The Looming Threat
"Chairman, the directors are about to die from overwork right now."
"Sorry. Did I know? After hearing the next explanation, it was clear they had every right to struggle. Sales department work, the factory and farm, overseas operations—especially the Philippines—and logistics. On top of all that, me causing major incidents lately."
I suggested outsourcing, the current trend. Youngwoo in front of me sneered. "Isn't this our first meeting? I was being serious."
"Is there any chance we'll all get caught?" Well, with our line of work, yes.
"What's the solution?" We need to use collective intelligence.
"Actually, legalizing it and outsourcing like the Chairman said would be ideal, but since that's not possible, we have to resolve it internally."
He brought a piece of paper from the document shelf behind him. It was the organizational chart I had reported on last time.
"Looking at the workload, the sales department has the most. And the most problems too."
That made sense.
"It would be good to promote the directors and create a dedicated department under them for support."
He quickly drew lines on the paper, adding another box. Instead of three deputy directors per director, the structure would shift to one executive director supported by three directors—not each director handling sales directly, but assisting the executive director.
Was that possible? We seemed short on people. Moving from the original structure to three executive directors would require scaling down to deputy level at 1-3-9-27-81-243. Hire two hundred more?
"It's possible. There are more people in this field these days."
Last time I checked Skylight, numbers had indeed risen. But wouldn't it be better to create an organization under Executive Ha for support instead?
"Instead of doing it this way, wouldn't it be better to create an organization under the Executive Director for support?"
"If my team gets caught, the whole organization goes down."
"I'm already uneasy as it is."
I approved the reorganization of the sales department—now called the Sales Headquarters. When I gave the approval, Executive Ha's expression looked unusually pleased. Had he stepped out to the bathroom?
"Leave Director Jo's matters to the subordinates."
Director Jo snapped, "I have plenty of work myself."
"No, you already have both the IT team and the internal affairs team. Do you need more?"
Whoa. Why were our two central figures fighting?
"Hire more people. And promote internally as well."
I mediated from the middle. Did mediation come with compensation? I wondered how much Duke Vladimir had received last time. I pulled my drifting thoughts back into focus.
Only then did Director Jo lower his voice.
"Yes, thank you. Eun-seong will finally be able to save face."
"What's Eun-seong's current position?"
"Deputy manager."
"Promote him to manager. And hire more people."
"That guy would be happy just getting a salary."
They must be close. Executive Ha steered the conversation back to the main topic.
"Deputy Yeoni is handling logistics, but we need to assign more people to her."
"Yeoni is human too, so there are bound to be some delivery accidents."
Since Yeoni came up, I asked about her work. Last time she had been running the Haman Factory as well, then handed it over to her younger sibling's couple and moved to Cheonan. Come to think of it, I had heard she also controlled the Busan organization. Now she was doing logistics too? With Cheongrok-hyung retiring to the fourth farm, Yeoni must have taken over again.
"One of the things that still makes me uneasy is Yeoni."
"Yeoni is too much of a key player. If she gets caught like last time, our entire organization gets raided."
Suddenly, the image of Yeoni sprawled out in Busan flashed through my mind. Damn it.
Director Jo added, "She's not someone who should be wandering outside, but she's too ambitious..."
While I was pondering whether there was a solution, Youngwoo, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
"Excuse me, but what if we raise her under Executive Ha?"
That sounded good. Even though he claimed to have too much work already? The perfect title came to mind immediately. Chief Secretary.
"Looking at other groups, I heard that registered directors and above get assigned secretaries."
"Use her, Executive Director."
Anyway, with three new directors on the way, I had already been thinking we needed to promote him. This worked out well. We would create a secretarial office too.
I approved the promotions and additional personnel for the departments that needed them. Besides that, I reviewed the Philippines support matters, the security team, and inspected the manufacturing lines at the factories and farms while confirming inventory status. I should do this more often. A report had come up last time—who knew what might happen in between.
"The logistics situation is fine. Thanks to the steady imports from overseas, we have plenty."
It felt good to receive praise.
Knock, knock. Someone from the security team must have arrived.
"Come in."
The door opened and three people entered. It had been a while, so I was glad to see them. Cheol-min was here too.
"Have you been well?"
"Yes, I've been well!"
He had military discipline down pat. Executive Ha and Director Jo stood up.
"We'll be on our way. Secretary Ko, pack your things and prepare to head up together."
"Yes."
After tidying up a bit, I sat down again. Cheol-min's face was tanned, and I almost laughed, but knowing he had worked hard, I asked seriously about his training.
"Yes, I did physical training."
"Are you going up with us too?"
Team Leader Kim answered from beside me.
"He needs a bit more time, so I brought him. A personal secretary shouldn't be like this."
When I raised my eyebrows in question, she said he needed to start from the basics again. When I asked how much time, she said three months. As she explained the curriculum, it felt familiar. Cancun training. Starting with physical training, then firearms, urban combat, even airborne and water training. Who taught this? There were people more professional than our trio brothers sitting right in front of us.
"The person's own opinion matters, though."
I would have liked to receive it myself, but it had to be his decision.
"I also think it's necessary!"
Your ears are going to fall off, Cheol-min.
"Yes, do it that way."
With my approval, Team Leader Kim sent Cheol-min out. Only then did I realize why these people had come. There had been so much to discuss today that my mind was spinning.
"What's your name?"
"Speak comfortably. I'm Hwang Geun-woo."
He looked more than ten years older than me...
"We'll take it slow. Please look at this."
He showed me the information I had received from Mr. Gonzales.
"There's supposedly merchandise at a place called Sea Chest. Since we lack expertise in this area, we came to ask about operational feasibility."
"And a ship is arriving in Ulsan. After unloading, they plan to undergo major repairs, so there's no time."
"There probably isn't. Once they start major repairs, they'll clean out the Sea Chest."
"Please wait a moment."
He took the paper and stepped outside to make a call.
"Team Leader Kim, you've worked hard. You must be busy, right?"
"No, thanks to you taking care of us, life has been manageable lately."
This was exactly how sergeants answered in documentaries when battalion or regiment commanders came for inspections.
"Are the weapons okay?"
"Yes, the Russian weapons haven't had much training, so we're practicing."
That was the only place to get weapons. How was the lodging? Any difficulties running the survival camp? I asked about seemingly trivial but important matters, and she said everything was fine. If I got the chance, I should visit once.
While we were talking, Team Leader Hwang came in.
"Chairman, sorry, but it looks like we need to operate today or tomorrow."
"The goods have already been unloaded at Ulsan Port and are moving toward Jinhae."
"Give up. There's no time."
I stood up lightly. Was there any reason to cling to something impossible? I should be satisfied with just seeing their faces.
"Chairman, please consider it one more time. 'Impossible' isn't in my vocabulary."
Team Leader Kim beside me also grew solemn. Sorry, but as the person in charge, I didn't want to see any of them get hurt. When I expressed my refusal with my expression, she asked me to entrust it to them one more time.
Sigh... I lost. I would leave it to them.
"Alright. Draw up a plan."
"But if the plan is unrealistic or too reckless, we're stopping it."
"Yes, understood."
As if every minute and second was precious, Team Leader Hwang requested cooperation from Team Leader Kim.
"Team Leader Kim, please gather your people and send them to Jinhae."
"We'll plan while moving. Looking at it, there's no time. Even if we can't proceed, we can think of it as training."
"Yes, thank you."
I told Executive Ha that we would plan the operation while moving and asked him to send Secretary Ko to Seoul. I also handed over the car keys. I asked for a tow as well. Fortunately, I had a driver's license.
They had finished preparations and were ready to depart. It was an SUV, and with four people it fit perfectly. Cheol-min drove, Team Leader Kim sat in the passenger seat, and Team Leader Hwang sat beside me.
"Actually, the best time would be tomorrow at dawn."
"Actually, the best would be to extract it during the major repairs."
That made sense. To clean the ship, they would drain all the seawater. If the merchandise was there, recovering it then would be ideal.
"According to the earlier information, it arrives in Jinhae this afternoon, so after the ship handover, they'll anchor it near the shipyard."
While talking, the phone rang. It was Team Leader Kim's phone.
"Okay, they said the goods are over 100kg, so we need to drag it comfortably."
"Continue."
"Yes, the plan is to infiltrate the anchored ship and recover the goods."
Was that possible? I found myself asking a lot of questions with my face today.
"Since we're currently wanted, and we have night equipment, if we have a boat, it should be possible."
Phew... So in the end, we had to see the site.
"Understood. Let's move. We'll decide after assessing the situation on site."