Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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66.
Liam clenched his jaw. Just as he was about to speak, his Grandfather cut him off.
“She’s Kim Hyun-tae’s biological daughter.”
Liam’s brow furrowed. Kim Hyun-tae. Why would that name surface here, he wondered.
Suspicion flickered across his gaze as it settled on his Grandfather.
“You know her father?”
“In the weapons industry, there’s hardly a soul who doesn’t know him.”
Finding answers from this unexpected source, Liam posed a question that neither he nor Hee-ju had ever fully resolved.
“He must be quite the figure if even the Russian Mafia is pursuing him.”
“The Russian Mafia has its eyes on him?”
His Grandfather’s tongue flickered reflexively before he nodded.
“If it’s Kim, the Mafia would certainly covet him.”
A sudden gleam passed through his seasoned eyes, and Liam recognized it instantly for what it was—greed.
His Grandfather spoke with pointed significance.
“Have you met Kim?”
…….
“Did he leave something with his daughter?”
Liam said nothing, merely observing his Grandfather with careful, inscrutable eyes.
His Grandfather, too, masked his intentions with practiced ease, as if he’d never revealed them at all. Then he offered a smile that anyone watching would have called benevolent.
Liam’s mind raced quickly. He struggled to follow the thread of the conversation, but his information was painfully insufficient.
Still, he had no intention of letting that slip. His Grandfather was a skilled businessman before he was a grandfather.
Starting from a position of weakness would be a mistake. He’d lose something far greater.
Liam turned over their conversation in his mind. The weapons industry, Kim, the object that both the CIA and Russian Mafia coveted. And the Design Blueprints contained on the USB Drive.
A picture was forming, faintly. His Grandfather, oblivious to Liam’s thoughts, let slip a cold smirk.
“I once invested considerable effort in him myself.”
Liam was rather skilled at Bluffing. He laid down a card with an expressionless face.
“Because he’s a weapons developer?”
Was it the right card or the wrong one?
Just then, his Grandfather’s brow deepened with creases. Had my guess been off the mark?
“He’s no mere weapons developer. He’s one of the world’s finest. No—finest doesn’t begin to cover it. A genius among the top two, perhaps.”
Bingo.
His Grandfather had no idea Liam was flying blind. He began spilling crucial information freely.
“Those shameless Americans snapped him up first. I don’t know what figure they offered, but I heard he joined the Pentagon Project some twenty years ago. After that, we made contact through back channels several times, but the CIA kept blocking every attempt. Then, a few years back… or was it ten by now?”
His Grandfather gazed into empty space as if retrieving a memory, then added:
“He retired. I submitted job offers through various channels, but each time came the same answer—he no longer worked as a developer. Once, I even went to find him myself, and he refused me outright.”
For his Grandfather to seek someone out in person spoke volumes about how extraordinary a specialist Kim was in this field. His Grandfather clicked his tongue softly.
“Had I managed to bring him into the fold, our enterprise would have leaped forward by a generation.”
“Beyond what it is now?”
“Of course. Whoever brings Kim over would reshape the entire global defense industry. Though he rejected every substantial offer. The last I heard was that he’d quietly gone into convalescence.”
“Why would the CIA take an interest in a man already dead?”
At that moment, his Grandfather’s eyes gleamed once more. He leaned forward and whispered low.
“That’s what I want to know. Why they’ve suddenly taken an interest in him now—or rather, let me rephrase: why they’ve taken an interest in his daughter.”
“What do you think he left her?”
His Grandfather nodded without a second thought.
“Otherwise, the CIA wouldn’t move at all.”
“You mean the CIA kept surveillance on him after his retirement—until now?”
At Liam’s question, his Grandfather let out a dismissive laugh.
“It would be stranger if they hadn’t. Those obsessive types—would they really let a man with access to classified intelligence slip through their fingers? The real question is:”
Here he paused, his gaze sharpening.
“What did Kim leave behind?”
“What did he leave…”
“Likely something that would reshape the current landscape of the defense industry.”
“Is such a thing possible? Weapons have already been modernized, and I can’t foresee any breakthrough dramatic enough to—”
His Grandfather’s eyes dropped for a moment, then slowly rose to meet his gaze.
Now Liam understood why his Grandfather had rushed here so urgently. This was the heart of the matter.
“Do you know anything about Autonomous Lethal Weapons?”
“Killer Robots?”
His Grandfather’s eyebrows lifted slightly. Suddenly, Liam realized how long it had been since they’d spoken like this.
Or perhaps it was the first time ever.
“We call them that. Traditional drones operate via remote control—a human piloting from a distance. But Autonomous Lethal Weapons make targeting decisions independently through algorithms, executing lethal commands without human intervention.”
“I’ve heard they’re barely used in actual warfare. The systems lack the ability to distinguish between combatants and civilians. If civilian casualties mount, there’s no escaping the ethical implications.”
“But what if Kim developed a weapon capable of distinguishing between allies and enemies, between enemies and civilians?”
Liam’s expression grew skeptical.
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“With Kim, absolutely.”
His Grandfather’s certainty was unwavering as he continued:
“A weapon born that could annihilate only enemy forces—without friendly casualties, without civilian sacrifice. Such a thing would be priceless beyond measure.”
“The Americans couldn’t have missed something like that.”
“If he developed it independently after retirement, it’s entirely possible. If the CIA—who’d been watching him—obtained intelligence about Killer Robot development?”
“A lone individual creating what dozens, hundreds from the Defense Department couldn’t?”
“That’s because you don’t understand Kim. One genius will always surpass a hundred capable mediocries.”
Lost in thought, Liam murmured half to himself:
“So the CIA pursues his daughter?”
“She was the last person he saw before he died. That’s why the Russian Mafia is salivating too. Wouldn’t anyone? A chance to sit on a fortune—”
His Grandfather paused, resting his chin on the hand gripping his Cane. His eyes—a blue-grey that matched his grandson’s—were as sharp and piercing as a blade.
“The CIA wouldn’t have moved recklessly. That’s why I’ve come all this way.”
“And you mean to throw yourself into this chaos, Grandfather? Surely, at your age, one misstep and you’d find yourself in a hospital bed.”
“If it means our Family can make that leap forward, a little hardship for this old body is hardly worth mentioning.”
Liam rose slowly and began dressing, shedding the hospital gown for the clothes hanging on the rack.
His Grandfather’s voice reached the back of his head:
“If Kim truly left the Design Blueprints with his daughter, we must secure them before the CIA or the Mafia does.”
Then, with deliberate casualness, he probed:
“Did he leave them with her?”
Dressed now, Liam turned to face his Grandfather. He plunged his hand into his jacket pocket—but found it empty.
His Grandfather would know this already. He’d have searched every article of clothing.
Liam lowered his head slightly and scratched behind his ear. When he’d seen his Grandfather’s sedan pull up outside the Simple Diner through the wide window, he’d stumbled deliberately toward the cabinet, grabbing it for balance.
A cabinet crammed with Record Players, dust thick as a blanket. Nobody played vinyl anymore.
Liam had slipped the USB Drive deep between the records.
He had no intention of handing over what his Grandfather wanted without leverage. Besides, it wasn’t his to give. The decision about the USB Drive’s fate belonged to Hee-ju.
Hee-ju.
Every time that name surfaced, something ached deep in his chest. A pain he’d never experienced before.
Was it anger at something stolen from him, or something else entirely?
Liam closed his eyes slowly, then opened them. He gripped his head and jaw, tilting left and right gently. Nothing hurt badly.
“As far as I know, he didn’t.”
“The CIA and Russian Mafia are chasing you, and you claim ignorance?”
“That’s what drives me half-mad.”
At Liam’s light reply, his Grandfather’s voice dropped lower.
“Liam Kloff.”
His Grandfather spoke his full name, and something that had been settling at Liam’s depths suddenly rose into suspension.
“Every time you use my full name, I’m reminded of being locked in the basement.”
“If you can lay hands on this, I’ll grant you anything you desire. You want a business empire split off for you? Done. You want territory? Done.”
Suddenly, Liam laughed softly. The boy was indeed desperate. Such an extravagant gesture spoke volumes.
A business, territory—things Liam desired but could never possess. Wealth and honor that only the Family’s patriarch could monopolize.
And now his Grandfather was declaring he’d grant them for a single USB Drive.
It was a tempting offer. He didn’t crave wealth and honor for their own sake. What he truly yearned for was his Grandfather’s acknowledgment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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