you."

Pan Kai meant that we only needed to transfer the remaining amount after deducting the price of the statue.

"Ah, now I understand."

"Why don't we raise a glass to celebrate this unexpected two-billion-dollar windfall?"

"First thing in the morning?"

"A true connoisseur of alcohol doesn't look at the clock!"

Brrrrr—

At that moment, Vice Chairman Wei Chen's phone, which was lying on the table, vibrated with an incoming call.

After glancing at the caller's name, he gestured for us to remain quiet and answered.

He exchanged a few words with the caller, hung up, and announced,

"The owner of this villa is coming here to meet Director Cha."

"I wonder what he wants with me?"

"Ask him yourself. He'll be here soon, so let's take our time heading outside."

***

"President Du Zhiguo, it's been a long time!"

Vice Chairman Wei Chen stepped forward to greet the sixty-year-old man emerging from a luxury sedan.

"Likewise. Vice Chairman Wei, would you introduce me to your companions?"

"With pleasure. This is Director Cha Jiham, whom you've been so eager to meet."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Du Zhiguo, President of BYG Auto."

'It's a pleasure to meet me? So he's heard about me... But why would the head of BYG Auto want to meet me?'

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cha Jiham, a Director at Korea Investment."

"Since we've had the pleasure of meeting, shall we shake hands?"

"Yes, gladly."

President Du Zhiguo had heard plenty about Cha Jiham from Vice Chairman Wei Chen, who had talked his ear off about him.

Even so, he had assumed that much of what Wei Chen said was exaggerated.

However, the moment he clasped Cha Jiham's outstretched right hand, all his doubts vanished.

And no wonder.

There wasn't the slightest trace of nervousness in either Cha Jiham's voice or his grip.

The absolute confidence on his face only reinforced that impression.

After releasing his hand, Du Zhiguo continued admiringly.

"My apologies, but I must confess that I thought Vice Chairman Wei had been exaggerating."

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, President Du."

"Haha. You'll understand later. Would you introduce the others?"

"This is an employee of Korea Investment..."

After the brief introductions were finished, we moved inside the villa.

President Du Zhiguo cast a quick glance at the golden Buddha statue standing in the corner of the living room before sitting down on the sofa.

An attendant immediately came over and served tea to everyone present.

After taking a sip, Du Zhiguo addressed Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

"Where did you get that golden statue?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't disclose the source. I brought it here to sell to Director Cha."

In reality, I was the one who had brought the golden Buddha statue here to sell it to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

For some reason, however, he had told the story exactly backward.

I was just about to intervene and correct him when Wei Chen secretly signaled me.

It meant that circumstances required him to lie.

I signaled back that I understood and listened carefully to their conversation.

"I see. I hope it isn't pure gold?"

"Fortunately, it's 99.999% pure gold."

"...!"

President Du Zhiguo's mouth fell open in astonishment.

He understood perfectly well how much such an enormous golden statue had to be worth.

A moment later, he spoke with undisguised disbelief.

"Vice Chairman Wei, can I really believe what you're telling me?"

"Would you like me to show you the nondestructive testing results?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

"Haha. Excellent."

"Still, how much gold was used to make it?"

"A total of 2,520 kilograms of gold was used."

President Du Zhiguo nodded in understanding and turned to me.

"Director Cha, 2,520 kilograms of gold is an enormous amount of money. Do you have enough funds to make such a purchase?"

Normally, I wasn't the type to flaunt my wealth.

This time, however, I had my reasons, so I decided to demonstrate my financial capacity to President Du Zhiguo.

"I have enough money to buy fifty statues like this at once."

"Come now, there's no need to exaggerate."

I had fully expected that reaction from President Du Zhiguo.

After all, buying fifty golden statues like this would require the astronomical sum of one hundred billion dollars.

"Chief Secretary Kang, bring me the laptop."

"Yes, sir."

After a brief reply, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan quickly went to the bedroom and returned with a laptop.

I turned it on, went to the bank's website, and logged in.

After entering my username and password, I turned the screen toward President Du Zhiguo so he could clearly see the account balance.

"Please take a look at the balance in my account."

After looking at the screen, President Du Zhiguo couldn't believe his own eyes.

And no wonder.

An astronomical fifty-seven billion dollars was sitting in the account.

Watching his shocked expression, I gave a faint smile and added,

"If you'd like, President Du, I can also show you the details of my stock holdings."

"...That won't be necessary."

"May I take that as an acknowledgment that I was telling the truth?"

"Indeed."

As the silence dragged on, Vice Chairman Wei Chen, as though he had been waiting for precisely this moment, added fuel to the fire.

"President Du, you seem to have completely forgotten why you wanted to meet Director Cha in the first place."

"My apologies. That's my mistake."

Having finally grasped the situation he was in, President Du Zhiguo tucked his tail firmly between his legs.