Escape (4)

After my meeting with Han Miru, Yoo Jae-ho headed to Texas to look over candidate sites for the semiconductor plant. After comparing the various conditions, he had almost made up his mind to choose Texas.

The reason for this trip was also to meet the people on the ground in person.

And yet, after hearing what Han Miru had said, his resolve began to wobble.

Why Georgia?

Georgia did not offer any major advantage over the other locations.

Jae-ho went back through the bid documents once more. Bringing a semiconductor fab into a region could unleash an enormous economic ripple effect, which was why even the governor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the state legislators were out there hustling in person.

Then one name caught his eye.

“Mark Phillips……”

Senator Phillips had been so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠proactive that he personally guided the Yuseong Electronics executives who came to inspect the site and handled the briefing himself.

There had been rumors that he intended to run in the next presidential election.

But he was still young, and the Democratic Party already had a heavyweight contender in Darren Cassel, so most people talked about Phillips as a man for the cycle after next, not the one immediately ahead.

Could he be…… thinking about the U.S. presidential election?

At that moment, another memory surfaced.

Han Miru had identified the Saudi crown prince as the real power in Saudi Arabia with perfect accuracy.

A man who paid that much attention to the shifting balance of power in Saudi Arabia could hardly have no interest in American politics.

When things were going well, people lined up behind you only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to become one of countless companies in the crowd. But if they helped you when you were in trouble, that was a different matter entirely.

Even if Han Miru’s guess turned out to be wrong, the worst that would happen was that Yuseong Electronics would get a little less in tax benefits. And if he was right?

Would this be a good chance to build a connection with the next president of the United States?

Yuseong Electronics would invest in the data center business, and Snow Crash would lease the entire facility and use it as its own. One small consolation was that, thanks to the Blackwood incident, Snow Crash had already become a familiar name to the general public.

Still, negative reactions far outnumbered the positive ones.

The stock dropped 12 percent after the announcement, driven by both the surge in investment costs from the new business and fears that semiconductor clients would leave. Then it fell another 5 percent the next day.

With the stock down more than 15 percent in just two days, shareholders were in an uproar. In response, Chairman Yoo announced through the public relations office that he would use his own money to buy shares.

Sarah Avery was currently staying at the New York branch of PIF.

I met her there.

“You need to buy Yuseong Electronics stock immediately.”

“Why?”

“Because the current drop has created a perfect entry point.”

There had been no official announcement, but the big tech companies had made their disappointment over Yuseong Electronics’ move into the data center business unmistakably clear.

Some had even gone so far as to call it a betrayal.

In fact, as the big tech firms began showing signs of pulling away, Yuseong Electronics’ stock was falling while the shares of other semiconductor companies were starting to tremble. The biggest beneficiary was expected to be Kionos, whose stock had already begun climbing sharply.

Even if they broke ground on a plant today, it would still take at least two or three years before it could actually go into operation. But the stock market always priced in the long term.

“If you can, buy aggressively—not just Rush Fund, but PIF as well. There won’t be another chance to buy Yuseong Electronics at this price.”

“Revenue from the data center business won’t arrive as quickly as the loss from semiconductor clients leaving. There are also concerns about future oversupply.”

Memory semiconductors were already facing growing fears of oversupply.

If existing clients walked away, the blow would be fatal. There was a reason everyone else was selling.

“That’s why I’ve prepared a solution to that problem.”

Sarah’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“As you know, Kionos is Yuseong Electronics’ fiercest competitor in NAND flash and DRAM. It also recently announced that it would enter foundry manufacturing. But if, at this moment, all plant expansion and additional investment were suddenly halted, Yuseong Electronics’ stock would recover quickly.”

“How would that be possible?”

I explained the plan to her.

It was a very simple scheme: get Chairman Samara to expose the illegality of his arrest and detention, along with the internal corruption behind it, and shake Kionos to its core.

“If the Japanese and French governments get tangled up in it too, that would be even better.”

There was also the added benefit of making money through short selling and options. One stone, two birds.

But Sarah’s reaction was skeptical.

“Do you really think Chairman Samara knows that much?”

“Of course.”

He knew far more than the Japanese prosecutors realized. The man was not ordinary, either.

“In any case, just launching an exposé campaign would already put them under enormous pressure, wouldn’t it?”

“It would, but…… would the Japanese government just sit back and allow that? They’re probably watching him so closely now that he can’t make a single foolish move.”

I said it lightly.

“Which is why I was wondering—could you introduce me to a PMC?”

There were quite a few private military companies in the United States and Europe. They provided everything from security and close protection to intelligence work and surveillance.

She had ties to the Saudi government.

It would be fine if Continue Capital looked into it directly, but if possible, it was better not to leave a trail.

Sarah looked dumbfounded.

“Why are you suddenly asking about a PMC?”

Since she’d find out eventually anyway, I told her the truth.

“I’m going to break him out.”

“Who?”

“Chairman Samara.”

“……What?”

She took a long moment to react.

“Hold on. What are you saying? You’re going to break out someone who’s being detained in Japan, just to rattle Kionos?”

“Exactly.”

“…….”

She was looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

To be fair, even I thought it sounded a little insane after saying it out loud.

If I hadn’t known that Chairman Samara would escape next year, I probably never would have dreamed up this method in the first place.

“So, do you at least feel like buying Yuseong Electronics stock now?”

I took a rental car out to a motel on the outskirts of the city.

American motels were designed so that when you opened the room door, you stepped straight out into the outside world. Unlike hotels, they had no real lobby or ID check, which meant anybody could come and go from a room with ease.

I parked, walked to the room I’d been given, and rang the bell.

Two men were inside.

They were in their mid- to late forties, white men around six feet tall. They looked so much alike they could easily have been brothers.

Because they were brothers.

“Welcome.”

“Good to meet you.”

I shook hands with both of them.

“Ben Cullen.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Oliver Cullen.”

I had already received their materials, so I knew their names and faces in advance.

Ben was the older brother by two years, and Oliver the younger one.

They were South African by birth and currently worked for a PMC called Black Mongoose.

They said they were former special forces, but just looking at them, they did not seem especially rough or intimidating. They felt more like the kind of middle-aged guys who liked working out on the weekend.

Before getting into the main point, I said to them, “You understand that this meeting is confidential, right?”

The two of them smiled and nodded.

“Of course.”

“If you can’t keep your mouth shut, you can’t work in this business.”

“Good.”

I sat down in the chair.

“As you probably heard before coming here, let me explain it again. The operation will run for about two years. I’ll pay one million dollars up front per man, and another five hundred thousand if it succeeds. The risk is very low. Even if things go wrong, nobody will be injured or killed.”

Ben asked, “What kind of operation takes two years?”

“The preparation itself won’t take even a month. But if he isn’t going to flee to a third country, then whether we succeed or fail, he may still need to spend a year to a year and a half in a Japanese prison. I set the total at two years to include that period. If prison time is involved, I’ll add another five hundred thousand to one million dollars depending on how long it runs.”

The two of them actually looked relieved.

“Honestly, being in prison sounds better than being in a dangerous area for two years. If it’s a Japanese prison, the food should be pretty good too.”

“I was thinking I might want to take a break once this job was over, so that works out nicely.”

Back in the first timeline, Chairman Thierry Samara’s escape had been world-famous news.

It had even been made into a film, and that movie had been a huge hit. That was how well the public already knew the details of how he got out.

“I’ve already put the whole plan together. What I need from you is to rehearse it first and check ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whether it can actually be carried out as written, and whether any of the details need to be patched up.”

The two men read through the plan I handed them with meticulous care.

“Feel free to ask anything you want.”

Ben Cullen spoke first.

“You really think an escape like this is possible?”

Oliver Cullen shook his head too.

“I’m sorry to say this, but the operation seems very flimsy.”

It was only natural for them to react that way.

“Don’t worry. This method will work.”

Ben Cullen frowned, clearly not following.

“Why are you so sure?”

Because I knew from experience that it would.

I said with confidence, “You’ll understand once you practice it yourselves. If it still looks impossible after that, we can come up with another plan.”

Chairman Samara was currently under house arrest.

There was no way I’d get to meet him just by showing up unannounced.

Fortunately, this part was easy.

While Chairman Samara was being held in Japan, his wife had left the country and was staying in France. David had contacted her and said he wanted to meet Samara to make an investment proposal.

Samara’s assets were worth about 200 million dollars.

So it was perfectly normal for an investment firm to get in touch with him.

Continue Capital’s reputation was already widely known, so she welcomed the approach and helped arrange the meeting.

The real question was who would go to Japan……

“I should go.”

At my words, David looked concerned.

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?”

The most important thing in an escape plan like this was the target’s own will.

You couldn’t drag someone away by force if he didn’t want to go.

Maybe a year from now things would be different, but at this point Samara probably wasn’t even thinking about escaping. After all, he likely had no idea his detention would drag on that long.

Given the evidence Japanese prosecutors had in hand, at worst he might have expected a suspended sentence. He probably thought he’d be out within six months.

If he tried to escape, not only would he forfeit bail, but he’d never be allowed to set foot in Japan again.

So……

“I need to meet Chairman Samara myself and convince him.”