Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Quiet Moment Before the Storm (2)
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Full-blown winter.
A biting December cold where a simple breath would freeze white on the spot.
A Christmas tree adorning one corner of the Chairman's office, reflecting Yoo Se-na's aide tastes—unclear when it had been brought in.
At the tip of the pointed conifer, a golden star-shaped ornament. Reflected in it was the face of Michelle, President of Ammunition Electronics.
"...That concludes the report on the Ammunition Electronics reform initiatives."
"Good work."
It wasn't empty flattery. Michelle had truly been working his ass off.
From organizational culture overhaul to scouting talent and a complete review of ongoing projects.
The chubby man standing before me looked like he had aged a decade in the last couple of months.
I pulled out my fountain pen, signed off, and offered him some words of encouragement.
"You've done well. Let's proceed with the reform plan as is. But I heard there's an additional matter to report? Something requiring confidentiality."
"Ah, yes. Well..."
He nodded, then immediately turned around.
It must have been quite significant—he even asked Yoo Se-na, who had been handling office duties beside him, to step out.
Silence filled the office.
He handed me another approval pad tucked into his waist and continued.
"A while back... we received a troubling report from the audit team members we dispatched."
A Polaroid photo clipped to the approval pad caught my eye.
Former President Lee Tae-gyu, drunk out of his mind. And beside him, arm in arm, heading into another bar: an unidentified man.
Before my brow could even furrow, Michelle's report continued.
"The man with former President Lee Tae-gyu here is Baek Deok-gyu, a current headhunter. He mainly operates around Guangzhou in China."
"China, China. And Guangzhou, no less..."
A scene flashed instantly in my mental archive.
A moment ago in this very room: Kim Won-cheol spinning the wooden globe.
As vivid as if it were playing out right in front of me, the memory unspooled like film.
When the spinning globe stopped, he had pointed with his fingertip, troubled, and muttered that one line.
'Hmm, actually, that's why I looked into it a bit. Turns out all the resigned employees' final destinations converged in one place.'
Every circumstance aligned perfectly, pointing to a single direction.
That place was.
'China, Guangzhou IT Industrial Park. Via Shanghai, even.'
"Guangzhou... and Shanghai."
The vague unease and discomfort that had been lingering on my shoulders.
Unbeknownst to me, they were gradually taking shape, wrapping around my neck and tightening their grip.
Slowly suffocating me. Bit by bit, ever so slightly.
"I must have been too complacent."
"Chairman? What do you mean?"
"Nothing. So, are there any issues with manpower shortages from these resignations?"
It wasn't an easy question to answer—Michelle didn't hide his contemplation.
As the ticking clock filled the room, he finally spoke.
"The most urgent matter right now... is the Defense Ministry's new weapons development bid."
"Something we absolutely cannot afford to lose."
"We were already a bit short compared to SA-Cheolhwa Techwin, and this key personnel defection has widened the gap."
While we dealt with internal issues, external competitors had slithered in from the shadows. Seo Yun-ji of SA-Cheolhwa Techwin, and [Shanghai Capital].
A nauseating feeling, like my ankle was caught.
Their invisible hands had risen from the sand, grasping one of my feet.
"A bit of competitive fire is stirring in me. We have to win this one."
Fresh fighting spirit reignited after the clash with my uncle. I shook off the foot I hadn't even realized was held.
Michelle flinched back a step, looking flustered at my gritted teeth and clenched right fist.
I immediately issued new orders.
"Send up the detailed breakdown on the Defense Ministry new weapons bid right away? That part with the evaluation scorecard attached."
* * *
Yan Long, fresh from Guangzhou to Shanghai, headed straight to the office without a moment to spare.
As always, his liege, James Wang the Director, lay on the leather sofa in the office, staring only at the wooden carvings of the Northeast Asia map.
Without so much as glancing at his subordinate, he spoke toward the source of the noise.
"Seems you've played a nasty prank now that the job's done, Yan Long."
"I judged that a somewhat rough method was acceptable to demonstrate our superiority in power and information."
SA Group's Vice President Im Jae-ho and SA-Cheolhwa Techwin's CEO Seo Yun-ji.
The uncomfortable meeting in Guangzhou had been laced with Yan Long's intentions.
"Besides, by driving a wedge between them first, our influence can grow stronger."
"Even a fake childish game irked you—their couple's bond, I suppose."
Seemingly satisfied with the explanation, James Wang finally rose from his seat.
He approached the bowing Yan Long, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said.
"Keep pressuring Ammunition Group, but only through indirect means."
"My lord! But after the last incident, our Shanghai faction's reputation...!"
"Enough."
Unlike his rough appearance and gravelly voice, James Wang maintained a gentle tone.
But unusually, each word carried exhaustion and tension.
"Now is the time to discuss succession. We need to conserve strength as much as possible for the time being."
"Then... the reason for your trip to Beijing last week...?"
James Wang merely nodded, offering no verbal reply.
Sinking deep into his chair, he closed his eyes, seemingly calculating something for a long while.
Finally, a tentative conclusion slipped from his lips.
"Continue indirect routes like ghost companies, but refrain from anything involving massive capital."
His gaze lifted to the ceiling again. Beyond the vast Central Plains, a tiny peninsula jutting out.
At its dagger-like shape aimed at the continent, James Wang unconsciously frowned and muttered something.
"One year. Once the new master of the Forbidden City is decided in a year... then we'll move in earnest."
* * *
"Eutcha! Nice shot. Hiya, feels good!"
Kim Won-cheol had dropped by the Chairman's office.
He always had to touch anything new that came in.
At the indoor golf practice set that arrived as a gift, he was mimicking a swing in the most awkward stance imaginable.
I didn't play much golf myself, but objectively, that form was a no-go.
"It's a mess."
"Where?"
"Everywhere. If you took that to the course, you'd owe the Secretary-General a drinks bill that day. On your conscience?"
"No clue. Heh heh heh. Truth is, I've never swung a club in my life."
Kim Won-cheol, who claimed he'd never touched golf before.
Well, swinging a short-game putter like a long-drive driver had screamed amateur from the start.
"Might as well go fishing instead of swinging a metal stick on someone else's grass."
"Catching business deals is way more fun than fish. So, what do you think of that scorecard?"
"Ah, this?"
The detailed evaluation scorecard for the Defense Ministry new weapons bid.
The 300-page appendix listed meticulous criteria by category.
Specialized personnel held by the firm, technical capabilities, industrial facilities, even unit costs.
A dense scorecard, interwoven like tightly woven fabric, complex to the extreme. But to Kim Won-cheol and me, only one dark stain on it stood out.
"Obvious, right?"
"Obvious."
I pulled a wood from the golf bag.
Tightening my core, correcting my stance, and rotating hard— a crisp whoosh cut the air.
Like leaning on a cane, Kim Won-cheol and I planted the club on the floor, faced each other, and uttered the same word in unison.
"Industrial facilities."
"Industrial facilities."
I switched from the short putter to a proper club.
With a satisfying metallic clink, the ball rolled into the hole at the practice mat's end.
There was only one spot it could fit.
"We dug through everything and reviewed it all—the answer's industrial facilities. Specialized personnel, tech, unit costs: no dice on those."
"Personnel? They've gone full Chinese ninja defector. Tech and costs are par for the course. Total score-wise, we're neck and neck."
Small mercy: SA-Cheolhwa Techwin was in the same boat.
As a brand-new entity, even with parent company backing, they had plenty of gaps.
"Issue is expanding industrial facilities... As you know, rebuilding the Gumi Munitions Factory takes about a year."
"If we don't have it, buy it. Money's no object right now. The problem is."
Kim Won-cheol, gripping the club upside down, squatted low.
Like a fisherman battling a catch on the line.
So many fish in Yangpyeong, yet the one I wanted now wasn't even showing its nose—this seemed like performance art for the situation.
"No big fish on the market."
"True enough."
"In this market, who's dumping large-scale IT industrial facilities?"
Right on the money.
Industrial facilities rarely hit the market.
No one sells off future turf at a loss, even if it hurts now.
Unless selling the whole company.
Like back then, before the regression.
"It'll come up soon. My memory says around this time."
"Around... this time? What's that cloudy talk?"
Seo Yun-ji's provocation at the last federation meeting. And her marriage to SA Group's Im Jae-ho VP.
Took a sec to recall, but it was seared in my brain.
That dump. Total mess. Absolute trainwreck.
And what lit the fuse in that powder keg family...
"Cheolhwa Semiconductor."
"Cheolhwa Semiconductor? You saying that wart-nosed geezer Seo Guk-cheol's letting that go?"
Kim Won-cheol looked baffled, my equation making no sense.
Natural reaction. No one knew yet about that family's childish farce.
I stepped closer, grabbed the tip of his upside-down club grip, and spoke.
"Whales sometimes surface to spout. The moment their massive backs arch like a bow and reveal themselves."
My hand tensed instantly.
Gripping the club like a harpoon, veins bulging, my face turned hunter's grim.
A hunter who never misses that one fatal instant, severing the king whale's breath.
"I'll hurl the harpoon straight for the head. A harpoon that never misses."