Chapter 201: Strike While the Iron Is Hot

“Vice Chairman Tang, how about we give you the equivalent of the four hundred million dollars in cryptocurrency as a direct cash payment?”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang decided to accept Cha Jiham’s proposal.

After all, he knew absolutely nothing about this so-called “cryptocurrency” and was a complete novice when it came to it.

“That’s actually quite a good idea.”

“Give me the account number, and I’ll arrange the transfer immediately.”

“This isn’t exactly the right time. I’ll give it to you after lunch.”

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. The chef opened it and announced that lunch was ready.

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang nodded to show that he had heard, then turned back to me.

“Is there anything else Director Cha needs to discuss with me?”

“The reason the Silver Crystal sank.”

“Then I need to hear that right now. Chef, serve lunch a little later.”

The chef bowed respectfully to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, opened the office door, and left.

“Director Cha, I’m listening.”

“One of our employees who infiltrated Politburo member Liu’s villa recorded a video. It captured a conversation between a high-ranking Reconnaissance General Bureau officer and a Chinese citizen.”

Of course, there had been nothing like that in the footage recorded by Saho.

Nevertheless, I lied shamelessly and calmly for the sole purpose of making the alibi fit the facts I needed.

“The Chinese man’s face looked familiar to me. After searching my memory, I realized it was Sheng Kou, a close subordinate of Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui.”

“And how does Director Cha know such details?”

“When Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui flew to our country to take Chen Shao back, Sheng Kou accompanied him.”

“I see. Continue.”

“The Philippines came up in their conversation. Realizing something was suspicious, we decided to capture him alive.”

In reality, Vice Chairman Wei Chen had captured Sheng Kou.

But I couldn’t expose his true identity to Tang Guochang, so I had no choice but to present it as though our people had captured him.

“And you captured Sheng Kou merely because the Philippines were mentioned?”

“Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui is currently hiding in the Philippines.”

“Ah, right. I completely overlooked that.”

“It’s nothing. During the interrogation, we managed to extract an enormous amount of information from him.”

“And what was it? Hurry up and tell me!”

Losing patience with curiosity, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang leaned forward with his entire body, urging me to answer.

“The Philippine rebels arranged through Golden Trading to purchase a shipment of North Korean weapons totaling twenty containers. Those weapons were already aboard the Silver Crystal, awaiting departure.”

“Those sons of bitches!”

Tang Guochang erupted into curses again, unable to contain his sudden anger.

“However, one critical problem arose.”

“What problem?”

“We had no way to verify whether the information was accurate. While I was racking my brain for a solution, Vice Chairman Wei Chen called me. In desperation, I explained the situation to him. So I think it would be better if Vice Chairman Wei told you the rest himself.”

Having passed the baton to Vice Chairman Wei Chen, I stepped into the background.

He gave me an almost imperceptible gesture of thanks before speaking.

“Fortunately, I have an acquaintance working at the Port of Dalian. I asked him to check whether the containers chartered by Golden Trading had actually been loaded onto the Silver Crystal.”

“And?”

“Just as Director Cha said, there were indeed twenty containers aboard, and their destination was listed as the Port of Iligan on the Philippine island of Mindanao. To be safe, I decided to thoroughly inspect their contents.”

“How?”

“If you scan the containers with a portable X-ray scanner, you can easily see what’s inside.”

“Ah, I see.”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang nodded in understanding.

“The inspection confirmed that all twenty containers contained North Korean weapons. I immediately informed Director Cha.”

“And what did Director Cha say?”

“He said that transporting North Korean weapons violated UN sanctions and suggested notifying the Chinese government. However, I opposed his suggestion.”

“I’d be interested to hear why you objected.”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen found himself in a difficult position.

If he revealed the true nature of his relationship with Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui, Tang Guochang’s curiosity would be satisfied immediately.

But such honesty could have catastrophic consequences.

In such a delicate situation, the best option was to gloss over the matter with the vaguest possible answer.

“I can’t go into the details, but I have a deep and longstanding grudge against both Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan and Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui.”

“Very well. Then I won’t pry.”

“Thank you for understanding. I’ll continue.”

In reality, the Silver Crystal, with its cargo of North Korean weapons, had been sunk by American Delta Force operators.

If we told him the truth, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang might simply faint from shock.

So Wei Chen decided it would be best to portray the sabotage as his own doing.

“Wanting revenge on those two, I decided to destroy the containers of weapons.”

“How exactly?”

“I obtained explosives on the black market, and my men planted them directly on the containers. The crew of the Silver Crystal put out to sea without suspecting anything. The explosives detonated, causing the ship to sink.”

“Hmm...”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang hesitated thoughtfully, clearly mulling something over.

Fortunately, his silence didn’t last long.

“I certainly feel better hearing that, but something about it still doesn’t quite add up.”

“What exactly is bothering you?”

“I find it hard to believe the Silver Crystal sank merely because twenty containers exploded.”

It was my turn to join the conversation.

“Vice Chairman Tang, may I offer my opinion?”

“Of course! Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“The containers held artillery shells with tremendous destructive power.”

“Are you saying the Silver Crystal sank because the ammunition detonated?”

“That triggered it, but the decisive cause was something else.”

“What was it?”

“The containers carrying the North Korean weapons were located at the very bottom of the hold. The powerful explosion caused the rest of the cargo to shift. As a result, the Silver Crystal lost stability and simply rolled onto its side.”

“Ah, that makes perfect sense.”

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang nodded, showing that the picture of what had happened aboard the Silver Crystal had finally come together in his mind.

Judging the timing to be right, I continued.

“Now I’ll suggest an excellent plan that will completely crush Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan’s brazen accusations.”

“Tell me quickly!”

“Demand that Zhang raise the Silver Crystal from the seabed under the pretext of investigating the exact cause of the disaster. At the same time, strongly insist that every container floating on the water or lying on the seabed be recovered so that their contents can be thoroughly inspected.”

Only then did Tang Guochang finally understand Cha Jiham’s true intention.

Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan knew perfectly well that the Silver Crystal had been carrying North Korean weapons.

The moment that information leaked to the press, his career and reputation would suffer a fatal blow.

For that reason, there was no way in hell he could agree to such a proposal.

“Hahaha! Now I understand what you’re planning!”

“We have an excellent saying in our country: strike while the iron is hot.”

It was a direct hint that he should call Zhang Jinan right now.

Tang Guochang nodded knowingly and immediately dialed his number.

After several rings, an irritated voice came through the speaker.

[Vice Chairman Tang, what is it this time?]

“Deputy Secretary Zhang, we’ve decided to raise the Silver Crystal to determine the exact cause of its sinking.”

Tang Guochang bluntly laid out everything Cha Jiham had just suggested.

“...And we plan to conduct a thorough inspection of the contents of every container.”

[Is there really any need for that?]

“It’s possible the Silver Crystal sank because of an explosion inside the containers.”

[......]

Sensing a trap, Zhang Jinan immediately stopped talking.

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang had no intention of letting such a perfect opportunity slip away.

“If it turns out that we didn’t attack the Silver Crystal, you’ll have to answer for your accusations.”

[...Our company will raise the Silver Crystal ourselves, so there’s no need for the People’s Liberation Army to get involved.]

Tang Guochang saw straight through Zhang Jinan’s scheme. He was clearly planning to quietly recover and hide the containers of North Korean weapons.

“That’s out of the question.”

[Haa...]

Faced with Tang Guochang’s categorical refusal, Zhang Jinan could only let out a heavy sigh.

“Deputy Secretary Zhang, one way or another, the decision is yours.”

[...Fine. I acknowledge that the Silver Crystal was not attacked by the Navy.]

“You should have said that from the beginning. Goodbye.”

Click.

After unceremoniously hanging up, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang burst into loud, booming laughter.

Once his laughter subsided somewhat, President Du Zhiguo spoke up.

“Did Zhang Jinan tuck his tail between his legs?”

“Hahaha! Exactly!”

“Then how about we go have lunch with peace of mind?”

***

After moving to the dining room, we began our meal in a relaxed atmosphere.

As lunch was drawing to a close, Vice Chairman Wei Chen suddenly brought up a new subject.

“Vice Chairman Tang, how do you plan to take revenge on North Korea for destroying the naval base?”

“I’ll start working on a plan for retaliation without rushing things.”

“Since you have the opportunity, you should teach them a proper lesson.”

“That’s exactly what I intended to do.”

At that moment, Tang Guochang noticed Cha Jiham lowering his head with a puzzled expression and shaking it in disagreement.

Deciding not to ignore it, he addressed me.

“Director Cha, you seem to think differently. Am I wrong?”

“You’re absolutely right, Vice Chairman Tang.”

“I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“I believe that before teaching North Korea a lesson, there’s something else that needs to be dealt with first.”

“And what would that be?”

“Shouldn’t you first destroy the people lining their own pockets under the cover of North Korea?”

“Right! I forgot about those bastards!”

Bzzzt...

At that moment, Vice Chairman Wei Chen’s phone vibrated on the table.

After glancing at the caller’s name, he excused himself to Tang Guochang and left the room with his phone.

Some time later, he finished the call and returned to his seat.

As though he had been waiting for precisely that moment, Tang Guochang immediately asked him,

“Vice Chairman Wei, would you mind telling us what happened?”

“Actually, Director Cha asked me for a favor.”

“May I ask what kind of favor?”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen turned his gaze toward me.

I gave him a barely perceptible nod of consent.

“Since Director Cha doesn’t mind, I’ll tell you. To conduct cyberwarfare, North Korea maintains hacker organizations in more than ten locations, including Beijing.”

“Is that really true?!”

Tang Guochang, completely unprepared for this revelation, practically jumped in surprise.

“It is. Director Cha asked me to verify the information. I sent my people to those locations to determine whether hackers were actually operating there.”

“And what did you find?”

“Everything was confirmed.”

“Hmm... I see.”

I had to join the conversation again.

“Vice Chairman Tang, we obtained a document containing this hacker organization’s emergency communications network from Politburo member Liu’s villa.”

Since the hackers’ emergency contact list really had been stored on Major General Lee Cheolseung’s laptop, this story wasn’t entirely fabricated.

“Are you saying that bastard Liu was covering up the hackers’ activities?”

“We weren’t able to conduct a detailed investigation, but the probability is extremely high.”

“Hmm. So that’s how it is?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to seize this opportunity and take harsh revenge on Politburo member Liu?”

“And how would we do that?”

“Deploy the military and completely wipe out the hacker cells.”

“I’ll consider your proposal.”

Noticing that Tang Guochang’s reaction was rather lukewarm, I decided to add fuel to the fire and push him into action.

“News that Liu’s villa in Dandong was destroyed has almost certainly already reached the hackers.”

“Of course.”

“There’s a very high chance they’ll dismantle their bases and go underground. If we don’t eliminate them with a lightning strike, we’ll end up with nothing.”

“Hmm, we certainly can’t allow that!”

Only then did Tang Guochang hurriedly grab his phone from the table.