I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 134

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

134 – Kang Pal-chun
134.
Kang Pal-chun, the head of the Triad Society’s Korean branch.
Kang Pal-chun had received a special order from Mao Qin, the organization’s information team leader.
“Seize the South Korean market.”
Upon receiving this special order, Kang Pal-chun felt somewhat bewildered.
Or rather, slightly irritated.
Seize the South Korean market with candy, of all things.
And it’s not like he’d done anything to deserve such an absurd request beforehand.
Out of nowhere comes this order to seize the South Korean market.
It was utterly ridiculous.
Of course, he knew that this candy was a knockoff called D-Assand—a counterfeit of the Assand that had caused chaos in China.
Though different from Assand, it apparently had some effect.
But distributing it was an entirely different matter.
Just because it was doing well in China didn’t guarantee it would succeed in South Korea.
Above all, unlike China, D-Assand was illegal in South Korea.
He couldn’t distribute it openly like they did in China.
That’s probably why Mao Qin had brought this to him in the first place.
Because they had no way to bring it in themselves.
The crux of the matter was how to supply the illegal D-Assand, and it was absolutely not easy.
South Korea had a formidable and tremendous barrier: the Dae-hoon Faction.
The Dae-hoon Faction might overlook other things, but when it came to drugs, they would stop at nothing to block them.
They would dig through everything thoroughly, down to the very roots.
If caught, all the smuggling routes he’d painstakingly established would be shut down.
Kang Pal-chun wasn’t inexperienced in this.
After the Dae-hoon Faction rose to power and he heard complaints about drug shortages everywhere, he’d secretly brought some in.
He’d tried several times, but never even reached the shore—he was always intercepted by the Coast Guard.
He was caught in the middle of the sea with nowhere to escape.
On the rare occasions when he was lucky enough to dump the drugs into the sea, and when he wasn’t, all the drugs he’d worked so hard to transport were confiscated, and everyone transporting them was arrested.
After that, he hadn’t even attempted it.
As a result, even the smuggling routes he’d painstakingly built were destroyed.
Of course, even if he managed to bring it in, the Dae-hoon Faction would block distribution, making it difficult anyway.
So he hadn’t touched drugs at all since then.
And now, out of the blue, he’s being told to distribute D-Assand.
Mao Qin’s words left him speechless.
Still, he couldn’t say anything back.
Mao Qin and Kang Pal-chun were on different levels.
If the Triad Society were a nation, Mao Qin would be something like the director of the National Intelligence Service—a high position—while Kang Pal-chun was more like a Foreign Ministry ambassador.
An ambassador isn’t a low position, you say?
If it were an ambassador to the United States, China, or Japan, certainly—but an ambassador to Moldova?
An ambassador from Tuvalu or Gambia?
Could they compare to the Director of the National Intelligence Service?
There’s no comparison.
That was South Korea’s position within the Triad Society.
South Korea was a backwater among backwaters.
It was incredibly difficult to penetrate, yet offered little profit in return.
The social system was so well-developed that committing crimes was difficult, getting caught was easy, and the arrest rate was high.
South Korea was a place where it was hard to escape or hide.
Even if you wanted to commit a crime and flee, there was nowhere to run.
In the cities, there were too many eyes watching.
They pretended not to see while seeing everything.
The neighborhood women didn’t speak of it, but they knew everything.
They knew who lived in each house and who came and went.
There were CCTVs and dashcams everywhere.
You couldn’t live while avoiding them.
Hiding in the mountains was even more foolish.
There were already hermits living in the mountains.
Along with hikers, trekkers, campers, herb gatherers, and grandmothers foraging for wild vegetables.
More people roamed every corner of the mountains than in the cities.
They traveled even to treacherous places without paths.
There was no way to avoid being discovered.
If not the mountains or cities, you had to go abroad.
Planes were out of the question.
The system was so efficient that forged passports were caught 100% of the time.
It would be nice to travel by land, but South Korea’s borders were unique.
Three sides were ocean, and to the north was North Korea.
Smuggling by sea was better; going north would only invite bigger problems.
That’s why it was a backwater.
Difficult to penetrate, difficult to commit crimes, and even harder to escape.
On top of that, it wasn’t profitable.
Yet it couldn’t be ignored.
South Korea was always a coveted market.
It was a tantalizing market they wanted to devour if they ever got the chance.
So they continued to monitor it.
But that was all.
They didn’t actually do anything.
They only maintained a connection through Chinatown.
This was also why Kang Pal-chun, who had nothing to his name, could become the South Korea branch director.
Kang Pal-chun, a Joseon-jok, had moved from Yeonbian to Daerim because he heard he could make money there.
He hadn’t actually made much money, but life in Seoul wasn’t bad.
Honestly, it was far better than Yeonbian.
That’s why I stayed.
To live in Seoul, I had to work.
To remain in Seoul, I took any job that came my way—no discrimination.
I didn’t discriminate between legal and illegal either.
Living that way, I eventually built a small organization and earned the title of Korea Branch Director of the Triad Society.
I recalled what Mao Qin had said.
The Triad Society is struggling.
Korea is the Triad Society’s future.
Assand must dominate Korea.
Only then can the Triad Society advance.
Mao Qin had spoken with desperation, but honestly, it had little to do with Kang Pal-chun.
Why would he talk like that when he doesn’t normally do anything for me?
He provides no support normally, yet now he’s asking me to do this?
He makes me a figurehead Korea Branch Director and entrusts the Triad Society’s future to me?
It was absurd, but regardless, I had to take some action.
I couldn’t just ignore it and do nothing.
I had to do something.
So I brought it in gradually through street peddlers rather than smuggling routes.
Centered on Chinatown in Incheon and the Korean-Chinese district in Daerim, I began distributing Assand to overseas Chinese merchants.
Assand spread rapidly among the Chinese diaspora.
The overseas Chinese began discreetly sharing Assand among themselves.
Since they already knew the effects of Assand through China, there was no hesitation.
Rather, they were curious because exports were blocked, so they were pleased to obtain it this way.
The overseas Chinese began consuming it without even knowing whether it was Assand or Assand.
Seeing this, Kang Pal-chun smiled.
I thought I’d succeeded in my own way.
Chinese people living in Korea are Korean people too, after all.
Isn’t this enough to say I’ve conquered the Korean market?
For a figurehead Korea Branch Director, this was sufficient.
.
.
.
“Damn bastards—I tell them not to do it, but they won’t listen. Their ears are filthy.”
After hearing the report, Dae-hoon spoke with irritation while placing a cigarette between his lips.
Strange candy was spreading around Chinatown, he’d been told.
It was gaining popularity among the overseas Chinese.
The likelihood it was drugs was very high.
“Still, they’re only doing it among themselves, aren’t they? Should we just leave it alone?”
Geun-su asked cautiously from the side.
“You think that won’t spread?”
Dae-hun disagreed with Geun-su’s assessment.
For now, Geun-su might be right.
The Chinese merchants were keeping it among themselves.
They were insular, so they might only consume Assand among their own for a while.
But how long could they keep it contained within their community?
It would spread quickly.
While we weren’t paying attention, it would already be taking root in our country.
We should have crushed it when the scale was still small.
That’s the only way to minimize the damage.
Drug dealers spread like cockroaches—in an instant.
They’re everywhere, and even when you think you’ve eliminated them all, some remain.
They had to be eradicated.
Every last egg had to be burned away.
Yet even then, they kept appearing—cockroaches and drug dealers alike.
Blocking drugs was a promise with Alex.
Or rather, Alex’s request.
He’d asked me to prevent drugs from circulating in South Korea as much as possible.
Actually, he hadn’t put it quite that way.
He’d simply asked me to prevent an environment where anyone could easily buy drugs just by flashing money at an establishment.
Alex’s request was that we not sell drugs at the establishments I controlled.
Because of that, I’d taken control of Seoul and formed alliances with criminal organizations nationwide.
Organizations from Busan, Incheon, and elsewhere had helped considerably.
They all knew drugs brought substantial profits, but they’d agreed to the larger framework of not bringing them in.
Thanks to that, drugs seemed to have completely disappeared.
The peace agreements between organizations were being honored well.
Then suddenly, candy was discovered in Chinatown.
“Geun-su, we need to stop this, don’t we?”
“Understood. I’ll find out who’s distributing it right away.”
“Yes. As quickly as possible.”
******
Bituin of La Camara mobilized every route to find Laksa.
He deployed all available resources—police, military, media, and thugs alike.
Finding Laksa was the only way Bituin could keep his life.
Bituin couldn’t forget Celeste’s cold gaze.
Every time he thought of it, his body trembled.
But nowhere could he find any trace of Laksa.
It was as if he’d never existed—completely vanished.
It was driving him mad.
He had to find Laksa.
.
.
.
“Boss, I hear that someone named Bituin has been searching for Laksa?”
“Who is Bituin, and why is he looking for Laksa?”
A Korean kimchi stew restaurant in Zamboanga.
We had gathered here for a meal together for the first time in a while.
Should I say we finally had some breathing room?
To be honest, it wasn’t quite breathing room—it was more accurate to say the urgent matters had been resolved.
The small modular nuclear reactor had arrived safely and was under construction.
The solar panels were already generating electricity in some areas.
Akbayan seized the moment and made electricity production the main agenda, launching what could only be called an election campaign without being an election campaign.
Through short-form videos featuring Unity Town as the backdrop, they showcased how useful and convenient electricity was to daily life.
Akbayan was a political party that continuously advocated for lower electricity rates.
They kept sending the signal that voting for Akbayan would allow people to live a life like that in Unity Town.
Even though the local elections had ended, Akbayan continued this effort.
The Philippines genuinely needed electricity.
And more than anything, this was groundwork for the elections three years down the line—to make Patrick president.
Everything was progressing smoothly.
Unity Town remained stable.
The number of residents continued to grow, and the town was expanding bit by bit.
Assand was producing steadily as well.
With a fully automated system in place, even Edward had some breathing room.
The weapons smuggling operation from China was running quite smoothly too.
As long as that bastard Shin Jung-gi doesn’t strip things down and discard them in the middle.
By the way, the Philippine Military that had been deployed in the rebel suppression operation last time was still staying in the warehouse.
They could leave now that everything was finished, but they won’t go.
I even told them to go, but they said they wanted to stay here.
The truth is, the treatment of soldiers in the Philippines isn’t that good.
Neither their salaries, benefits, nor social recognition are particularly favorable.
Yet their circumstances were dire enough that they had to enlist anyway.
So we’re currently in discussions with the Zamboanga Military Base.
Whether we can transfer them there.
We’ve already taken over paying the salaries of the Zamboanga Military Base.
They all received dishonorable discharges for not participating in the rebel suppression operation last time, so we decided to take responsibility for them.
We cut off their livelihood, so we have to take care of them.
All the military salaries combined don’t amount to much anyway.
We could have paid it from our own funds, but we used Melchor’s assets instead.
The country should be paying military salaries from its own budget.
Thanks to Melchor, we can provide adequate care without spending any of our own money.
Even so, there’s still too much left over.
The money flowing in every month is no joke.
Anyway, there’s nothing urgent now.
We’re just waiting for the construction to finish or the elections to come around.
That’s why we were all gathered together eating.
Sandro, Simon, Patrick, Ana, Tian Zihao, Dennis, Magiting, Scott, Edward, and Kang Jae-ho.
But was the menu really kimchi stew?
We were eating in that light atmosphere when I heard Bituin calling for Laksa.
But wait?
Who was Bituin?
“Bituin is the Director of Internal Revenue.”
“Director of Internal Revenue?”
“It’s a position that manages the government’s financial income. They oversee all revenue, including taxes.”
“Why would that person be looking for Laksa? Laksa is the President’s friend. There shouldn’t be any connection between them and Bituin?”
“We don’t know either. Maybe they’re friends?”
Simon answered.
“Laksa is at least twenty years older than Bituin. Would they really be friends?”
Sandro answered.
“What does age have to do with friendship? If they’re not friends, maybe they’re lovers? Hehe.”
Simon answered with a sinister smile.
With everyone gathered like this, it was complete chaos.
They were all just saying whatever came to mind.
That’s when Sandro spoke up.
“This isn’t certain. I only heard it as a rumor, but I’ve heard that there’s been a secret meeting that decides all government policies since way back. The President, government officials, conglomerates, and journalists gathered to make policy decisions. What if Laksa wasn’t managing the President’s slush fund but rather the slush fund of this secret meeting? And what if Bituin is looking for that money? Doesn’t that make some sense?”
“I’ve heard similar stories myself, but since nothing has been confirmed, I didn’t mention it separately. However, if Melchor was providing slush funds to that secret meeting and continued supporting it to push forward his own policies, then it’s entirely plausible. Bituin looking for Laksa, that is.”
Patrick supplemented Sandro’s words.
“Should we catch Bituin and interrogate him?”
Scott asked.
“That guy isn’t like Laksa. If he disappears, the entire Philippines will go crazy looking for him.”
Sandro answered.
“Just to add a bit more context, everything in the Philippines is concentrated in the capital Manila and the Luzon region—the largest island in the Philippines where Manila is located. Politics, economics, culture, industry, education—it’s all concentrated there. Economically speaking, the Luzon region, which includes Manila, accounts for over 70% of the entire GDP. Even if we combine all of Mindanao, where we’ve made our base, it doesn’t even reach 13 to 14%. That’s why the forces that move the Philippines never paid attention to Mindanao. There was no money in it, and they had no interest in that land infested with rebel forces. But the situation is different now. If we want to expand from Mindanao to Luzon, we can’t do things the way we have been. That place actually has functioning state authority. If Bituin disappears, they’ll start with the police and cause an enormous fuss. Bituin is the son of a prominent family.”
Patrick, who runs a market, certainly knows a lot.
“That’s true. We occupied up to Cebu without much difficulty, but when we tried to go higher than that, it got harder. It’s completely different from Mindanao and Cebu.”
Sandro also backed up Patrick’s opinion.
To summarize.
So things are easy now but will get tight going forward?
If Mindanao had the implication of no state authority so you do as you please, then from Luzon onward, the real face of a nation comes alive?
But it doesn’t really matter.
I have no intention of expanding into the Luzon region.
Once the work I’ve started is finished, I plan to return to being a guide.
Whether it’s elections or secret meetings, I don’t care.
Whether they find Laksa or not doesn’t matter to me.
As long as they don’t touch us, I won’t make a move either.
“Whether those guys find Laksa or not doesn’t really concern us, does it?”
“That’s true, but it’s better to be cautious. There’s no harm in that.”
“Then should we look into this secret meeting a bit more? We might uncover something useful, right?”
“Understood.”
“Got it.”
“Understood.”
“We haven’t seen each other in a while—let’s drop the heavy talk and have a drink.”
We gathered our soju-filled glasses over a spread of kimchi stew and rolled eggs.
“Cheers!”
Everyone drained their glasses completely.
We all enjoyed the kimchi stew with ramen noodles mixed in.
Scott could have stopped eating, but he’s the one eating the most.
I need to put Scott to work.
I’ll feed him through today and then put him to use.
While I’m making that mental note, Sandro calls out to me.
“By the way, Alex.”
“Yeah?”
“Want to buy a private jet?”
“A private jet?”
“Yeah. You’re always traveling everywhere, and every time you have to go to the airport, buy a ticket—isn’t it inconvenient? And coordinating flight schedules is such a hassle.”
“Never really thought about it.”
I hadn’t thought about it, but now that he mentions it, having one does sound appealing.
Even flying first class all the time, the scheduling was incredibly inconvenient.
Having to adjust my movements to flight schedules was the most frustrating, and I hated wasting time on planes.
What I hated most was having to take roundabout routes when direct flights didn’t exist.
From Bohol to Zamboanga, I travel comfortably because Patrick arranged direct routes, but before that, I had to stop in Cebu before heading to Zamboanga.
I’d wait for hours just to fly for an hour.
I traveled to China frequently and needed to visit South Korea too, so having one wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I’d never considered a private jet, but it did seem like it would be convenient.
“That’s actually a great idea.”
Surprisingly, Ana agreed.
“Buy it. I’ll have it registered under the Emerald Casino name. If we say it’s for customer service, we might actually get more benefits.”
“But why suddenly ask about a private jet?”
“I went to a casino executives’ meeting last time, and someone was selling a private jet, so I asked if you were interested. I don’t know anyone else in my circle who flies as much as you do.”
“Should we go ahead and buy one then?”
“I’ll take care of the arrangements.”
And so our rare gathering ended on a good note.
Each returning to their own place.
Sandro, seated in the car, asked his subordinate.
“You handled Laksa cleanly, right?”
“Perfectly handled, sir. No one will find Laksa anywhere. How can you find someone who no longer exists?”
“Good work.”
Sandro remained uneasy about Alex.
Traitors cannot be trusted.
The DNA of betrayal activates at any moment.
That’s why those who betray once must be eliminated.
But Alex couldn’t do it.
His heart was too soft.
So I did it in his place.
Without Alex knowing.
Bituin will search for Laksa, but he will never find him.
This is how work should be done—cleanly.
Sandro settled into the back seat with a satisfied expression.
Then, as if remembering something, I instructed my subordinate.
“And look into that secret meeting for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Alex, known as the ruler of the South.
But to me, Alex still seemed childish and unreliable.
Like a child left by the water’s edge—worrisome and weighing on my mind.
That’s why I had no choice but to watch his back.
If something seemed problematic, I would simply nip it in the bud.
And that work suited me exceedingly well.
That work was enjoyable.
A faint smile played across my lips.

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