The Black, Great Wave
The forest of skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York.
In front of the headquarters of the Black Diamond Group, a company that had always stood as an object of envy to everyone, absolute chaos was unfolding.
“Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!”
“Dismantle Black Diamond! Dismantle it!”
“Give us back our sons! Give us back our husbands!”
Demonstrators staging a grotesque performance, security teams trying to hold them back, and reporters desperate to capture the spectacle all tangled together in one writhing mass.
“Hold the line! If they break through, we’re all dead!”
The head of security bellowed as he swung his baton around.
His voice was swallowed by the roar of the furious crowd and scattered into the air.
The barricades erected by the contractors were shaking precariously, like sandcastles before a raging tide.
Dozens of members of the radical environmental group Gaia’s Tears had mixed black dye into sticky molasses, smeared it all over their bodies from head to toe, and were crawling across the ground.
It was meant to represent fish and seabirds dying, slicked over and choked by oil.
“Taste it yourselves!”
A frontline activist flung a bucket of molasses and black dye at the security officers.
“The earth will spit you out!”
“Don’t give the killers any rest! Drag out the devils hiding in that glass fortress!”
“Drag them out! Drag them out! Drag them out!”
The chants of the environmental groups echoed between Manhattan’s towers.
Meanwhile, on the rear side of the building, hundreds of victims’ families wearing gas masks were waving red-painted banners and screaming in anguish.
DISSOLVE THE KILLER CORP!
BRING BACK MY SON!
BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!
Tears streamed down the cheeks of a middle-aged woman clutching a banner.
Seven years ago, she had lost her husband in a refinery explosion.
“My husband never broke a single safety regulation in twenty years! Then why—why did Jim have to die like that?”
Another bereaved family member standing beside her put an arm around her shoulders.
A young man in a wheelchair clenched his fist and shouted, “Those bastards cut the safety budget! They used the money for executive bonuses, didn’t they!”
Both his legs were gone below the knees.
He was a survivor of a refinery fire who had undergone amputation surgery.
A gray-haired old woman who seemed to be his mother gripped the wheelchair handle and wept silently.
Someone reached into their bag, pulled out a sack filled with rotten eggs and filth, and started hurling it at the security officers.
……Thwack! ……Thunk! ……Splat!
Before long, the protesters began climbing over the security guards’ shields.
A young activist climbed atop a shield and lifted a bucket of red paint high above his head.
“This is the blood you should be shedding!”
He hurled the bucket at the glass of the lobby revolving door.
……Crash! ……Smash! Swoosh—!
The glass shattered, and red paint sprayed everywhere like blood.
Red liquid seeped through the broken shards and stained the marble floor.
Above them, a broadcast helicopter thundered overhead, live-streaming the entire madhouse.
The building that had once symbolized Wall Street itself was now the target of public fury.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The boardroom of the Black Diamond Group.
On the fiftieth floor, the city spread out below in a single glance.
That meant everyone gathered here could see the situation very clearly.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
They could see every one of those events unfolding in front of the building.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-
A broadcast helicopter cut past the windows beside them.
One of the executives let out an unconscious sigh.
At last, all eyes in the room turned to the center of the table.
Lying there was a registered letter that had just arrived, like a ticking bomb.
Stamped boldly on the envelope, alongside an eagle emblem, was the logo of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The directors had already seen what was inside.
///////
<Notice of Violation and Advance Notice of Administrative Penalties Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency>
- Addressee: The Board of Black Diamond Group
- Cc: Environmental Crimes Section, Department of Justice
- Subject: Sanctions arising from the violation of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by subsidiary “Black Bog Energy”
- Summary of Violations:
1) Deliberate unauthorized discharge of waste oil from offshore Gulf of Mexico well Platform B-7 (1989-1992)
2) Illegal burial of hazardous waste and concealment of soil contamination at the Texas Garden Queens refinery facility
3) Perjury and subornation of evidence destruction against federal investigators
- Pending Administrative Penalties and Remediation Orders:
1) First penalty: $450,000,000
2) Environmental restoration escrow deposit: $800,000,000
3) Punitive damages: to be calculated separately
.
.
///////
It was, quite simply, a murderous bomb of a fine.
The directors spat their words out like chewing glass.
“The confirmed penalties alone are over $1.2 billion. Even if we drain every cent of cash on hand, it still won’t be enough.”
“And what are we supposed to do about the stock collapse?”
“The investors are going to go insane.”
“Damn it, none of the congressmen are answering our calls. When they were taking the money, they were more than happy to pick up……”
“Even the legal team is stalling. They say the odds of winning a lawsuit are far too low.”
With the fine and escrow deposit virtually already decided, the total came to $1.25 billion, and on top of that, punitive damages would be assessed separately.
It was practically the state’s declaration that it was cutting them loose.
A declaration that it intended to choke the company’s cash flow to death.
……Bang!
Williams, the shareholder representative, slammed the table with a voice swollen with blood vessels.
“What the hell is this supposed to mean!”
His face had gone beet red with rage.
“The company is a complete wreck! The stock is turning into confetti! Fifty billion dollars in market cap evaporated in a single day!”
The other directors joined in.
“Cut off the tail and the body survives.”
“Let’s announce that Lawrence Vanderbilt acted on his own. We should say we were deceived too.”
“Get rid of that lunatic immediately and sue him!”
“How thoroughly we destroy Lawrence will determine whether we have any path to survive.”
“Exactly. We need to emphasize that we’re victims too. Absolutely.”
Then came the final nail in the coffin.
……Bang!
The meeting room door flew open, and one of the delayed directors rushed in.
He announced the reason for his lateness in the clearest possible terms.
“We’re in trouble! The FBI has applied for an arrest warrant for Vice President Lawrence Vanderbilt! It was processed unusually fast, and they’re saying it’ll be executed today…….”
“…….”
The decision had been made.
The only question now was how quickly it could be carried out.
“Everyone, please remain calm.”
CEO Pittsburgh of Black Diamond Group said.
His gold-rimmed glasses gleamed against his bald head as he opened his mouth.
“By resolution of the board, I will immediately dismiss Vice President Lawrence Vanderbilt and refer him to the federal prosecutor on charges of breach of trust and obstruction of business.”
A sigh of relief rippled through the directors.
But Pittsburgh wasn’t finished.
“And……”
He paused briefly and looked around the room.
“We will immediately begin the sale process for the subsidiary Black Bog, the source of the problem.”
The room stirred again.
The directors swallowed hard and said,
“A sale? Who would buy it in this situation?”
“What company would acquire a business stained by environmental crimes and embezzlement at a fair price?”
“Unless they were out of their mind, there’s no way anyone would take Black Bog off our hands…… they wouldn’t even take it for free……”
“Not to mention the economy is terrible right now. Cash has dried up……”
But Pittsburgh’s opinion remained unchanged.
“Then don’t sell?”
“…….”
“What, there’s another way? If anyone has one, step forward. I’ll hand over the chairman’s seat to you.”
“…….”
No one answered.
Pittsburgh went on.
“S&P has downgraded our credit rating to Junk. Moody’s has also rated us investment-non-viable. You understand what that means, don’t you?”
For ordinary people, a credit downgrade meant being denied a loan or paying a higher interest rate.
But for Wall Street hedge funds, it meant something very different.
The biggest problem was that institutional investors, under American law, could not hold bonds rated as investment-unviable.
Since Black Diamond had now been pushed into that category, institutional investors were legally required to dump Black Diamond’s bonds, regardless of any loyalty, obligation, or sentiment they might have felt.
Massive bond holdings would be dumped onto the market at fire-sale prices, and that meant a collapse far greater than anything they had seen before—a true economic catastrophe.
And if that happened, everyone in this room would be sued by shareholders, lose their heads, and be forced to shoulder astronomical legal costs and damages.
Some of the things they had done along the way might even be dug up, leading to prison terms measured not in years, but in centuries.
Pittsburgh said,
“I know. I know there’s no one who wants to buy a toxic asset like Black Bog in this situation.”
“…….”
“But just because there’s no buyer doesn’t mean we don’t sell it. If you’ve got another plan, speak up. What, you can’t understand me?”
A vein like an oil pipeline bulged up on his bald scalp.
The directors, well acquainted with Pittsburgh’s temper, kept their mouths shut and stared down at the table.
Then Pittsburgh said,
“Stop chirping like shit birds in a cage and get out there and run like dogs. Use whatever means necessary and find someone willing to buy Black Bog. If they want it for free, we’ll give it to them for free, so find some son of a bitch willing to take that fucking trash company off our hands, you worthless parasites!”
His shout shook the entire fiftieth floor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The kimchi had fermented beautifully.
Now it was time to take it out and eat.
……All right, then. The time has come.
Dressed in a spotless suit, I stood in the press conference room set up in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel.
Hundreds of camera flashes exploded at once, whitening the world before my eyes.
From the podium, the press seats below were packed without a single empty chair.
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times—every major American outlet had gathered here.
I took the microphone.
“Lee Energy believes in the potential of Black Bog’s environmental restoration technology.”
A murmur spread through the reporters.
The name “Lee Energy” was still unfamiliar to the public.
But right now, that unfamiliarity itself stirred curiosity.
I continued.
“At this moment, the company is in crisis because of incompetent management, but the employees are still capable and innocent. Under proper leadership, I believe this company can be reborn. Lee Energy has officially submitted its letter of intent to Black Diamond Group for the acquisition of Black Bog.”
Of course, I didn’t bother adding the unspoken part: for dirt cheap.
The flash barrage exploded again.
Reporters shot their hands into the air and began firing questions.
“Can Lee Energy handle that scale? The debt alone must be in the billions!”
“What exactly is your funding plan?”
“Do you expect political backlash over an Asian-owned company acquiring American energy infrastructure?”
All of it had been expected.
I nodded.
“Lee Energy is not an Asian company. It is an American company. It has nothing to do with Asia. I am American as well. And we have already finished forming a consortium with major investment banks on Wall Street. There is no problem with funding.”
Of course, I could have bought it outright in cash, but I had teamed up with the banks on the surface to avoid making the IRS uncomfortable.
All I needed was the appearance of a reasonable loan, which meant the borrowing would be modest and the interest rate very favorable.
Compared to the money I made from the short sale, it’s barely pocket change.
While I was mulling over various thoughts, one reporter raised a hand.
“What are your plans after the acquisition? Will you keep Black Bog’s existing business as is?”
I paused for effect.
I had stayed up late for days polishing the script for this moment.
“We will devote all of the company’s resources to restoring the environment Black Bog has damaged. The marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico, the contaminated soil of Texas, and the lives of the residents affected by this disaster. Returning all of that to what it was before is our top priority.”
The room fell quiet for a moment.
I had just handed the headline to tomorrow’s front page directly out of my own mouth.
“Isn’t that the social responsibility of a corporation?”
……Flashflashflashflashflashflashflashflash!
The camera flashes went berserk.
I wore a capitalist smile for the cameras.
Once I get Black Bog in my hands, it’s over. Nothing can stand in my way.
In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court forced Rockefeller’s Standard Oil to split into thirty-four companies.
The reason was simple: Standard Oil had monopolized pipelines and refineries across the entire United States and squeezed the life out of its competitors.
In the oil business, owning the field was only the beginning.
The real power belonged to whoever controlled the infrastructure that transported, refined, and sold the oil.
In Garden Queens—and even more so in Texas—Black Bog was exactly that kind of entity.
3,200 miles of pipelines across Texas, four refineries, and twelve waste treatment sites.
Black Bog controlled every critical gateway that oil from Garden Queens had to pass through before it could ever reach the market.
The reason Lee Energy had been forced to dump crude from the Garden Queens field at bargain-basement prices without proper authorization was because Black Bog had been blocking the route all along.
Now I’ve taken out the most annoying bastard.
And not only taken him out—I could eat him too.
From the moment I acquired Black Bog, I would set the pipeline tolls, decide the order in which refinery capacity was used, and make every independent driller in Texas bow their heads to me.
……The surest way to eliminate a competitor is to buy them.
That was Rockefeller’s style of competition.
Eventually, one reporter asked his final question.
“As the representative of Lee Energy, do you have any final words you’d like to share?”
I pretended to think for a moment, but the answer to that question had already been worked out in advance.
“My father worked at a small gas station in Texas. Every day, he fed our family with hands stained black by grease and fuel. When I was young, I used to be ashamed of those hands. But now I know. Those hands were the truest proof of honest labor.”
The reporters stopped writing. The room went quiet.
“I will rebuild Black Bog with that same honesty my father showed me. I will make it into a company that puts honest labor and responsibility to the environment first. I hope the investors and shareholders will believe in me. And lastly, I look forward to the wise judgment of Black Diamond’s management.”
I gave the reporters a light bow.
Boss is the best!
Beside the stage, my secretary, Caroline, shot me a thumbs-up.