Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Translation: Godtl
"What I want isn't actually that much. Mainly companies in the chemical sector."
Just when I thought Chairman Kang Sung-ho was drunk, the moment he started talking serious business, all traces of intoxication vanished from his face as if they'd never been there.
"And acquiring those companies would be good for you too, Chairman Jeong, wouldn't it?"
I could roughly guess which companies Chairman Kang had his eyes on.
"You're looking at semiconductor component manufacturers, aren't you?"
"Exactly. The companies producing those very items that Japan recently used to bully us. Of course, the Japanese government won't let them go easily. On top of that, they're companies with the highest global market share in their fields, making it even more difficult. But thanks to you, Chairman Jeong, it might actually be possible now."
The collapse of YCC was sending shockwaves throughout Japan.
Even for a normal country, a mere 2% interest rate hike would cause significant shock. For Japan, which had been trapped in a zero-interest-rate paradise for decades, seeing rates suddenly spike by 5% was catastrophic.
No matter how cash-rich a conglomerate might be, such shocking economic phenomena would inevitably shake them.
And the companies Chairman Kang was targeting weren't even that financially robust. While they overwhelmingly dominated market share in certain components, their overall scale wasn't particularly large.
"By any chance, Chairman Jeong, have you already identified which Japanese companies you'd like to acquire?"
Japan was currently holding the biggest fire sale in its history.
One might think other funds or institutions would rush in to gobble up these companies, but that wasn't necessarily the case.
Because for them too, Japan's massive interest rate hike had come as a considerable shock.
Particularly hard hit were numerous financial institutions that had been holding onto yen as a safe asset like dollars, leaving them with no capacity to turn their attention elsewhere.
"I do have a few in mind. There are two major shipping companies in Japan that I'm particularly exploring how to acquire."
"Oh~ I knew it! We're on the same wavelength. Exactly. Ultimately, if we want to pressure Japan, we need to leverage shipping. Thanks to you adjusting shipping schedules, Chairman Jeong, their ports are in complete chaos right now."
The reports from our research team also covered Japan's major shipping companies.
While President Kim Du-yeong had aggressively expanded Gwangun Shipping, choosing to crush potential competitors through sheer volume and price wars, the result had been devastating for Japanese shipping firms as well.
Consequently, two of Japan's four major shipping companies had already gone bankrupt, leaving only two remaining.
And even those were barely hanging on.
In that case, rather than acquiring them, it might be better to just let them collapse.
But my intuition sparked sharply about those two remaining companies.
"With Japan's economy already reeling, having their logistics in complete disarray must be giving their government headaches. But if Gwangun Shipping suddenly appears offering to acquire both Japanese firms and normalize their chaotic ports, wouldn't they welcome that with open arms?"
"That would make sense."
"Then our movements become much freer. We'd be helping Japan's government with their immediate crisis while maintaining control over semiconductors. And when complaints arise, we can just make excuses about prioritizing urgent matters and being delayed."
"Right."
"While pretending to cooperate with the Japanese government, we'd be swallowing up shipping companies and starving out semiconductor firms until eventually we can cherry-pick exactly the companies we want. Heh. As expected of Chairman Jeong. You'd already foreseen all this?"
"..."
It seemed Chairman Kang was the one playing every instrument in this orchestra while catching crayfish too.
Still, hearing it laid out, it did sound like a solid plan.
Perhaps this was exactly the scenario my intuition had been yearning for.
＊＊＊
Milon Tusk, stepping down from his position as Chairman of Tesla's Board.
Although he'd suffered damage from the recent stock manipulation scandal, including a staggering $20 million fine, he still had no regrets.
If completely annihilating those smug short-sellers was the outcome, he could do that sort of thing several more times over.
Just because he had stepped down from the position of Tesla's board chairman didn't mean he couldn't participate in the company's management. After all, Milon Tusk was still the CEO.
"What about the satellites we launched recently? Are they still functioning properly?"
"Yes. From acquiring their positions to establishing connections—everything has been successful."
However, building and running the company was all for the sake of an ultimate goal.
That goal was terraforming Mars and migrating humanity there.
Though everyone pointed fingers, calling it impossible, nothing more than a delusion, Milon Tusk believed.
He believed that one day, human migration to Mars would become possible—and that Milon Tusk would be the one to make the first move.
That was why he had founded Tesla and established Space T, now pushing forward with the World Link project.
All of this was for a single purpose.
For Mars.
"Sir, we have a serious problem."
But in business, obstacles were inevitable.
The question was how high those obstacles would be—whether they would allow his dream to come true or bring it crashing down.
"What do you mean? Suddenly you can't supply the batteries?"
What was the most crucial element for Tesla?
Batteries.
Tesla manufactured electric vehicles.
But if there were no batteries to power those vehicles, no matter how well they were built, they'd be useless.
Because electric cars ran on batteries.
And now, Pitasonic, the company responsible for those batteries, had abruptly halted production.
"To be precise, they say production is impossible due to the logistics crisis currently exploding in Japan. Even the batteries already produced can't be shipped to the U.S. And on top of that, with the collapse of YCC, Japan's entire economy is in crisis—it's complete chaos right now."
Pitasonic was responsible for Tesla's batteries.
They had built a factory in Nevada, but the problem was that to manufacture finished products there, essential components had to be shipped from their Japanese factory.
Without those, even if they kept the factory running for a hundred days, they couldn't produce a single battery.
"What kind of nonsense is this? What happened while I was focused elsewhere?"
Milon Tusk hadn't been keeping up with outside news recently.
Because of the test launch for World Link, which he had been pushing forward.
Fortunately, the launch had been successful, but they were still in the middle of testing how well the connection worked with ground stations.
And then, out of nowhere, disaster had struck in Japan.
"So you're saying someone is deliberately pressuring Japan?"
"Yes."
"And that 'someone' is Gwangun?"
"Correct."
Gwangun again.
Just hearing that name made his skin crawl.
Not because of Gwangun itself, but because of the man pulling the strings behind it.
"What is the Japanese government doing? If they're being attacked through logistics, shouldn't they take some kind of countermeasure?"
"On the contrary, they're cooperating. Gwangun extended an offer first—absorbing two nearly bankrupt Japanese shipping companies and promising to reorganize port logistics. The Japanese government accepted."
"And they just took the bait? Even though it's obvious Gwangun is pretending to be generous just to exploit them?"
"The Japanese government has no choice. With the YCC collapse already pushing their economy to the brink, if logistics also spiral out of control, things will get truly dire. So much so that they've handed over all logistics operations to Gwangun at the government level. And under that pretext, Pitasonic's logistics have been completely sidelined."
The Japanese government must have been in a tight spot.
The YCC collapse was a major global financial shock.
And rumors were swirling that Gwangun was at the center of it.
No—according to what Milon Tusk had uncovered, it was certain.
Even the bear funds that had simultaneously attacked Japan had all been following Jeong Jin-ho's lead.
And Jeong Jin-ho had a reason for triggering the YCC collapse.
By dismantling Japan's last remaining shipping defense line, he had seized control—effectively gaining a weapon to threaten Japanese corporations anytime he pleased.
The Japanese government should have at least protected that much, but with the YCC crisis, they could no longer buy time and were forced to raise the white flag.
Though Jeong Jin-ho outwardly claimed he would help Japan, he had now secured the perfect route to attack Japan at any moment and devour the corporations there.
"But why are they attacking us?"
Pita Sonic was, in truth, a company already struggling on multiple fronts.
They had ventured into home appliances, solar power, and electronic components, only to be pushed to the brink of collapse by competitors. Their saving grace had been the rise of electric vehicles.
The batteries they produced were globally recognized, making them Tesla's exclusive supplier.
Of course, they were gradually increasing supply to other companies as well, but if Pita Sonic came under attack, the first to falter would be Tesla—since other automakers could fall back on gasoline vehicles, whereas Tesla produced only electric cars.
"Are they targeting Pita Sonic for an acquisition?"
"That doesn't seem to be the case. We haven't heard any news about Gwangun buying up large stakes in Pita Sonic. It's more likely they're disrupting our supply chain to directly damage Tesla."
"But why? What did we even do?"
"That... I'm not sure either."
Milon Tusk's mind raced with possibilities.
If they weren't attacking Pita Sonic for an acquisition, then their clear target was Tesla—the core of the supply chain.
Why? Just why?
Did Jeong Jin-ho hold a grudge after being forced to fly all the way to the U.S. for their first meeting?
Or was it because of that incident?
Had Gwangun come under suspicion because of the stock manipulation scandal?
But in the end, Milon Tusk had been the only one investigated—Gwangun had suffered no damage at all.
"Ugh."
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out.
What had he done to fall out of Jeong Jin-ho's favor?
If he had made a mistake, why not just call and say so?
"Have you tried contacting Gwangun? Is there really no other way?"
"There is the option of using another shipping company to bring in the parts, but the costs would be exorbitant. And whenever we reach out to Gwangun Shipping, they just give us the usual 'we don't know anything' response."
In the end, there was only one way to resolve this.
"No matter how I look at it, this feels like they're sending me a signal to come to them, doesn't it?"
"Yes. No matter how many times I review this, it's blatantly an attack on our company."
Milon Tusk let out a short exhale.
He had to meet Jeong Jin-ho again.
Not exactly a welcome prospect.
Was it because he'd played around with Tesla stocks, going long and short like it was a game?
Well, that part was fine.
Thanks to Jeong Jin-ho, he'd managed to wipe out a fair number of short-sellers.
So why did the thought of meeting him feel so unsettling?
The truth was, it was a strange kind of fear.
How to put it...
It was like a herbivore standing before a predator.
Even if the predator wasn't eyeing him as prey, the fear that it could open its maw and swallow him whole at any moment clung to him.
At first, he'd thought Jeong Jin-ho was just a lucky investor.
But given how things had unfolded, there was clearly something more to him.
Whether it was the kind of power that moved world governments or just meticulous strategy, he didn't know.
But he was afraid.
Afraid of Jeong Jin-ho.
That was the most accurate way to put it.
"Then try reaching out to Gwangun Securities, not Gwangun Shipping. We've done business with them before, so the line should still be open."
"Yes. I'll contact them immediately."
But he couldn't just ignore this.
If he disregarded such an obvious signal, the next attack would undoubtedly be far more brutal than this.
＊＊＊
"Who is it?"
"Milon Tusk. He says he wants to meet with you, Chairman. As soon as possible. He even mentioned coming to Korea personally."
Why on earth is that guy coming all of a sudden?
"After acquiring Japanese shipping companies through Gwangun Shipping this time, they've been pressuring the semiconductor sector in collaboration with Kangsung, haven't they? But it seems Pitasonic got caught in the crossfire. Neither our Gwangun nor Kangsung was particularly targeting them though."
Meaning it wasn't malicious harassment—Pitasonic just happened to get swept up in it.
But since they're producing the core batteries that should be going to Tesla, it seems Milon Tusk is scrambling to come to Korea in a hurry.
"Hmm. So if we adjust the logistics, the Pitasonic issue gets resolved immediately?"
"Yes. In fact, when we contacted Gwangun Shipping, they said they could dispatch the logistics immediately if you just give the order to release them."
Is that so.
Then should I just release the logistics right away?
There's no real reason to meet Milon Tusk, is there?
Moreover, I have no desire to see that face of his again—the one brimming with intense madness that my intuition showed me last time we met.
"Then—"
I was about to instruct my staff to stop Tusk from coming to Korea.
"...!"
But when I tried to speak, no voice came out.
"Chairman?"
I strained several more times, but my mouth simply wouldn't open.
That's when I realized.
My intuition was urging me to meet Milon Tusk one more time.
"...Could you bring me some materials on what projects Milon Tusk is currently involved in?"
"Ah, yes. I actually anticipated you might ask—I've already prepared a report summarizing recent activities of Milon Tusk and his companies."
"Oh, thank you. As expected of you, Director."
"Haha, I should at least have that much foresight by now."
I thoroughly examined the report.
Milon Tusk had multiple projects underway through his companies.
His dream of migrating humanity to Mars remained unchanged, as Space T was heavily investing in rocket engine development.
The other projects weren't particularly noteworthy as I skimmed through them—until one caught my eye.
"World Link?"
"Ah, that's a satellite communication service. You know how our domestic telecom companies all have base stations? This aims to launch numerous satellites to provide fast network coverage anywhere in the world. The problem is the astronomical costs required to launch that many satellites. Plus, it's a private company, so we can't even invest."
It would still take several more years before commercialization.
But this time, Milon Tusk had reportedly launched two satellites for test operations.
"They say if this succeeds, it could become the next-generation communication system."
"Sigh, I wish we had something like this in our country. Remember when that base station caught fire last week and left us without service for a week?"
Public perception of domestic telecom companies is terrible.
Their exorbitant mobile internet fees sucked our money dry since childhood, and without the introduction of amplifiers, we might never have gotten WiFi on our phones.
Not to mention archaic practices like the Device Network Lock law.
All this is possible precisely because of monopolies.
The three telecom companies controlling South Korea aren't competing—they're joining hands to block new competitors and maintain complete monopoly, which is why these issues persist.
"But what can we do? There's no way to overcome those three giants. The government-led network service auctions exclusively favor those three companies anyway."
So no matter how much money you poured in now, there was no way to displace those three. But suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
You can't beat land-based telecom companies.
But as the saying goes, there's always someone above the runner.
What if it wasn't ground-based, but space-based?
"..."
I quietly placed my hand over World Link.
"!?"
At that very moment.
With an intense tremor, an image was forcibly imprinted onto my retinas.
A chilling yet near-future vision of thousands—tens of thousands—of satellites spreading across the globe, dominating all networks.
I thought I understood what my intuition was telling me.
The future of communication was currently in Milon Tusk's hands.