Chapter 244: The Reason Their Brains Were Reformatted

Antonio could not believe his own eyes.

The cardboard box was filled to the brim with diamonds of all different sizes and colors.

‘Could it be... these guys are putting on an act to get information about the money and diamonds Gabriel hid?’

But Antonio immediately shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Why would they prepare such an enormous quantity of diamonds just to fool him? It made no sense. Considering all the circumstances, the treasure definitely belonged to Gabriel.

“You really found them?”

“You heard me right.”

“Could it be...”

Director Jean-Philippe understood perfectly well why Antonio had trailed off.

He had mistakenly concluded that Vitor Gabriel himself had revealed the location of the stash. If that misunderstanding was not cleared up, Vitor Gabriel’s fate could plunge into pitch-black darkness, with no way to see even a single step ahead. To prevent the worst-case scenario, the situation had to be clarified immediately.

“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong. We found the money, diamonds, and bonds ourselves.”

“I can’t believe you, Director Jean-Philippe.”

“You threatened Gabriel with death over and over again to force him to reveal those hiding places. His life was hanging by a thread—why would he keep them secret under those circumstances?”

“Hmm... Then where did Gabriel hide the money and diamonds?”

“Across from this room, right beneath the floor. There was a hidden compartment there.”

“Come on, don’t feed me that crap.”

Director Jean-Philippe said nothing and merely turned his gaze toward Chief Secretary Kang Inhan.

As though he had instantly read his thoughts, Kang Inhan gave an order to Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok.

“Show this bastard the hiding place so he can stop doubting us.”

“Yes, sir.”

After giving a short reply, Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok and his subordinates grabbed Antonio by the arms, unlocked the door, and took him outside.

When Antonio entered the room containing the hiding place, he felt like dropping to his knees and wailing at the top of his lungs. They, too, had assumed that Gabriel had hidden the money and diamonds somewhere in the mansion’s basement. Because of that, they had searched every inch of the floor down here, yet they had found nothing.

Unlike them, however, the FIS agents had succeeded.

But what good was regret now? The pitcher had already shattered to pieces, and the spilled water had long since disappeared into the dry ground.

“...Let’s go back.”

After returning to the basement, Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok and his men once again seated Antonio in the chair.

Director Jean-Philippe addressed the dejected prisoner.

“Well? Am I still lying?”

“...No.”

“The money, diamonds, and securities Gabriel hid are proceeds from drug trafficking. That is why we have decided to confiscate all of these criminal assets. Any objections?”

Antonio silently shook his head, making it clear that he had no intention of objecting.

“Now let’s talk about something else. Why did you bring drugs into our country?”

“To sell them to Jourdain.”

“Were the drugs in the large safe in the study also meant for Jourdain?”

“I wasn’t planning to buy another batch.”

Whether he wanted to reduce his sentence or had some other reason, Jourdain answered before Antonio could.

Director Jean-Philippe gave Antonio a long look with an expression that plainly said, ‘Just as I thought.’ Realizing what he was thinking, Antonio spoke with a grim expression.

“The drugs in the safe weren’t for Jourdain. I was planning to sell them to Manuel’s gang, which is based in Zurich.”

“When and where are you supposed to meet?”

“We agreed to meet here at nine tonight.”

“There’s still time. Now tell us the combination to the safe.”

Antonio felt like climbing the walls in frustration.

And no wonder. The safe contained not only drugs but also an enormous amount of securities. But in his current position, stubbornly refusing to answer was not an option either.

“Damn it... The combination is...”

The moment he finished reciting the numbers, one of the FIS agents immediately rushed out of the basement to open the safe in the study.

Director Jean-Philippe briefly watched him leave before continuing his interrogation of Antonio.

“You understand what will happen if the combination is wrong, don’t you?”

“...I understand perfectly.”

“Good. We intend to seize every penny you earned from selling drugs. What do you think of my decision?”

Interpol had already issued a Red Notice for Antonio.

Now that he had fallen into the hands of the FBI, CIA, and FIS, he would never see freedom again for the rest of his life. Naturally, he would never be able to use the millions he had hidden away either.

Even so, he desperately hated the thought of simply handing over the fortune he had worked so hard to accumulate.

“...I’ll give you everything,” Antonio forced out dejectedly.

But I could see right through him.

At this very moment, he was desperately trying to figure out how to conceal at least some of the money he had hidden away. Now that I had read his thoughts, how could I possibly let that slide?

“Director Jean-Philippe, may I interrogate Antonio?”

“Do whatever you think is necessary, Director Cha.”

I fixed Antonio with a heavy, stern stare.

Under my gaze, his entire body shrank back and began trembling with fear. It seemed the herbal tranquilizer that suppressed other people’s will was working exactly as intended.

“You’re guaranteed to receive a life sentence. What use do you have for money in that situation?”

“I have a huge family, lots of relatives...”

“Actually, there’s a way to make sure your family never has to worry about money.”

“And what would that be?”

“You know what a plea bargain is, don’t you?”

A plea bargain was a procedure in which a defendant admitted guilt in exchange for a reduced sentence or the dismissal of some charges.

Antonio silently nodded, confirming that he was familiar with the concept.

“If you give us information on the gangs you supply drugs to, we’ll assess its value and pay you a reward. On one condition: you have to surrender every last cent you earned from drug trafficking.”

“Will you give me some time to think about it?”

I nodded in agreement and immediately turned to Jourdain.

“The plea bargain offer applies to you as well.”

At that moment, the FIS agent who had gone to open the safe returned to the basement.

Director Jean-Philippe quickly asked whether he had managed to open it. The agent briefly confirmed that he had.

“Branch Director Harrison, Director Cha, would you like to take a look at what’s inside?”

We moved to the study and approached the wide-open safe.

About seventy percent of it was packed with drugs, while the remaining thirty percent was occupied by thick paper envelopes. Director Jean-Philippe broke into a broad smile and turned to me.

“Director Cha, what do you think is inside these envelopes?”

“Director Jean-Philippe, you already have a pretty good idea yourself, don’t you?”

“Ha ha ha! That’s true.”

Director Jean-Philippe chuckled with satisfaction, took out one of the envelopes, and removed its contents.

Just as everyone had expected, it contained U.S. Treasury bonds with a face value of one hundred thousand dollars each.

“Chief Secretary Kang, weigh the drugs and calculate the total value of the bonds.”

“Consider it done.”

After Kang Inhan’s brief reply, the agents immediately got to work around the safe.

The final count showed exactly 750 kilograms of drugs and securities worth a total of ten billion dollars.

We went out to the living room, sat down on the sofas, and continued our conversation.

“Director Cha, when do you think we should distribute the bonds?”

“How about tomorrow morning?”

Director Jean-Philippe tilted his head in confusion.

It would take only a couple of hours to seize the money Antonio and Jourdain had earned from selling drugs. They could divide the spoils as early as this afternoon, but Cha Jiham apparently had something else in mind.

“Is there any reason to wait until tomorrow?”

“We still have to take down Manuel’s gang tonight.”

“Ah, right.”

Director Jean-Philippe nodded in understanding as he realized what I was planning. At the same time, Branch Director Harrison spoke up as though there was one question that had been bothering him.

“Director Cha, why did you offer Antonio and Jourdain a plea bargain?”

“If I were in their position, I’d definitely hide some of the drug money.”

“I understand your reasoning, but we have no way of checking whether they’ve really put everything on the table.”

“Those two definitely wrote down their bank account information somewhere.”

In other words, all we had to do was thoroughly inspect the personal belongings confiscated from them.

“Ah, now I understand what you’re getting at!”

“They’ll keep scheming until the very end, trying to preserve at least some of their money.”

“That’s probably exactly what they’ll do.”

“That’s why I reformatted their brains with that in mind.”

“It never even occurred to me that you were thinking that many steps ahead, Director Cha!”

“Oh, come on. It was nothing special.”

I merely scratched the back of my head in embarrassment.

***

Meanwhile, mindful of the people watching them, Antonio and Jourdain spoke quietly to each other in Spanish.

“Jourdain, are you seriously planning to give them all the money you made from selling drugs?”

“Why the hell would I? You think I earned all that money for nothing just to hand it all over like this?”

“That’s what I thought. What percentage do you think we should give them?”

“I think thirty percent should be more than enough.”

“Isn’t that too little?”

“Thirty percent of my earnings is more than ten billion dollars!”

Jourdain’s response carried an unmistakable note of absolute refusal.

“But if we lie and get caught, we’re finished.”

“They’re not gods. How are they supposed to know we’re lying?”

Antonio, however, saw things differently.

The memory of being beaten by Chief Secretary Kang Inhan’s men was still far too fresh in his mind. On top of that, he had absolutely no desire to repeat the bone-chilling experience of having Cha Jiham stare straight at him with that heavy, terrifying gaze.

“I’m planning to give them about fifty percent.”

“Fifty percent...? Damn it, fine. Let’s do that. By the way, what are we going to do about Cha Jiham’s plea bargain offer?”

“I don’t want to rot in prison for the rest of my life.”

“So you’re seriously going to give them all your clients’ contact information?”

“If you have a better option, let’s hear it!”

Click!

At that moment, the door opened, and Director Jean-Philippe and the others entered the basement.

The three of them sat down in the chairs prepared for them, while Chief Secretary Kang Inhan and his men stood behind them. Director Jean-Philippe addressed Antonio with mild surprise.

“What, did you already get into a fight with Jourdain?”

“No, we didn’t fight.”

“I’ve heard that vehement denial is a sure sign of agreement.”

“......”

Antonio chose to remain silent, realizing there was little he could say.

“Fine. We’ll talk about the plea bargain later. For now, let’s discuss voluntarily surrendering your drug money.”

“All the money I’ve made from selling drugs comes to ten billion doll—”

“Hold your horses,” Director Jean-Philippe sharply interrupted Jourdain.

Not understanding what was going on, Jourdain stared directly at him.

“There’s something I completely forgot to tell you. We seized two laptops from the basement of your mountain house in Lucerne. You understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

Jourdain understood only one thing: he was screwed.

Those laptops contained all the information about his drug-trafficking proceeds in plain view. Of course, they were password-protected, but what good would that do?

These vicious bastards would keep breaking his arms and legs until he talked. No human being could withstand that kind of pain, and he would end up spilling every single password.

And like a naive idiot, he had been planning to surrender only thirty percent!

“Director Jean-Philippe! All the money I’ve earned from selling drugs comes to thirty-five billion dollars!”

Antonio barely managed to suppress the overwhelming urge to hit Jourdain square in the face with a [N O V E L I G H T] spinning kick.

They had just agreed to surrender fifty percent each! Fifty percent of the total came to roughly 17.5 billion dollars.

And this idiot had completely erased their agreement from his mind and blurted out the entire amount down to the last cent!

Because of that, Antonio would now have to empty out every last one of his own hiding places as well.

And while he was frantically trying to figure out how to escape this trap, Director Jean-Philippe turned to him.

“And how much are you surrendering?”

“The money I earned from selling drugs...”