Chapter 216: Those Damn Three Billion Dollars

"Department Head Cha, tell us what you discussed during your meeting with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang."

President Cho Seokchin addressed me with undisguised curiosity.

I thought for a moment, organizing my answer, then said,

"After striking up a casual conversation with Vice Chairman Tang to establish a personal connection, I subtly asked whether he had any desire to accomplish great things."

"And? What did he say?"

"He does have the ambition to accomplish great things, but he wasn't confident he could succeed."

"That's a perfectly natural reaction."

"To push him toward making a decision, I asked Advisor Graff to send President Douglas's personal envoys. President Douglas then sent Director Griffin and Director Nevers to meet him."

"Mr. President, I also went to China after them."

NIS Director Om Giyeon took over after me, a hint of embarrassment visible on his face.

"Naturally, you had a good reason for doing so?"

"I believed that if Vice Chairman Tang successfully carried out what he intended, it would bring enormous benefits to our country."

"I agree with you, Director Om, but it would have been better if you'd reported to me before leaving."

"I deliberately chose not to report it because I thought our attempt to bring him over to our side might fail."

"Has anything Department Head Cha has ever gotten involved in ended in failure?"

"Ah, that's my fault. I didn't think of that."

Under President Cho Seokchin's stern gaze, NIS Director Om Giyeon immediately backed down.

The President continued staring at Director Om with displeasure for a while before turning back to me.

"Department Head Cha, continue. What happened next?"

"The following morning, we met with Vice Chairman Tang and discussed a course of action for a successful coup. We concluded that he would need at least six months to prepare for the coup, so our first priority became restoring Chairman Xi Jinping's lost trust in him."

"Hmm... That sounds reasonable enough."

"To reassure him, I proposed both a short-term and a long-term plan."

"Let's hear about the short-term plan first."

"Minister of State Security Peng Yuxiang decided to retaliate against Ukraine for the destruction of the kamikaze drone factory."

President Cho Seokchin tilted his head in confusion.

Only a few days earlier, NIS Director Om Giyeon had reported to him that intelligence operatives, together with Delta Force soldiers, had destroyed the kamikaze drone factory.

Yet for some reason, Minister Peng Yuxiang had decided to vent his anger on Ukraine, which had had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The President looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

"To boost the morale of the Ukrainian people, who have been exhausted by the war, we obtained permission in advance from Military Intelligence Director Volasky."

"And what did he say?"

"He agreed to our proposal without the slightest hesitation or doubt."

"Well, that's for the best."

"Just to be safe, he even publicly announced that Ukrainian intelligence was behind it."

"I had no idea about any of these details."

I turned my head toward NIS Director Om Giyeon to gauge the situation.

Immediately understanding the meaning behind my gaze, he hurriedly intervened.

"Mr. President, I should have reported it to you immediately, but with Commander Kwak Taesu arriving at the Port of Incheon, I simply didn't have time. I apologize for the oversight."

"These things happen when you're extremely busy. Department Head Cha, continue."

"Believing that retaliation by the Ministry of State Security against Ukraine would only complicate matters, we decided to abduct Minister Peng Yuxiang."

"What did you say?!"

President Cho Seokchin reacted with profound astonishment bordering on shock.

Minister Peng was one of Chairman Xi Jinping's closest confidants.

It would have been strange not to be shocked by a decision to abduct someone of that stature.

"If we hadn't abducted Minister Peng, Vice Chairman Tang would have been purged before he even had a chance to put his plans into action."

"That's true, but wasn't that far too risky?"

"What matters is the result. The abduction was successful."

"That's a tremendous relief. Tell me exactly how you managed to capture him."

"Vice Chairman Tang took charge of arranging the abduction, after which the CIA was supposed to transport the Minister to our country aboard a stealth submarine. However, Peng, who was in Beijing, unexpectedly left on a business trip to Dandong."

I gave President Cho Seokchin a detailed account of the operation to capture Minister Peng Yuxiang.

"...Right now, he's being transported to the Port of Incheon aboard a passenger ferry."

"What if one of the passengers recognizes him?"

As if proving that people tended to think alike, President Cho Seokchin voiced the same concern Vice Chairman Tang Guochang had raised.

"Because he was given an extremely large dose of a powerful sedative, he's still asleep. But just to be safe, he was placed inside a large travel suitcase, while employees of our company, under the guise of VIP service, are providing round-the-clock security both inside and outside the cabin."

"In that case, there shouldn't be any problems. Still, what do you plan to do with him afterward?"

I deliberately turned my gaze toward NIS Director Om Giyeon.

Correctly reading my intention, he spoke without hesitation.

"We'll interrogate Minister Peng, extract all the information we need, and then hand him over to the United States for a substantial ransom."

"Director Griffin agreed to that?"

"Let's just say he's burning with impatience."

"Hahaha. I understand what you mean."

President Cho Seokchin chuckled in satisfaction before turning back to me.

"Department Head Cha, now let's hear about the long-term plan."

"There's still one very important part of the short-term plan. Can we skip it?"

"Of course not! Let's hear it."

"To regain Chairman Xi's trust, Vice Chairman Tang plans to attack the railway connecting North Korea and Russia..."

President Cho Seokchin sensed that events were taking a troubling turn.

Chairman Xi Jinping was convinced that North Korea had destroyed the naval base in Dalian.

Therefore, under the pretext of retaliation, China could strike North Korean railways, freight trains, and the Port of Rajin without hesitation.

But Russian-owned cargo ships and the Port of Vladivostok were an entirely different matter.

If Russia discovered that China was behind it, it would not sit idly by.

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang understood this perfectly well, yet he was still taking an unjustifiable risk.

"Department Head Cha, shouldn't we stop Vice Chairman Tang?"

"Chairman Xi personally gave the order to destroy the Port of Vladivostok, along with the warships and submarines stationed there."

"What reason does Chairman Xi have for making such a reckless decision?"

"According to the information we have, he's extremely irritated by the growing closeness between North Korea and Russia."

"I see. But will China be able to accomplish its objective flawlessly?"

"Vice Chairman Tang seems very confident, but we'll have to watch how events unfold."

At that moment, Chief of Staff Lee Jihun joined the conversation to clarify something.

"Department Head Cha, shouldn't we prepare contingency plans in case the operation fails?"

"Just in case, the Chinese military plans to attack the Port of Vladivostok, the ships, and the submarines using Russian-made weapons."

"In that case, there shouldn't be any problems. By the way, why not make Ukraine the culprit?"

"That's exactly what we're planning to do."

"Is Ukraine's Military Intelligence aware of this?"

"For the sake of secrecy, we haven't informed them yet."

Bzzz—

Suddenly, NIS Director Om Giyeon's phone, which was lying on the table, vibrated.

After checking the screen and realizing that the call was extremely important, he answered it and stepped out of the conference room.

Our conversation with Chief of Staff Lee Jihun was interrupted as a result.

A short while later, the Director returned to the room and reported what the call had been about.

"Mr. President, the ferry carrying Minister Peng Yuxiang has just entered our territorial waters."

"Then we can contact the Korea Investment employees escorting him?"

At once, everyone present turned their eyes toward me.

Immediately understanding what they wanted, I called Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol.

As always, he answered after the very first ring.

[Yes, Department Head.]

"I'm currently with President Cho Seokchin. I'm putting you on speakerphone."

After switching the phone to speaker mode, I continued speaking with Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol.

"Team Leader Lee, how is Minister Peng?"

[Aside from the fact that he's asleep, there are no abnormalities.]

"Shouldn't he be starting to wake up by now?"

[Just to be safe, we administered another dose of sedative a couple of hours ago.]

"As always, you're exceptionally thorough and cautious. Is there any possibility that one of the passengers might have seen him?"

[You can rest completely assured on that front.]

When former intelligence operative Lee Hyeonsol sounded that confident, any further worrying became an unnecessary luxury.

"I trust you completely."

[Yes, sir. We expect to arrive at the Port of Incheon at approximately 11:10. Please pass our arrival time on to the NIS.]

"NIS Director Om Giyeon is sitting right beside me."

[Ah, understood.]

After exchanging a few more words with Team Leader Lee Hyeonsol, I ended the call.

At that very moment, President Cho Seokchin gave NIS Director Om Giyeon an order.

"Generously reward Department Head Cha and the Korea Investment employees who made such enormous contributions to our country's interests."

NIS Director Om Giyeon decided that the timing was perfect.

He intended to use this opportunity to repay his debt to Cha Jiham.

"Mr. President, there's something I'd like to say regarding the reward."

"Go ahead."

"When I met Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, I noticed that he's incredibly greedy for money. Director Griffin gave him a gift of two billion dollars to win his favor. I had no way to prepare a comparable gesture. However..."

NIS Director Om Giyeon deliberately paused for emphasis before continuing.

"Department Head Cha took pity on me and, understanding the difficult position I was in, lent me a full three billion dollars."

"Three billion dollars?!"

President Cho Seokchin was genuinely astonished, fully understanding the colossal size of that sum.

I, however, needed to clarify what had actually happened.

"Mr. President, the three billion dollars wasn't a loan. It was given to the National Intelligence Service as an unconditional donation."

"You donated such an astronomical sum?"

"The video recording containing Politburo member Liu Peiqi's interrogation was sold to Director Griffin for five billion dollars. And since Director Om provided invaluable assistance in obtaining those five billion dollars, I donated three billion of it."

"Mr. President, all I did was make a single phone call to Director Griffin!"

Unwilling to concede, NIS Director Om Giyeon jumped back into the conversation.

"Department Head Cha, three billion dollars for one phone call is far too much!"

"The five billion dollars was unearned income anyway, so just consider the three billion my tax payment."

"How can you possibly do that?"

Chief of Staff Lee Jihun felt his heart growing heavy.

President Cho Seokchin was determined to return those three billion dollars to Cha Jiham no matter what.

But how were they supposed to raise a three-billion-dollar fund when the opposition and the public were scrutinizing every move the administration made?

With a heavy heart, he addressed President Cho Seokchin.

"Mr. President, perhaps we should accept Department Head Cha's offer?"

"How many times has Department Head Cha already provided invaluable assistance to our country? And every single time, I've gotten away with nothing more than a simple 'thank you.' If a person has even a shred of conscience, how could I shamelessly accept such generosity from Department Head Cha?"

"I completely understand how you feel, Mr. President, but three billion dollars is an unimaginably enormous amount of money."

At that moment, NIS Director Om Giyeon spoke again.

"Mr. President, I'll personally resolve the matter of the three billion dollars we received from Department Head Cha."

"And how exactly do you intend to do that?"

President Cho Seokchin's voice was filled with obvious curiosity.

"We plan to hand the abducted Minister Peng Yuxiang over to the United States for a very high price. We'll repay the entire amount to Department Head Cha out of the ransom we receive."

"Will the United States really pay three billion dollars for him?"

"Minister Peng possesses classified intelligence of incalculable value. Getting three billion dollars out of them will be easier than taking candy from a child."

"Can I trust you on this, Director Om?"

"Of course, Mr. President."

After hearing NIS Director Om Giyeon's confident answer, President Cho Seokchin turned back to me.

"Now let's hear about the long-term plan that will allow Vice Chairman Tang Guochang to accomplish what he intends."

"For Vice Chairman Tang to successfully carry out his coup, he first needs to eliminate Chairman Xi Jinping's allies."

"That's obvious."

"By exploiting Chairman Xi's negative attitude toward North Korea..."