Chapter 198: That Bastard?!

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang was speaking Chinese on the phone.

Because of that, I couldn’t understand exactly what they were talking about.

However, judging by how his voice gradually grew sharper and harsher, I could only assume that the conversation was going extremely badly.

While I was trying to figure out who might be on the other end of the line, Director Lee Menghong quietly addressed me in Russian.

“Chief Cha, Vice Chairman Tang is speaking with Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan.”

“Is that so? Could you tell me what they’re talking about?”

However, I didn’t get a chance to continue my conversation with Director Lee Menghong.

Tang Guochang roared into the phone and angrily slammed it down.

As though trying to extinguish the rage boiling inside him, he asked CEO Du Zhiguo to bring him some cold water.

A Triad member standing nearby immediately brought over a glass and handed it to him.

The Vice Chairman drained the water in one gulp and slammed the empty glass onto the table.

Watching him, Vice Chairman Wei Chen cautiously asked,

“Vice Chairman Tang, could you tell us what happened?”

“Phew...”

Tang Guochang took a deep breath, as though he still couldn’t catch his breath from anger, and began to speak.

“Vice Chairman Wei, you’re also aware of the incident that happened here, aren’t you?”

The plan to devastate the Dalian naval base had originated in Cha Jiham’s mind.

And it was under his direction that Delta Force operatives and Triad members had carried out the massive operation.

So Wei Chen knew perfectly well what had happened at the base.

However, if he answered truthfully, the situation could take a very ugly turn.

In cases like this, the best option was to give a vague and noncommittal answer.

“I’ve only heard vague rumors that some kind of major accident occurred.”

“What I’m about to tell you must remain strictly confidential for the time being.”

“Of course. My lips are sealed.”

“Mine as well, Vice Chairman Wei...”

Everyone present promised Tang Guochang that they would keep the matter secret.

“Good. I’ll trust you and tell you the truth. The night before last, the Dalian naval base was attacked by the enemy.”

“What?!”

Everyone simultaneously put on expressions of extreme astonishment, though the emotions behind them were completely different.

Wei Chen, the others, and I were merely pretending to be shocked so that Tang Guochang wouldn’t become suspicious, whereas CEO Du Zhiguo was genuinely stunned.

“I’m sure you’re just as shocked as I am. Even I still find it difficult to believe.”

“And... how much damage did the base suffer?”

“Eight warships and four submarines were sunk, and the weapons depot was completely destroyed. Not a trace of it remains.”

“You can’t be serious!”

Wei Chen sprang up from the sofa and cried out as though the news had struck him like a thunderbolt.

Noticing all of us staring at him, he awkwardly lowered himself back into his seat.

“My apologies... I simply couldn’t contain myself after hearing that.”

“I completely understand your shock, Vice Chairman Wei.”

In reality, the Dalian naval base had essentially been devastated by the Triad’s own hands.

Triad General Liu Dezhen had used his men to steal four torpedoes from the depot and hand them over to an American stealth submarine.

The submarine had then fired those torpedoes and sunk four Chinese submarines.

In addition, Triad members had planted Composition H6 explosives in the ammunition depot and aboard eight warships, completely destroying them.

Despite knowing all of these details perfectly well, Wei Chen spoke with Tang Guochang without the slightest change in his expression.

As I inwardly marveled at his outstanding acting skills, the conversation between the two men continued.

“Vice Chairman Tang, have you managed to determine who was behind the attack on the base?”

“At present, North Korea and the United States are the primary suspects.”

“Does that mean the culprit still hasn’t been definitively identified?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“What exactly is making you uncertain?”

“Why are you so interested?”

Wei Chen had previously ordered General Liu Dezhen to pin all the blame on North Korea.

However, because of certain inconsistencies, Tang Guochang was reluctant to definitively label Pyongyang as the culprit.

That was precisely why Wei Chen had asked the question out of curiosity.

Since he couldn’t reveal the true reason for his interest, he had to come up with an excuse on the spot.

“I simply wanted to ask Chief Cha for help.”

“Me?”

Caught off guard by those unexpected words, I pointed at myself and looked at Wei Chen.

“Use Chief Cha’s brilliant mind to solve the problem Vice Chairman Tang is facing.”

“Chief Cha, can you help?”

Tang Guochang addressed me without hiding his impatience.

Putting on a slightly reluctant expression, I replied,

“I think I should first hear exactly what’s troubling you.”

“At the naval base, the ammunition depot exploded at eleven thirty at night, and exactly thirty minutes later, eight warships were attacked. The submarines, meanwhile, were attacked and sunk at intervals of exactly three minutes. I want to understand why the enemy carried out the attacks with those time gaps.”

The ammunition depot had exploded thirty minutes early only because the Triad members had messed up the bomb timer.

Of course, saying that aloud was unthinkable.

“I believe the enemy blew up the depot first to make their escape easier.”

Tang Guochang immediately grasped what I meant.

The explosion of the weapons depot would inevitably have thrown the entire base into chaos and panic.

Taking advantage of that confusion, the saboteurs could have calmly left the base.

“That sounds perfectly logical. Continue.”

“As for the eight ships, they were destroyed simultaneously because the timers on the explosives were set for the same time. And the fact that the submarines were attacked at three-minute intervals means only one thing: the enemy had only one submarine involved.”

“Then the United States really could be responsible?”

Tang Guochang’s conclusion was absolutely correct.

Of course, even if someone put a knife to my throat, I would never admit it.

“If I were President Douglas, I wouldn’t play such a dangerous game under the current circumstances.”

“And why do you think that?”

“President Douglas’s approval rating is currently at its peak. If the trend continues, he’ll easily win reelection for a second term. Why would someone in his position provoke a war with China?”

“That’s true... Now that I think about it, it makes sense.”

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Tang Guochang started digging any deeper, it would become extremely difficult for me to come up with convincing excuses.

Now all that remained was to push him as hard as possible toward the conclusion that North Korea was responsible.

“I still believe it’s far more likely that North Korea is to blame.”

“I’m leaning that way myself, but there are a couple of inconsistencies I can’t make sense of.”

“What exactly?”

“Surveillance cameras were installed every two or three meters across the roof of the depot, and the entrance doors were equipped with a state-of-the-art electronic locking system. Yet the enemy somehow managed to get past the cameras unnoticed, bypass the security system, and plant bombs inside.”

“Before I answer, allow me to clarify one detail. Please check whether there were any power outages at the base one or two days before the incident.”

“Give me a minute.”

Tang Guochang made a brief phone call, exchanged a few words with someone, and hung up.

“Chief Cha, there actually were two power outages at the base, three days ago and two days ago. Each lasted about a minute, while the resulting disruption dragged on for roughly twenty minutes.”

Three days earlier, the power had been cut to steal the four torpedoes, and two days earlier, it had been cut so the explosives could be planted without interference.

“Surveillance cameras have one major weakness. When the power goes out, they become useless pieces of metal.”

“You’re saying the enemy cut the power first and only then infiltrated the depot?”

“That’s what I believe. And they most likely obtained the password for the electronic lock on the depot doors from someone serving at the base itself.”

“So there was a mole inside the base?”

“Otherwise, obtaining the access code would have been virtually impossible.”

“Those fucking bastards...!”

The situation suddenly spun out of control.

Tang Guochang started swearing viciously as he pulled out his phone again and called someone.

Veins bulged on his neck as he spoke to the person on the other end in a raised voice.

The conversation was once again in Chinese, so I couldn’t understand a word.

While I wondered who he was calling, Director Lee Menghong quietly whispered,

“Vice Chairman Tang is calling Northern Fleet Commander Wang Dazhong. He’s ordering him to arrest all North Koreans involved in the destruction of the base as quickly as possible.”

“So he’s completely convinced that North Korea is responsible?”

“You could say that.”

I had barely managed to breathe a sigh of relief when Tang Guochang slammed the phone down with a bang.

As though he had been waiting for exactly that moment, Wei Chen immediately spoke up.

“Take this opportunity to teach North Korea a good lesson.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve done.”

“Now tell us why you got into such a heated argument with Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan.”

“Hell if I know!”

Tang Guochang let out a heavy sigh, stared up at the ceiling, and began explaining the reason for their quarrel.

“Yesterday around noon, an explosion occurred twenty kilometers from the Port of Yantai, sinking the container ship Silver Crystal, owned by Eastern Shipping. Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan claims that one of our warships attacked and sank it.”

“Uh... That’s complete nonsense.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’d be better off hearing the reason Silver Crystal sank from Chief Cha.”

At that moment, Tang Guochang and Du Zhiguo both turned their gazes toward me.

After giving Wei Chen a reproachful look, I spoke in a calm, even tone.

“I can’t reveal that information. If I do, Deputy Secretary Zhang will eat me alive.”

“I don’t even consider that Zhang bastard a human being!”

“I completely agree with you on that.”

CEO Du Zhiguo immediately voiced his agreement with Tang Guochang.

Still, I needed to protect myself against the worst-case scenario.

“The information I possess is far too explosive. Frankly, I’m afraid to reveal it.”

“Would it be enough if I wrote you a signed pledge swearing eternal silence?”

A written pledge was nothing more than a piece of paper with no real power, so I saw no use in it.

“Instead of a written pledge, let’s make a different arrangement. Help me deal with two people.”

“One of them must be Zhang Jinan. Who’s the other?”

“Politburo member Liu Peiqi.”

“That bastard?!”

Tang Guochang’s roar carried a deep and vicious hatred for Liu Peiqi.

‘Heh heh heh. A clash between Vice Chairman Tang and Politburo member Liu should be very entertaining.’

“Vice Chairman Tang, may I take that reaction as proof that you and Liu Peiqi are on bad terms?”

“I don’t consider either him or Zhang Jinan human!”

“Very well. I’ll trust you and tell you everything.”

“Two months ago, our police carried out a successful operation and completely dismantled the Korean branch of the Triad.”

In truth, I had long wanted to find out what kind of relationship existed between Wei Chen and Du Zhiguo.

That was precisely why I had brought up the Triad.

And then Du Zhiguo glanced sideways at Wei Chen.

That could only mean one thing.

He knew perfectly well who Wei Chen really was.

Which meant Du Zhiguo was far better at keeping his mouth shut than he appeared.

‘Now I can speak without worrying.’

“During the interrogation of the arrested Triad members, we discovered something astonishing.”

“And what did you discover?”

Interested, Tang Guochang leaned forward.

“The head of the Korean branch of the Triad was a man named Chen Shao. And his father turned out to be Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui, who ran Golden Trading in Hong Kong.”

“That bastard?!”

“You... know him?”

“He’s Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan’s brother-in-law!”

What a stroke of luck.

If Tang Guochang hadn’t known about the family connection between Zhang Jinan and Chen Zhihui, I would have had to take a huge detour.

“In that case, do you know Vice Chairman Chen’s true identity?”

“His true identity? What do you mean?”

“He was none other than a Vice Chairman of the entire Triad.”

“What?!”

Tang Guochang’s astonished shout echoed throughout the living room.