Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: A Belt and Road Initiative That Started a Little Early (3)
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Inside the Islamic mosque, in the innermost chamber set apart even from the deepest space.
Hassan, the leader of the Muslim Independence Struggle Unit, sat facing the Islamic priest and lowered his voice as much as possible.
"Isn't that... Han Seo-jun, the Chairman? The one who saved Prime Minister Ingtaq's life."
"That's right. You saw it immediately."
"We were all but set to join hands with the Chinese side, so why did you bring him here...?"
Hassan posed the question to the priest with a displeased expression.
Since the priest handled all of the Muslim Independence Struggle Unit's external relations, Hassan seemed eager for an immediate answer to this unexpected situation.
But as if Hassan's impatience were someone else's problem, the priest calmly placed a hookah pipe in his mouth.
Only after the hazy smoke reached the ceiling—crudely pieced together from tree bark—did he finally speak.
"Is there any deal in the world that comes without a price?"
On the wall below the inner chamber, a tiny window facing south.
Though it was no larger than a single monitor, from where the priest sat, he could look down on the entire village by simply raising his head.
Abundant civilian supplies, ships waiting to dock, and... weapons and explosives capable of arming a ragtag rebel force.
"Especially when they've made such a generous upfront payment right from the start. There's no such thing as free from the Chinese."
"Priest, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"The price. Better to pay it upfront with someone else's life than suffer under heavy interest later. With the life of that friend waiting outside the door."
"You don't mean...?"
The priest's gentle demeanor toward the villagers had vanished. His gaze alone pressed Hassan with an intimidating force, urging him to make a grave decision.
As the room filled with smoke from his mouth, the priest continued.
"The Ammunition Group reached out first. Saying this place might be a tiger's den to him, as if he were clueless."
"......"
"It's about his safety. Even if we hand him over to Shanghai Capital, who could do anything about it? Or not?"
The priest's withered, gnarled hands—like an old pine tree—tensed with strength.
In his youth, he had gripped a slaughter knife daily, thrusting it into the throats of cattle and sheep, splattering blood across the floor.
And now, after decades, that same tension made his aged heart race wildly.
Waiting for the moment of bloody slaughter, gripping control instead of a knife, people instead of beasts.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I'll call in my armed men, and you just keep him occupied inside for a bit."
* * * *
I could feel it.
From the moment I entered this rebel den disguised as a rural village, to the strange tension now flowing from beyond the door.
"They've decided to sell me off outright. To Shanghai Capital."
Heavy footsteps echoed from outside. A metallic clinking, like something rattling.
The chills creeping up my spine suggested it was safe to assume dozens of able-bodied men had surrounded the place, awaiting orders.
"A bit... overly late."
I glanced at my wristwatch, extending my right arm.
It had been over twenty minutes since Hassan entered the inner chamber to talk with the priest.
Staring blankly at the second hand ticking like a thread, I recalled what Prime Minister Ingtaq had said to me in Bangkok before I came here.
"Isn't that... too dangerous? It's embarrassing as prime minister, but that's a place where the Thai central government's control doesn't reach."
The prime minister had been startled upon hearing my plan to enter the rebel den alone.
After a moment of contemplation, he cautiously made a suggestion.
"If you must go, at least accept an escort from the central army."
"An escort? Not sure if that'll be necessary."
"It's not about intimidation. At least... it ensures your safety if something unexpected happens."
The prime minister, pressing his temples as if his head ached.
Instead of reassuring words, I tossed him another point to ponder.
"How do you think they'll perceive me with the central army at my side? As a negotiating partner, or a harbinger of subjugation?"
"But..."
"With or without an escort, if they have the will, they can capture me as a sacrifice anytime."
Shanghai Capital, backed by the Chinese government. Their overwhelming material support must have blinded the southern warlords' eyes and deafened their ears.
Like boys mesmerized by a sweet will-o'-the-wisp they'd never seen before.
However...
"No need to worry. There's only one thing you need to do from here on, Prime Minister."
If I could open the eyes of those entranced by that blue will-o'-the-wisp called the Belt and Road Initiative. And if I lit a small spark on the wick of the lantern in my hand.
Surely... they would grasp my hand and follow me step by step.
Because it would be the only way to avoid getting lost on a pitch-black mountainside where not even a foot ahead was visible.
"What... must I do?"
"Simple. Just trust only me. An easy task."
With what might seem excessive confidence, I met Prime Minister Ingtaq's gaze steadily.
I pointed to a single map on the table before him.
Southeast Asia. Below it, the long peninsula stretching across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Gazing at the Kra Canal, soon to upend the world...
"Just stamp your approval on the new Thai map I'll create. No, on the completely revolutionized global logistics map."
* * * *
The pressure closing in.
Click. If I closed my eyes and listened carefully, I could hear heavy cocking hammers from somewhere.
Some inside the mosque had already drawn pistols, it seemed. Even separated by a single wooden door, their presence and menace showed no sign of abating.
"You've waited long, Chairman Han Seo-jun."
Gone was Hassan's earlier flustered air; he seemed to have steeled his resolve.
"I just spoke with the priest. I've heard much about the Ammunition Group, and it's quite admirable..."
Verbose words devoid of substance. Awkward eye contact. Excessive gestures with hands and feet that laid his inner thoughts bare.
He'd made up his mind, it seemed. No intention of a serious talk with me.
"They've decided to use me as a sacrifice from the start.'
A foregone conclusion. A set course.
In that case... the only timing left for me to say anything to him was now.
"...In any case, we're positively viewing your various investments in our Thailand."
Hassan dragged out time glancing at the wall clock, while the stomping of dozens of men grew louder.
Having made my judgment, I raised one hand to cut him off.
"Enough. That's sufficient. You've worked hard dragging it out with your limited eloquence."
"Haha... Chairman Han, what do you mean all of a sudden...?"
"About twenty men, I'd say? The troops climbing the hillside desperately just to get me."
He looked as if even my headcount estimate hit the mark. Hassan couldn't hide his panic.
His palm was already fidgeting with the leather holster of the pistol at his waist.
"Armed with the new Chinese rifles you've imported."
"......!"
Hassan's eyes bulged wide. At my words, a heavy pistol was drawn from that leather holster, aiming straight between my brows.
"Too late already, Chairman Han."
"It's only just beginning. How could I be late?"
"Beginning? No chance. We've already decided to join hands with the Chinese..."
"Do you think I came here unaware of Shanghai Capital's true intentions?"
Was my calm gaze fixed only on the barrel unnerving him?
His pistol wavered with sudden emotional tremor.
"Hoo, hoo..."
Surely, even if he didn't know, he felt it.
That amid Shanghai Capital's offers and upfront payments lurked a sinister barb.
And... that barb would return as brutal interest to him and his followers.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
At that moment, men pounded on the sturdy wooden door.
As if ready to burst in any second, they shouted to Hassan from beyond.
"Leader! Can we enter now?"
Hassan stared at me, pistol in hand. His trigger finger was sticky with hesitation.
Some oversight regarding Shanghai Capital, perhaps.
In the end, his deliberation didn't last long.
"Wait! Not yet! Hold position outside!"
With his right arm dropping, the barrel pointed at the floor.
In a deflated voice, Hassan said to me.
"I'll... hear you out."
"A wise choice."
I hadn't even broached the main point, yet the momentum had shifted.
What had been mere suspicion solidified into conviction; Hassan awaited only my answer.
I spoke immediately.
"The Belt and Road Initiative. Didn't the Chinese show you that will-o'-the-wisp called the Belt and Road?"
"...Yes."
"And you instinctively know it's nothing but an empty mirage."
Hassan nodded faintly, head bowed.
Thud. A report placed on the table.
I nodded for him to read it.
"This is...?"
"The substance of the will-o'-the-wisp. Not just instinct, but with clear evidence explained."
A report compiling fragments from my pre-regression memories and investigations by Korea's National Intelligence Service.
At the top of that report—accurately predicting China's moves for the next decade or so—was this title:
-The Belt and Road Initiative: 21st-Century Colonial Management and Enslavement.
"The Belt and Road Initiative. Once the Muslim Independence Struggle Unit becomes a pearl in that necklace, the immediate price is being discarded like dirt once used."
"......"
Suspicion turned certainty.
Eyes fixed on the report, head bowed, Hassan—unable to control his trembling shoulders—spoke to me in a choked sob.
"I... I know too. That all their support comes with murderous interest. And..."
His eyes reddened.
A deep sigh laden with anguish rose to the ceiling as he poured out his heart.
"That someday the Thai central government will subjugate our brothers— all of it!"
The central army's encirclement tightening. Rebels sinking deeper into the quagmire, outnumbered.
Hassan, leader of the rebels. His options were few. Even if none held the right answer, he had to choose one.
"This is... why I drink from the poisoned chalice. Does that answer you?"
Veins bulged on the backs of his hands. Gripping the report with both, he seemed ready to tear it apart.
And at that moment.
I seized Hassan's wrist.
"Too soon to jump to conclusions."
"What...?"
Our gazes met at arm's length.
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the armed men outside battered the door roughly; their noise reached my ears.
Rising tension.
Click. The flimsy door latch opened, and troops stormed into the room.
Against the backdrop of the surging wave, I met Hassan's eyes and posed the final question.
The one choice he couldn't refuse.
"If there's a way to survive, and I offer it, would you accept?"