Chapter 208: Giving Away That Much Money as a Gift

Ring, ring, ring!

At that moment, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang's phone, which was lying on the table, began to ring.

After checking who was calling, he excused himself, picked up the phone, and went into the study.

Director Griffin glanced after him, then turned to me with a puzzled expression.

"Can Vice Chairman Tang really kidnap Minister Peng Yuxiang?"

"He has tens of thousands of special forces soldiers under his command, so it's entirely possible."

"Well... Now that I think about it, that makes sense."

"By the way, what about his gift?"

Cha Jiham had previously advised me to give Vice Chairman Tang Guochang a large sum of money as a gift to commemorate our meeting.

"I was waiting for the right moment to give Vice Chairman Tang his gift."

"He's a greedy man, so giving him too little could actually have the opposite effect."

"Don't worry. I've prepared a gift large enough to satisfy him completely."

"I see what you mean. Director Om, have you prepared a gift for him as well?"

NIS Director Om Giyeon found himself in an awkward position.

That was because he hadn't prepared any gift for Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

Director Griffin was giving him an enormous gift, and if he simply sat there doing nothing, it would look bad.

After explaining the situation to Cha Jiham in Korean, he asked if he had any ideas.

"We received five billion dollars from selling the United States the interrogation footage of Politburo member Liu Peiqi and Dandong Public Security Bureau Chief Pu Zhenghua. I'll donate three billion dollars of that to the National Intelligence Service."

"Why?"

"Didn't you contribute to us being able to squeeze those five billion dollars out of them, Director Om?"

"All I did was make one phone call to Director Griffin."

If I didn't make the donation, NIS Director Om Giyeon would end up in a position where he couldn't give Vice Chairman Tang Guochang a gift.

"Should I take that as you refusing the donation?"

"No, it's just that the amount is astronomical."

"I just told you that Vice Chairman Tang is incredibly greedy for money."

"I understand what you're saying, but why does it feel like such a waste?"

"If we invest those three billion dollars, it'll come back to us many times over, so there's nothing to regret."

"But there's one condition for that—his coup has to succeed, right?"

"He's in a position where he has nothing left to lose, so he'll do whatever it takes to succeed."

"If you think so, Director Cha, then the odds must be good... All right, I understand."

"Transferring three billion dollars into an NIS account would only complicate the process, so Chief Secretary Kang will transfer it directly into his secret account."

"How do you know his secret account?"

"We obtained the details of that secret account when we transferred him the ransom money we took from Politburo member Liu Peiqi."

Just then, the study door opened and Vice Chairman Tang Guochang emerged.

His face was extremely grim, as though the phone call had been about something very serious.

After sitting down on an empty sofa, the first thing he did was apologize.

"The call was urgent, so I kept you waiting. My apologies."

"We all understand perfectly, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you very much."

Deciding that the time had come, Director Griffin took an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

"Director Griffin, what's this?"

"I prepared a modest gift to commemorate our meeting, Vice Chairman Tang. I should have given it to you when we first met, but everything was so hectic that I'm only giving it to you now."

"You really didn't need to go to such trouble, but thank you very much."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang thanked Director Griffin and took the contents out of the envelope.

But something was strange.

He had expected to see a check with an astronomical sum printed on it.

Contrary to his expectations, however, there was only a single note inside.

When he unfolded it, he saw the name of a Swiss bank, an account number, and a password.

As though he had been waiting for precisely this moment, Director Griffin spoke.

"If I'd given you a check, you might have had trouble cashing it, so I wrote down the details of a CIA secret account instead. Simply transfer the money in that account into your own."

"Mr. Pan, could you bring me a laptop?"

Hotel owner Pan Kai immediately rushed into the bedroom, brought out a laptop, and handed it to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

Without wasting a second, Tang Guochang turned on the laptop, went to the UBS website, and logged in.

With his heart pounding, he entered the account number and password written on the note and pressed Enter.

-2,000,000,000 USD

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang counted the digits one by one with his finger, checking the amount.

Two billion dollars.

He had never imagined that Director Griffin would give him such a colossal amount of money as a gift.

"Director Griffin, isn't this gift a little too generous?"

"It takes a great deal of money to accomplish great things."

"Whatever the case, I understand. I sincerely thank the United States government for its generosity."

"Haha. Think nothing of it. Go ahead and transfer the money."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang immediately clicked a few times on the laptop and transferred the two billion dollars into his secret account.

Afterward, he closed the laptop and once again expressed his gratitude to Director Griffin.

Judging that the conversation between the two of them was over, NIS Director Om Giyeon spoke up.

"I also prepared a gift to commemorate my meeting with Vice Chairman Tang."

"Oh, you really didn't have to..."

Despite saying that, the corners of Vice Chairman Tang Guochang's lips were creeping upward.

"How could I come empty-handed? I'll transfer my modest gift directly into your account."

The moment Director Om Giyeon finished speaking, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan rose from the sofa.

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang glanced at him briefly before continuing his conversation with NIS Director Om Giyeon.

"How do you know my bank account?"

"Director Cha gave me the details."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang recalled what had happened yesterday.

Cha Jiham had offered to give him 500 million yuan and 400 million dollars' worth of cryptocurrency taken from Politburo member Liu Peiqi.

Since he was on bad terms with Liu Peiqi, he had gladly accepted the offer.

After a series of twists and turns, the gift had grown to 500 million dollars and 500 million yuan.

To receive the money, he had given Cha Jiham a note with the bank's name and his account number.

That was precisely what NIS Director Om Giyeon was referring to.

"Ah, I see."

"Just wait a moment, and the gift will arrive in your account."

"I understand, but I'm worried there might be problems later."

At the moment, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang was worried that the money might be traceable.

NIS Director Om Giyeon thought it necessary to put his concerns to rest.

"The money I'm giving you is completely clean, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Very well. I'll take your word for it, Director Om."

Just then, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan returned and sat down on the sofa.

Without anyone else noticing, he gave NIS Director Om Giyeon a prearranged signal.

Director Om Giyeon signaled back and continued speaking with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

"Vice Chairman Tang, the gift I sent should already be in your account."

"One moment."

Using the laptop, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang went to the website of the bank where his secret funds were kept and logged in.

Assuming that the gift from NIS Director Om Giyeon wouldn't be particularly large, he entered his account number and password with a completely calm expression.

But when he pressed Enter and looked at the balance of his secret account, his eyes bulged.

And no wonder.

A full three billion dollars had been deposited into the account.

"Director Om, did you perhaps make a mistake when sending the gift?"

"What's so much about three billion dollars?"

"What?!"

Everyone present except the Koreans and Vice Chairman Tang Guochang reacted with the same degree of astonishment.

As though he had expected exactly this reaction, NIS Director Om Giyeon broke into a broad smile and continued.

"Haha. I admit I tend to be a little generous."

"Isn't that a little too generous?"

"But Director Griffin also said that Vice Chairman Tang would need a lot of money to accomplish great things."

"Well... Whatever. I understand."

NIS Director Om Giyeon understood perfectly well why Director Griffin looked so annoyed.

Director Griffin had undoubtedly given Vice Chairman Tang Guochang less money than he had.

Deciding there was no need to rub salt in the wound, he changed the subject.

"Vice Chairman Tang, shall we draw a line under the subject of gifts?"

"I fully agree with your suggestion, Director Om."

"Then perhaps we should hear Director Cha's ideas on how to carry out the plan?"

At that moment, everyone's gaze turned toward me.

Of course, I had already prepared a plan that would allow Vice Chairman Tang Guochang to successfully carry out a coup.

However, just in case, I needed to lay the groundwork first.

"I have an idea, but it isn't perfect. Please keep that in mind before you hear it."

"We'll keep that in mind, so hurry up and tell us."

I took a sip of my now-cold tea to gather my thoughts, then began speaking slowly.

"Vice Chairman Tang, you need to kidnap Minister Peng Yuxiang by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang couldn't understand Cha Jiham's train of thought at all.

As befitted the head of China's Ministry of State Security, Minister Peng Yuxiang was extraordinarily cautious.

How were they supposed to kidnap someone like that in a single day without even developing a detailed plan?

"Director Cha, aren't you rushing things too much?"

"It's only a matter of time before information about the destruction of the Dalian naval base reaches the media."

"The media in our country is under strict control, so the press won't find out anything."

"But Ukrainian Military Intelligence Director Volasky knows about it."

"Ah, right. That man..."

"To prevent China from retaliating against Ukraine, he'll have no choice but to leak the destruction of the naval base to the press."

"...It seems you're right."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang replied dejectedly.

To force him to act more decisively, I had to press on his sore spot again.

"Because of the destruction of the naval base, you must have fallen out of favor with President Xi Jinping, Vice Chairman Tang. What do you think?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Director Cha is absolutely right."

"And as if that weren't enough, the intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed at the Shenyang base were stolen. As the man commanding China's armed forces, you had absolutely no idea it had happened. Do you really think President Xi Jinping will simply let it go once he receives a report about the stolen ICBMs?"

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang shook his head.

"After being humiliated before the entire world, President Xi Jinping is highly likely to remove you from your position in order to restore discipline among the demoralized troops. If that happens, you'll lose your power, and even if you want to stage a coup, you won't be able to do it anymore."

A heavy silence immediately settled over the spacious living room.

Everyone else had also realized the seriousness of the situation.

"If Minister Peng Yuxiang is kidnapped, China won't be able to retaliate against Ukraine for a while."

"Naturally."

"And if the retaliation is postponed, Director Volasky won't leak the destruction of the naval base to the press."

"I see where you're going with this."

Ignoring Vice Chairman Tang Guochang's response, I turned to Director Griffin.

"Please ask Director Volasky to cooperate."

"You don't need to worry about that."

"I'm counting on you, Director Griffin."

"Consider it done."

When the conversation reached a lull, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, who had apparently been waiting for just that moment, asked,

"Director Cha, what should we do about the stolen ICBMs?"

"In my opinion, the best thing to do is pass that 'bomb' on to someone else."

"Pass the bomb?"

"Yes. We use North Korea's reputation to our advantage. This plan will require a bit of luck, though. Keep that in mind."

"All right, hurry up and tell me."

Burning with impatience, Vice Chairman Tang Guochang leaned forward and urged me to continue.

"Vice Chairman Tang, the moment you receive the report that the ICBMs deployed at the Shenyang base have been stolen, you immediately order an investigation. The investigation then determines that the perpetrators were North Koreans and that the stolen ICBMs are being stored in a Golden Trading warehouse."

"And then? Keep going."

"As the investigation closes in on them, the North Koreans blow up the Golden Trading warehouse and escape. Given the current strained relations between the two countries, if the story is presented properly, President Xi Jinping won't blame you too harshly."

"Ah..."

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang nodded in understanding.