Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Translation: Godtl
"200 million dollars. Not a cent more."
"W-wait a minute. 200 million dollars?! We sold the company to you for 1.2 billion dollars, and now you're saying you'll buy it back for 200 million?!"
"If you're not interested in selling, then there's nothing we can do. We'll end the meeting here. There are plenty of other companies lining up to sell to us besides your P&R."
Kim Du-yeong let out an exaggerated cough before making a show of rising from his seat.
At that, the opposing negotiator hastily grabbed his arm.
"200 million dollars... that's too much. We can't even cover our debts with that amount. Would 400 million work?"
"You came all the way to Korea during this pandemic, so it's truly unfortunate things didn't work out. Safe travels back."
"Wait! 300 million! We can't go below that!"
Hearing this, Chairman Kim Du-yeong smoothly backstepped into his seat as if it were the most natural movement.
"Now that was worth your trip to Korea. We'll acquire it for 300 million. You did bring the draft contract, of course?"
"..."
The executives from the other company stared at Kim Du-yeong with expressions of utter disbelief.
"How many more meetings do we have today?"
"Two more, sir. They're all waiting for you. One is an in-person meeting, the other will be via video conference."
"Sigh. Right. It's not easy getting back into the grind after so long."
Currently, Korea was among the relatively safer countries worldwide.
While the virus was spreading rapidly elsewhere, this location remained comparatively secure.
Of course, there were projections that the creeping spread would eventually make containment difficult, but as long as you passed the COVID screening, business meetings like this were still possible.
"But Chairman, we're going to have an enormous surplus at this rate."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Since we're acquiring companies at bargain prices, it seems we'll have significantly more funds remaining than anticipated."
In short, Kim Du-yeong was strong-arming prices like a thug.
"Chuckles. Isn't that exactly why Chairman Jeong put me in this position? Nobody's better than me at selling high and buying low."
Gwangun Shipping had been forcibly dissolved by the EU, forcing them to sell their companies at maximum value while keeping every cent of the proceeds untouched.
They'd followed Jeong Jin-ho's directive to preserve those funds without spending a dime.
The problem was that the amount now far exceeded what they needed.
"But didn't Chairman Jeong Jin-ho instruct us to spend all the money?"
"Ah, right. He told us to reclaim all the companies we lost. To make repairs here and there, plug the holes with our own funds. But we're still left with a substantial surplus, aren't we?"
"Yes, sir. Perhaps the remaining funds are meant for acquiring other shipping companies as well?"
Kim Du-yeong still had one unfinished mission.
To establish complete dominance over the shipping industry.
To create an entity so powerful that no government—whether the EU, the US, or any other—could dismantle it as they had before.
Had anyone actually given him this mission?
Chairman Jeong Jin-ho?
Truthfully, he couldn't quite remember.
Perhaps after losing the company to the EU, during that void period when he'd been grinding his axe alone with delusions, he'd nurtured this resentment himself.
Regardless, he saw this as his first and last opportunity to settle that score.
Moreover, hadn't Jeong Jin-ho given explicit instructions?
To spend every last penny of the liquidation funds they'd been holding.
Knowing Jeong Jin-ho, there had to be intent behind those words.
After reclaiming the stolen companies, the money was clearly meant to help him wash away years of pent-up frustration.
"Keep scanning the radar. Beyond the companies we ruined, there must be others in the shipping industry desperate to sell while everything's at a standstill."
"Yes, sir. But... is it really wise to expand like this? As you said, the entire shipping industry is effectively paralyzed right now. That's why everyone's collapsing. If we recklessly acquire companies in this state..."
"It's the same concern—won't we just end up sinking with the ship too?" The voice was laced with apprehension.
Truth be told, Kim Du-yeong was worried about that very thing.
But did Jeong Jin-ho not know that already?
That superhuman who saw through the world more clearly than anyone else?
"The shipping industry is at rock bottom right now, so he wouldn't have told us to blindly acquire everything without a plan."
"Then...?"
"Since we've hit the bottom, the only way left is up. I was doubtful at first too. The shipping industry was too battered to enter right now. Honestly, I was scared we might get crushed under the weight. But it's President Jeong Jin-ho himself who advised us, isn't it? Then we have to think differently."
"So, for whatever reason, the shipping industry is definitely going to revive?"
"That's right. Though I still don't quite understand how it's going to happen."
Right now, the shipping industry was like a ticking time bomb.
It wasn't for nothing that those people bowed their heads to Kim Du-yeong's aggressive offers, begging him to take their companies off their hands.
Even to them, shipping was finished.
They believed that someday, the industry would recover—but that "someday" seemed a distant future.
"But if President Jeong is telling us to acquire everything now, then the revival of shipping isn't some far-off future. It's coming soon."
Still, Kim Du-yeong had faith.
To him, Jeong Jin-ho's orders were like divine commandments.
＊＊＊
"The National Pension Service has finished liquidating all its positions."
"That's a relief. Given how badly the stock market is crashing, I was worried it might be difficult."
"Yes. Fortunately, we started liquidating as per the President's orders right when the steep decline began, so we managed to offload the holdings smoothly. As you know, there are institutions that go all-in during such market crashes."
The problem was, many of those institutions that bought up our holdings in bulk ended up suffering heavy losses.
Because by the time we exited, the financial markets had collapsed even further.
"Following the President's instructions, we quickly purchased several stocks through over-the-counter trades as we liquidated our positions. The issue is that the National Pension Service currently holds total assets of 1,000 trillion won, but we've only used an extremely small portion of it—the rest is just sitting idle."
That's the nature of money.
If you leave it untouched, it just rots away.
The wise way to invest is to put it somewhere and let it grow.
The problem is, if we recklessly pour money into the stock market now, the odds of losing it are high.
But the real issue lay elsewhere.
"Although we're currently negotiating using the vaccine as leverage, governments across Europe and even the U.S. are scrutinizing the National Pension Service and our Gwangun far too closely."
While we were negotiating as the Vice President advised, using the vaccine as a bargaining chip, the governments of developed nations weren't looking at us favorably.
In times like these, the best course of action would be to follow the National Pension Service's lead—buy up bonds, bury the money in safe assets, and lie low, quiet as a dead mouse.
But I had already glimpsed it through intuition.
Though the entire market now seemed sunken beyond recovery, a massive stock market boom was coming.
It would be a terrible waste to miss that timing.
If that golden age was truly near, it meant that any stock bought now would skyrocket.
"For now, we should proceed cautiously. We're still in negotiations with various governments. Rather than provoking them unnecessarily, it might be better to observe the situation before making any moves..."
I nodded and jotted down "Buy" in my notebook with a pen.
"..."
The moment the pen touched the word "Buy," I felt a faint, almost imperceptible signal.
When I wrote "Hold" beside it and focused, the sensation grew slightly stronger.
Is this telling me to buy... or to hold?
Given that the signal was stronger for "Hold"...
'So it's telling me to wait a bit longer?'
＊＊＊
"There's no shortage of places where money needs to be poured in. Not just the domestic market, but externally, nothing's in good shape. Especially if we don't distribute unemployment benefits, the problem will only grow worse."
Trent felt a headache coming on.
With the global economy at a standstill since the pandemic hit, crises were flooding in from all directions.
If they didn't plug these holes, everyone would drown.
"So the securities market is the most vulnerable?"
"Yes. For now, the Fed has decided to lower interest rates. They're cutting it by 0.5% to 1% to stabilize the currently plummeting market."
"Will that even work?"
"The Fed and our administration need to move in sync. We already injected about $70 billion for the first round of quantitative easing. But since the effect was minimal, they're now looking to stabilize the situation by declaring unlimited QE and purchasing corporate bonds and MBS as needed."
The plan was to narrow credit spreads and ease risk appetite, but the sheer volume of money required was the problem.
"And that's not all. We need to expand credit support by buying up corporate bonds, ETFs, and municipal bonds, while also providing funding to businesses and local governments."
"So in short, we have to distribute money to the public, bail out corporations, and dump astronomical sums into the collapsing stock market?"
"Yes."
His head throbbed.
Even before this, the COVID crisis had already made Trent's reelection virtually impossible.
Every country was in the same boat.
Governments worldwide were being blamed for the pandemic.
As if that headache wasn't enough, now they had to drain the national treasury to salvage this shattered economy.
"When the hell does this end?"
"First, vaccines need to be rolled out as soon as possible. Only then can we hope to wrap this up within at least three years."
"Speaking of which, when exactly will those vaccines be ready?"
"We're in negotiations with Gwangun. They say full distribution is possible within 3-4 months if we ease vaccine regulations. The problem is..."
The advisor hesitated mid-sentence.
"What is it?"
"In exchange for supplying vaccines cheaply and reliably, they're demanding we halt all investigations or oversight targeting the National Pension Service and Gwangun."
"What? Wait. Are they blackmailing us with vaccines?"
"They didn't phrase it that bluntly, but the implication was clear. They'll provide vaccines if we leave them alone."
The audacity of these bastards.
Daring to strong-arm the United States like this?
"But this isn't the time for emotional reactions. If distribution happens within 3-4 months, we can stabilize COVID. Other countries are already drafting laws to restrict travel to vaccinated individuals only."
"What if we contract someone other than Gwangun?"
"That would take far too long. No one can produce vaccines faster than Gwangun's AstraZenon. It'd take over twice as long, and by then, the U.S. would be the only unvaccinated nation left."
There was a reason they could wield vaccines as leverage.
They knew no one else could manufacture them at this scale.
"So you're saying other countries have already stopped all investigations into Gwangun and Korea's National Pension Service?"
"Yes. Since they're the ones holding the vaccines. Plus, if we vaccinate the entire population now, we'll also need booster shots from Gwangun to prepare for future variants. Switching to another company's vaccine risks severe side effects."
In other words, for at least three years, they'd have no choice but to rely on Gwangun's vaccines.
"This is absurd."
Gwangun, bending superpowers to its will.
That they couldn't lay a finger on those profiteering off a global crisis.
"Sorry, but I have absolutely no intention of bowing my head to Gwangun like those foolish leaders from other countries."
But Gwangun had picked the wrong person to mess with.
Who was Trent, after all?
He was known as the most eccentric, batshit crazy leader in American history.
"We said we'd need to pump a considerable amount of money into the stock market, right?"
"Ah, yes. The priority now is to narrow the credit spreads."
"And we'd also need to invest in corporate bonds and ETFs to provide support?"
"Correct. An astronomical amount of capital would need to be injected just to lift the overall stock prices."
The advisors were already uneasy, wondering what absurd idea Trent would come up with next.
"Then why don't we just make the National Pension Service foot the bill?"
"Excuse me?"
"The National Pension Service and Gwangun—they made money off the pandemic, didn't they? So hold them accountable and force them to inject funds into our financial markets. With the money they've got, it should be more than enough for a stimulus, no?"
The advisors were so flabbergasted they could only blink dumbfoundedly.
"What? Won't it work?"
"Of course they'd never agree. They know pouring money into the stock market right now would mean massive losses. Both the National Pension Service and Gwangun are undoubtedly trying to shift all their funds into safe assets like bonds, which are rising in value."
To demand that corporations and foreign institutions solve a national crisis—
And not just any demand, but an order to recklessly dump trillions into the stock market?
"Even if the market temporarily rebounds because of it, in the end, it's the National Pension Service and Gwangun that'll take the hit. They'd never comply with our demands."
"Then we'll make them comply. Tell them if they don't do as we say, we'll turn this into a diplomatic issue. We'll hold the South Korean government responsible for everything—from U.S. troop withdrawals to FTAs and tariffs."
"But, but—"
Trent was utterly unreasonable.
It was almost impressive how he could come up with such ludicrous ideas.
Wasn't this the same man who, during negotiations with North Korea, had threatened to nuke Pyongyang at the slightest provocation?
"Go deliver the message now! I have absolutely no intention of bowing to those bastards!"
＊＊＊
"So... they're demanding that the National Pension Service and we inject massive funds into the U.S. stock market to prop up the collapsing indices?"
"Yes. If we initiate large-scale buy orders, stock prices will eventually rise, lifting the entire market. Even the U.S. government temporarily injected liquidity into the market—though the effect was negligible. Now they want to pump in even more money, and they're ordering us to do it."
It was an absolutely outrageous proposition.
Handing off a national crisis to a private company and a foreign institution.
I could already guess whose deranged mind had come up with this.
No doubt—Trent.
An utterly unfair and preposterous demand, yet—
"Then we won't have to hold back anymore, will we?"
Ironically, this was exactly what we needed most.
"Correct. No matter how much money we pour in, they can't accuse us of market manipulation. After all, they're the ones pushing us to do it."
Both our Gwangun and the National Pension Service—
We hadn't been able to move large sums of money since completing our position adjustments.
Because the whole world was watching us.
That's why the National Pension Service had only been nibbling at stocks, and we'd only moved small amounts.
But now, the U.S. government had suddenly handed us a free pass.
All while waving the threat of accountability in our faces.
"..."
I brought my pen to the buy orders I'd scribbled in my notes.
"!?"
An intense thrill shuddered through my entire body.
I no longer felt any hesitation about holding.
'What the hell. Trent, you...'
Are you an angel?