Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 48
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It was hard to pressure them outright since they were an ally, but there was no need to apply pressure strictly through diplomatic channels. All they had to do was quietly pass along the weaknesses of those opposing Gaengwan’s dispatch to the U.S. to their political rivals, with a small favor attached. And that was that.
Checking the political landscape of an allied nation was a perfectly normal part of diplomacy.
Anyway, for a politician who had gotten dirt on his competitor, sending Gaengwan to the U.S. was a trivial matter. Besides, wasn’t it something their blood-ally America would be pleased about? There was no reason not to send him.
“Haa..”
Warden Hong let out a sigh as he looked at his computer screen. An online news headline read, ‘Creative Capital Funds Sprayed Across Major Political Figures!’. And he had just received calls from politicians from the opposite party of the one he previously contacted, telling him not to worry and to simply protect national interest.
For something this gigantic to be happening around a single inmate… In over 30 years of working in corrections, this was a first for Warden Hong.
“.. Anyway, thank you.”
It was a difficult thing for Warden Hong to say. Even though something like this was bound to happen, Gaengwan’s initial refusal to accept the offer to go to the U.S. was clearly meant to pull Hong and the rest of the prison out of this mess. Hong now understood that for certain.
Gaengwan answered with a calm smile.
“Don’t mention it..”
And so, once again, Gaengwan headed to America.
Entering the FBI headquarters with Kim Jun, Gaengwan immediately sensed a different air from his first visit. The attitude had shifted from looking down on him to being interested in him. Naturally so. But the interest was… stickier than expected?
He found out why right before entering the interrogation room.
[Good to meet you. You must be the Mind Reader?]
A white man standing in front of the interrogation room greeted Gaengwan and extended his hand. Kim Jun introduced him.
“This is Steven, Supervisory Special Agent of IOD.”
“Oh! Yes, hello.”
Gaengwan smiled and shook Steven’s hand, then asked Kim Jun,
“That I-something-whatever, what is that?”
“International Operations Division. Steven works in a different department from David, but they’re on the same level.”
“So why is someone like that here?”
Wasn’t this unrelated to him? Kim Jun spoke to Steven briefly, then explained to Gaengwan.
“The person Mister Lee will interrogate this time is an executive of a South American drug cartel.”
“Wow~. Another headache of a target?”
“We need to extract funds hidden in Bitcoin, and you’ve handled that before, right?”
Thinking of Ponzi scammer Wang Daehan, Gaengwan nodded. Steven patted him on the shoulder.
[Looking forward to it.]
When Kim Jun and Gaengwan entered the interrogation room, a Latin man was brought in soon after. Gaengwan placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and began the Twenty Questions of Truth. And then…
“Arghhhh!”
“Damn it! Shut up and hold still!”
As Kim Jun questioned him, they uncovered the exact Bitcoin account where the organization’s money was hidden, the location of the safe containing the wallet password, and even the digits of the safe’s code, one by one. When that was revealed, the cartel executive thrashed wildly in terror. If that money got seized, neither he nor his family would survive.
[Please! Stop! I’ll say anything, just please stop!]
“He’s noisy, can we gag him or something?”
“Hm.. sure.”
At Gaengwan’s suggestion, Kim Jun frowned slightly but nodded. The noise was hindering the process. Besides, they didn’t need the criminal’s mouth anyway.
In the end, the man was gagged, and in less than an hour they secured the Bitcoin wallet address. Fortunately, the safe was located near where the agents were already deployed.
Thanks to that, they could immediately check how much cryptocurrency was inside.
“About twenty million dollars.”
“So how much is that?”
“Over twenty billion won.”
“Is that a lot or a little?”
“For what an executive handles, it’s not much.”
Drug-based underground capital was enormous. One indicator of its scale was the amount of drug-stained bills in circulation.
Since 90% of dollar bills traded in North America tested positive for cocaine, one could guess just how massive the drug flow was and how much money moved around it.
“So he’s done now, right?”
Gaengwan asked while looking at the Latin man who had lost all hope. Kim Jun tilted his head.
“If the funds are fully seized, the organization won’t forgive him. But there’s a rumor that Steven is quite ambitious.”
“He’ll use it as a leash, huh?”
It was perfectly possible to not return the Bitcoin to the national treasury, but to transfer it to another wallet and use it as a leash to control the cartel executive.
Risky, but having a pipeline into a cartel executive would be a massive advantage in drug investigations.
“More departments will want Mister Lee’s abilities.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
Kim Jun had said it hoping it would flatter him a little, but with that reaction, all he could do was chuckle bitterly.
It was unbelievable. This polite, ordinary-looking young man was the same person who had carved off someone’s ear with a crazed smile, blood on his face, and stabbed a man in the waist.
“Let’s go to lunch.”
“Do we have things to do in the afternoon too?”
“Yes. There’s an interrogation of a terror-organization executive captured in Iraq.”
“Can I rest after dinner at least?”
“...”
At Gaengwan’s joking remark, Kim Jun hesitated and stayed silent.
Gaengwan smirked.
“You people are really squeezing me dry.”
Truly fitting for the land of capitalism.
= = = = =
Gaengwan’s U.S. trips happened three times in total. Thanks to him, the FBI advanced its investigation into drug cartels operating inside America, and the Pentagon gained leads on major IS executives’ bases in Iraq.
The more Gaengwan used his abilities, the more FBI departments wanted to use him.
But there was never again a reward as fiery as what David had given him on that first trip. With so many teams and departments involved, and so many eyes watching, it became difficult to give illegal rewards like escort services.
Even though Washington was debating legalization of prostitution, and the high-and-mighty frequently used escort services, and street prostitution was barely policed, and everyone who wanted to use it already did, sex work, the endpoint of sexual commodification, was still illegal in America, especially amid the current wave of political correctness.
As a government organization, they couldn’t risk giving anyone ammunition against them.
“So the reward is money?”
“It’ll be deposited into a legal account in an American bank.”
Hearing Kim Jun’s explanation, Gaengwan was incredulous.
“I’ve got over 30 years of prison time, you know. What good is money when I’ll be a hoho old grandpa when I get out?”
Because of the parliamentary-member stabbing and the beatings he’d given multiple inmates over the years, his sentence had increased by nearly ten years. At this rate, becoming a lifer seemed almost preferable.
All the fifty-somethings of the world would yell at him for calling that ‘hoho grandpa’, but Kim Jun only sighed.
“That’s why some people are suggesting Mister Lee be naturalized as an American.”
The idea was to naturalize him, cut a deal, reduce his sentence, and give him less money, expecting he’d work harder that way. A very American, capitalism-maxed-out line of thought.
Kim Jun recalled what his superior David, who supported the idea, had said:
‘That badass could stab a politician in the waist or shove his dick into an assemblyman’s ass and I wouldn’t give a shit. As long as he doesn’t cause trouble in this country.’
But to that suggestion, Gaengwan said:
“Wow~. What a forward-thinking bunch. Where does their confidence even come from?”
“About that, I was going to ask, confidence, sir?”
Kim Jun had been about to ask if he had any interest in U.S. citizenship, but the word “confidence” threw him off.
With an incredulous expression, Gaengwan continued.
“On what planet do they think I’ll behave like a law-abiding citizen just because I become American?”
“... Wouldn’t living in society be better than living in prison for Mister Lee?”
“Well, everything has pros and cons, doesn’t it? In prison, freedom is limited but there’s no competition, you can live comfortably. Outside, you get freedom but you fight tooth-and-nail to survive. But that’s not the problem.”
“What is the problem?”
“The problem is, I can’t just stand by and watch shitty people. If I see a pickpocket, I’ll smash his wrist. If someone points a gun at my head, I’ll rip out every one of his fingers. If someone gives me a malicious look, I’ll poke their eyeballs out. Doesn’t matter who it is.”
Even the U.S. president isn’t an exception.
“And isn’t this a country where small crimes like pickpocketing happen all the time? It’s dangerous to walk around at night, too. And I’m not the type to stay quietly at home just because it’s dangerous. Can they handle that?”
When he added that, Kim Jun sighed. Because he could picture it too vividly.
Gaengwan would definitely cause trouble, trouble that would land him back in prison. And once in prison, things would get even worse. The Gaengwan he knew responded to every conflict in prison with violence.
Calling it merely “violence” wasn’t accurate from his perspective.
So far, Gaengwan had interrogated twenty-five suspects and criminals. The first one, Muhammad, had only experienced dislocation and some slaps, but that was nothing. Others had torn ears, detached retinas, shattered jaws… Of the ten people who lunged at him, not a single one escaped without major injury.
His hands never hesitated. More than confidence, his violence carried the same disgust, dryness, and fatigue as a farmer crushing pests.
Like he didn’t see people as people.
Had Kim Jun not trusted that Gaengwan followed an unspoken rule of never harming the innocent, he would’ve been anxious every second he stood near him.
Kim Jun saved everything Gaengwan just said in his memory. It was something he absolutely had to relay to David and everyone pushing naturalization. Who knew, by some twist of fate, Gaengwan might one day drive a truck straight into the U.S. Capitol?
In Kim Jun’s eyes, Gaengwan was someone beyond control, unaffected by wealth, fame, or anything else.
Kim Jun nodded and checked his phone. It was time for their plane.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Gaengwan stood up and followed him. Tom, sitting behind them, spoke.
[Let’s grab burgers before we go in.]
Tom wasn’t fond of airplane meals.
After eating burgers, Gaengwan boarded the plane and asked Kim Jun to wake him when the in-flight meal came. Then he closed his eyes.