Chapter 173
Chapter 173
173.
Unpleasant Contact (1)
【Im Hee-yeon, Managing Director at Headquarters, appointed as CEO of MH Electronics. Current MH Electronics can be called the foundation of MH Group… This appointment can only be seen as unconventional…….】
【MH Group's unprecedented top-level personnel reshuffling for 2024. Eldest son Myung In-chul is appointed as CEO of MH Construction, from which he had stepped down. Second son Myung Sung-chul steps down as CEO of MH Foods to solely manage MH Retail… Im Hee-yeon, Managing Director and illegitimate daughter of Chairman Myung Joong-hwan, is appointed as CEO of MH Electronics.】
.
.
The news about MH Group, conveyed through the media this time, once again caused a stir in the world.
Shinwoo was watching such articles at home from the morning.
“This is quite an unconventional appointment. I never imagined Chairman Myung Joong-hwan would make such a decision.”
He had never dreamed that Im Hee-yeon, not Myung In-chul, would be placed in the position of CEO of MH Electronics.
Of course, this event would change many more futures. It didn't matter much since the original trajectory had already deviated significantly, but it was certain that Myung In-chul's conflict would deepen.
“I hope no unnecessary trouble arises.”
Muttering to himself, he looked around the living room.
“…And this place is just unnecessarily spacious.”
The 50-pyeong house had 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Shinwoo was only using one room and one bathroom.
He soon went into the bathroom, washed up quickly, changed his clothes, and returned to the living room.
Ding-dong— Ding-dong—
As if he had been waiting, the doorbell rang, and a voice came from the entrance.
“Boss~! Let’s go to the company!”
Jang Man-soo’s voice echoed from outside the front door.
Shinwoo grabbed his jacket and went outside, frowning. Jang Man-soo and Lillian were standing at the door.
“Are you going to do this every morning?”
“I’m dying from the noise because of her too.”
“What’s wrong with this!”
Jang Man-soo shrugged with a brazen expression. Shinwoo shook his head and went down to the first-floor parking lot with them.
However, only Meian and the bodyguards were in front of the car; the other three were nowhere to be seen.
“…Where are Wei, Hector, and Rick? Did they leave first?”
It was natural for the three to move together, as they were officially affiliated with KITE.
“They left early.”
“…But why are the cars over there?”
The company vehicles provided to the three were still parked on the other side.
“They said they’d commute by public transport.”
“Why public transport all of a sudden?”
“Traveling by car in Seoul takes an incredibly long time, especially during rush hour, it’s hell. They went to check the MPR for emergencies.”
MPR (Movement Point Route). It meant the route and method needed for missions, implying familiarizing oneself with them in advance.
Shinwoo’s expression turned bewildered.
“They haven’t changed at all, have they?”
“It’s a habit. You and I checked that first after settling in here.”
Shinwoo shook his head.
“More importantly, it’ll take nearly an hour to get to the company from here. Will they be okay?”
“Honestly, I’m a bit worried about Rick.”
Rick, being over 2 meters tall, was bound to attract attention. Moreover, his large build naturally made public transport uncomfortable.
And the bigger problem was that while it took an hour by public transport, it only took 20 minutes by car.
“Please try to arrange a car for Rick to use as soon as possible.”
Given Rick’s immense size, he would inevitably be uncomfortable in a regular vehicle, no matter how he tried to sit.
“We’ve ordered a large one. They said it would be delivered within a week at the latest.”
As he spoke, Jang Man-soo called out to Lillian, who was about to get into another car.
“Ah, Lillian! You ride with us too. We have things to discuss while we travel.”
“Then what about my car?”
“We have a reserve vehicle at the company.”
The three of them got into one car together.
As the car started, Jang Man-soo took out a tablet and handed it over. He then spoke in Code, not Korean.
“This is from the phones the guys brought back.”
“…GPS logs? They’ve never left anything like this before.”
“The owner of that phone is Ahn Deok-chil. He probably kept it personally, secretly from the organization. Of course, he set it to not leave records, but it’s not something that can be hidden completely.”
As he listened to the explanation, Shinwoo checked the location displayed on the tablet.
“…The West Sea?”
“The exact coordinates are 36.616960, 125.576700. It’s a point about 130 km southwest of Incheon South Port.”
Lillian, sitting in the passenger seat, chimed in after hearing that.
“Looking at the map, it seems to be an uninhabited island? Did TSF’s Korean branch hide something there?”
“Probably.”
Shinwoo nodded beside Jang Man-soo.
“But it’s a place that can be detected regardless of how one approaches it.”
“Right. There’s nothing visible in the satellite photos. So, the fact that GPS signals came from there is strange.”
Shinwoo suddenly had a thought.
“…Perhaps a camp?”
But Jang Man-soo looked puzzled.
“Are you talking about a 666 Unit camp?”
“That’s the only facility that would be in such a remote location.”
“None of the camps we attacked before were in South Korea. Why would they, being crazy, pass up countries with vast land and build one here?”
“You’re not wrong.”
When Triad Eye and 666 Unit began their full-scale war, the first targets were the camps where they trained mercenaries.
However, as Jang Man-soo mentioned earlier, the locations of those camps were in deep, sparsely populated areas like South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
While an uninhabited island fits such criteria, it also presents many difficulties due to its inaccessibility.
“Besides, South Korea has a quite robust network of surveillance radar along its territorial waters. A camp there? That’s beyond meticulous; it’s reckless.”
A suspicious base that wasn't known in the original future. The fact that it was connected to Ahn Deok-chil and 666 Unit…
Shinwoo couldn’t help but have many thoughts.
“Can we hack into the Navy’s territorial waters radar logs?”
“As soon as we confirmed the situation last night, I put LEUCO on it. There’s a lot of ship traffic, so we should get the records by noon at the latest.”
“Good job.”
While they were talking about various things, they arrived at the company.
Everyone went to their offices and started working.
As Shinwoo was about to start his work, he looked at Jang Jin-ho, who entered with a knock.
“We’ve received meeting requests from several companies.”
“Which ones?”
“Plate Bio, HES Pharmaceuticals, Haeon Industries, and BF International.”
Hearing those names, Shinwoo looked up from the documents on his monitor.
“…BF International?”
“Yes. Their CEO, Baek Seung-han, contacted us. We informed them that the schedule would be arranged according to your availability.”
Shinwoo was currently the CEO of the most influential investment company in the country. Naturally, many people had requested meetings before, but he hadn’t met anyone as the investment plans proceeded according to Jang Man-soo’s strategy.
“Hold off on that for now. And please investigate the situation of the companies I just mentioned through the Operations Division 1.”
“Understood. Also, the department heads of MH Distribution have requested a meeting regarding the selection of additional executives and performance evaluation.”
A while ago, Shinwoo had proposed a reform of the performance evaluation system. At the same time, executive selections were also on hold due to this, making it inevitable for department and section chiefs to feel dissatisfied.
“Are there any open slots?”
“…There are many.”
Shinwoo didn’t go out unless it was for truly important matters. Of course, it didn’t include unnecessarily meeting business people, so he had more free time than the CEO of a typical company.
“Ah, really? If you have time this afternoon, schedule it.”
“We will arrange to meet this afternoon.”
Jang Jin-ho replied and went outside.
Afterward, Shinwoo got up from his seat and entered the adjacent office.
“Are the others still not here?”
With about 5 minutes left until the official start time, Wei, Hector, and Rick, who were coming by public transport, were not visible.
“I called them earlier, and they said they’re almost here.”
“Really?”
“You said you’d start work right away, what’s going on?”
Shinwoo approached Jang Man-soo, hearing his question.
“Please look into the situation regarding BF International.”
“Huh? That’s Boss……”
Jang Man-soo trailed off, about to add something. He hesitated due to the serious atmosphere, even though he often joked about Shinwoo’s lineage.
“Right. It’s my biological father’s company. I heard from Secretary Jang earlier that their CEO, Baek Seung-han, proposed a meeting.”
“Your bio… grandfather?”
“That’s also correct. Can you check it now?”
“It’s not difficult. Please wait a moment.”
Knock, knock—
Just then, a hurried knock echoed, and Jang Jin-ho entered.
“CEO! We received a call from the police station.”
The sudden news made Jang Man-soo and Lillian, who were sitting beside him, lift their heads over the partition.
“Huh? Why from the police station?”
“A person named Rick Watson allegedly assaulted someone on the subway. And they requested confirmation whether Wen Wei, Hector Hammond, and Rick Watson are indeed employees of our company.”
At the same time, Jang Man-soo and Lillian let out sighs and put their hands to their foreheads.
Shinwoo did the same, of course.
“…Which police station is it? And what was the answer?”
“We confirmed they are, and the location is Songpa Police Station. What should we do?”
“Haa—! I’ll head there right now, so get a car ready.”
“Are you going yourself, CEO? Should we contact the Group’s legal team immediately?”
Currently, MH Future Security and MH Distribution shared a legal team with MH Group.
“No. Forget the legal team for now. Man-soo, please check the situation regarding the case filed at the police station and let me know.”
However, if they called them now, the news would inevitably reach MH Group Headquarters.
At the same time, people would start making a fuss over something trivial.
“Ok—!”
“And find some competent lawyers. We need to prepare our own legal team within the company, as more incidents like this might occur in the future.”
“Take care.”
Shinwoo headed downstairs, listening to his reply.
.
.
.
In the Criminal Investigation Division of Songpa Police Station, Wei, Hector, and Rick were sitting opposite the detective regarding the subway assault case.
Detective Lee Sang-guk, the assigned officer, looked at the passports and faces of the three, comparing them.
“So… all three of you are foreigners from China, Russia, and Mexico? And your current affiliation is MH Future Security?”
Wei stepped forward and said,
“That’s correct. We gave you our business cards earlier, and you even called the company for confirmation.”
As he said, Lee Sang-guk had just finished confirming via phone call.
“Haa……”
“And what happened earlier was because that man was harassing the woman over there, and this incident occurred while trying to stop him.”
“It’s not easy to break someone’s arm like that in an accident.”
“That man attacked first. Rick was just defending. The woman also testified to that, didn’t she?”
The victimized woman was also present in a corner of the detective’s office.
Although she had finished her testimony, Detective Lee Sang-guk found the three of them too suspicious.
Of course, Lee Sang-guk knew where MH Future Security was. But the Chinese man speaking on their behalf, a Russian who looked Korean, and a large Mexican man claiming to be employees there…
“We’ll know for sure after further investigation.”
“What more investigation is needed here?”
“The person whose arm was broken has filed a lawsuit, so we are proceeding with this. Besides, we don’t know if the harassment situation is accurate yet.”
Wei was frustrated by the detective’s evasive answers.
Just then, a murmur was heard from the hallway, and someone entered.
“Is this the Criminal Investigation Division?”
Shinwoo entered. Beside him were his secretary, Jang Jin-ho, and bodyguards Meian and Mark.
Shinwoo spotted the three people sitting at a desk and approached them.
“…Who are you?”
“I am Baek Shin-woo, CEO of MH Future Security. I heard one of our employees is being investigated for assault, so I came.”
“The CEO?”
In response to his question, Shinwoo handed him a business card.