I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 143

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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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143 – Obsidian Unit
143.
“You’ve done well.”
“It was nothing, sir.”
“Let’s grab dinner together.”
“Our job is to protect you, sir. How could we possibly join you for a meal?”
“Protect? Am I some kind of national treasure? Just come eat with me. I’ll treat you to something delicious.”
“We eat well enough on a regular basis, sir. Please enjoy your meal at your leisure.”
“Ha. Whether it was then or now, you still won’t accept anything I offer.”
I exchanged a few words with Allen.
He was the one who stood guard outside when I spoke with Celeste.
He was the one who subdued Celeste’s security detail and held the conference room.
Allen was one of the Damaya Rebel Group.
A boy who had lost his parents to the Abu Sayyaf Rebels and came to Damaya seeking vengeance.
When I visited Damaya, Allen asked me to teach him how to kill.
So I taught him marksmanship.
Once I saw his aptitude, I taught him sniping.
His skill was extraordinary.
His accuracy was flawless.
His physical conditioning was excellent, and his mind was sharp.
Above all, his patience was remarkable.
He possessed the endurance and perseverance to remain motionless in a single position for hours, even days, waiting without complaint.
He was a ruthless man.
It was Allen who sniped Murad, the architect of the dark night of Dalapaanan.
It was Allen who aided me when we went to eliminate Yingjie Xian’s Philippine branch.
It was Allen who had been surveilling Philippine President Melchor.
Allen was always beside me, yet invisible.
He could not be seen.
Yet he existed.
That was what gave me reassurance.
Allen did not stop at merely protecting me—he organized a team and trained them.
He said he felt that he alone was insufficient.
When Allen began recruiting team members, the elite aces of the Rebel Forces applied.
It was difficult enough to join the Damaya Rebel Group, yet the top aces volunteered.
That team, he said, existed only in darkness.
He discouraged applicants, saying that once you entered, you could never return to an ordinary life.
He told them that no one would ever know they worked in the shadows.
Yet he could not dissuade those who wished to join the team.
Everyone wanted to enter that team.
Everyone admired that team.
We called that team the Obsidian Unit.
They protected me silently, always present around me.
I barely noticed their existence.
Whenever I planned to visit somewhere, they would arrive first, secure the location, and ensure everything was safe.
That’s why I could act recklessly and wander about without fear.
The place where they struggled most was Zhongnanhai, where Wei Zhonglin stayed.
As befitted the President’s Office, access itself was impossible.
Even positioning for a sniper shot was out of the question.
That’s also why I never returned to Zhongnanhai.
Though invisible beside me, the Obsidian Unit was always there.
With the Obsidian Unit watching over me, I always felt reassured.
*******
La Camara High Table regular meeting.
Eight senior council members gathered in the conference room, excluding Celeste and Bituin.
The expressions of all attendees were uniformly bewildered.
They had heard the news of Celeste’s death through the media and attended the funeral.
Yet they couldn’t believe it.
Celeste was dead.
It seemed like even if everything in the world changed, Celeste would never die.
I thought Celeste’s power was eternal.
The feeling was strange.
Everyone in the meeting seemed to share similar thoughts.
“What happened to Celeste? Is she really dead?”
“She’s dead.”
“We all attended the funeral.”
“That’s true, but I just can’t believe it.”
“I can’t believe it either, but we’ve already confirmed it, so what else can we say?”
“But doesn’t it seem strange?”
“What does?”
“Well, Celeste normally doesn’t drive or drink, so drunk driving doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe something upset her. She could have had a fight with her husband while drinking and just rushed out.”
“Haha. That’s not it.”
“Why not? It’s certainly possible.”
“If those two fought while drinking, Renzo would be the one to storm out, not Celeste.”
“Ahahaha. That’s right. Ahahaha.”
Laughter rippled through the tense conference room.
“Anyway, shouldn’t we elect the next Chairman?”
“We should. We can’t leave La Camara’s Chairman position vacant indefinitely.”
This was it.
The reason all senior council members were present.
The High Table was something I normally would have avoided attending, but I had no choice but to show up because of Celeste.
But today, everyone attended despite Celeste’s absence.
There was only one reason.
‘Could it be me?’
The thought that I might become the Chairman of La Camara had drawn them all here.
Today, they would be selecting the new Chairman of La Camara.
If I could just eliminate seven others, I could become the leader.
It could be me.
Everyone was afflicted with the ‘Could it be me?’ syndrome.
“How should we select him?”
“A secret ballot? We write down names, and whoever gets the most votes becomes Chairman.”
“What if we select the top three vote-getters and hold a runoff vote instead?”
“Why make it so complicated? Let’s just do a show of hands. A rough selection is fine. What’s so special about being a leader anyway? Now it’s more important that we pool our opinions together. The era of being dragged along by the Chairman should end.”
“That’s right. Things need to be different from the Celeste era.”
They said this, but everyone was making different calculations.
How could they become the leader of La Camara? They were all scheming.
That’s when it happened.
Bang!
The door opened and a man walked in.
“Sorry~ I’m a bit late, aren’t I? There were some strange guys guarding the entrance. I told them I’m a Supreme Council member, but they wouldn’t open the door. So I had to deal with them first, which made me a little late.”
All eight Supreme Council members were dumbfounded, simply watching this spectacle unfold.
He broke through here?
In the Philippines, where security is unstable, bodyguards are essential.
The level of bodyguards that the Supreme Council members brought with them was also top-tier.
There were eight security teams, and he broke through all of them to get here?
And without even breaking a sweat.
Behind that man was a single fat man who appeared to be a bodyguard.
And Bituin followed him in.
As Bituin entered, he greeted them.
“It’s been a long time, everyone. Have you all been well?”
The Supreme Council members who saw Bituin were so shocked they lost their words.
When they saw the unfamiliar man, it was surprise, but when they saw Bituin, their expressions were as if they’d seen a ghost.
It was an expression of shock beyond mere surprise.
“Bi… Bituin?”
“You were alive?”
“Couldn’t you have at least contacted us?”
“I had an accident, but the gentleman sitting over there saved my life.”
“Th… that so? Well, at least you look healthy, so that’s a relief.”
The unfamiliar man.
And Bituin.
All the way to the Chairman’s seat of La Camara.
The conference room was incredibly chaotic.
.
.
.
I needed to bring order to this scattered atmosphere.
I walked toward the largest and most central empty chair—
the one that must have belonged to Celeste—and dropped myself into it.
The conversation stopped instantly.
Their eyes fixed on me with the unspoken question: who do you think you are to sit in that chair?
Uncertainty rippled through the room as they exchanged glances.
But I gave them no time to process.
There was no time to squabble over a chair.
Sitting in it was merely a theatrical move to shift the atmosphere in my favor.
“Save the pleasantries for later—go grab coffee somewhere afterward if you’d like. For now, let’s focus.”
“This is not a place where unauthorized people are permitted to enter. Bituin is one of our members, so that’s fine, but you’re someone we’ve never seen before. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.”
“Me?”
I pointed at myself.
“Yes, you. We’re grateful that you saved Bituin, but that doesn’t give you the right to participate in this meeting.”
“What are you talking about? I came here as the Chairman of La Camara to conduct this meeting.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“What did you say?”
“Eh?”
Everyone froze at my words, their faces turning to ice.
They’d been bickering about who should be elected Chairman, so of course they were shocked to hear I already was.
“Look at this.”
I played the video of Celeste, her voice hollow and lifeless, stating that I should become Chairman.
In the footage, Celeste spoke the words without any emotion, as if reciting a script.
Those who watched it fell silent, their expressions blank with disbelief.
They never expected this.
They never imagined Celeste would have left behind a successor.
The senior executives, regaining their composure, could only mutter:
“That’s not real, is it? Wasn’t that forced under coercion? If so, it can’t be accepted as evidence.”
“Is that fake? Deepfakes and AI are all the rage these days—looks like something made with that technology. Doesn’t Celeste seem a bit off too?”
“Now that I look closer, something does seem strange. Where did you even dig up something like this?”
“Kids like you shouldn’t be sitting at tables like this. Go outside and play with other children. Hahahaha.”
They spoke among themselves, laughing at their own remarks.
What was so funny?
I didn’t find any of it amusing.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I never expected you to believe me anyway.”
“Then why did you come? Get out. We have a lot to do.”
I leaned back in the large chair and propped my feet up on the desk.
I pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
Scott lit it for me from the side.
I’d lost some weight, and now I was getting sharper.
“Looking around here, I see nothing but bastards. We don’t need to keep up appearances with each other, right? No need to pretend to be good people.”
“What?”
“Do you know where this is, and you’re talking like that?”
At the word “bastards,” a few of them started barking.
“Is there anyone here living righteously? Didn’t you all get to this position through doing bad things? I’ve suffered a lot too, and I acknowledge the suffering you’ve all endured, so what?”
I took a deep drag on my cigarette and exhaled before speaking.
“Let’s not growl at each other, you bastards. If you come wagging your tails wanting to be friendly, maybe we’ll welcome you. You Manila bastards really don’t know how to conduct yourselves in society.”
“This bastard’s got a big mouth.”
“What are you doing? Call security. Get that bastard out of here.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I’ve already cleaned up outside. And listen to what I’m saying. I might just throw you bastards a bone.”
“Hmph. Do you even know where this is? What bone?”
A man in his forties with slicked-back hair and a neat suit interjected.
“Ah… that’s Sergio, right? The one who controls the media?”
“So what? Want me to get your face on the news? I could have your face on TV all day long.”
“I’ll pass. I don’t want to be a celebrity. How about you go on instead? You were noisy too. Playing around with actors and embezzling company funds.”
“Heh. So what? That’s possible. That’s not a problem here. That’s basic here.”
“I know. That’s why I call you bastards. But the actor was male, wasn’t he? Is that your preference?”
“What? No. What are you talking about?”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d be careful around me. Because I’m not.”
Sergio vehemently denied it, but people were already accepting it as truth.
It was what Sergio usually did.
If there was someone he didn’t like, he’d report on mere suspicions—or rather, suspicions he created.
Making it seem like truth.
Sergio wasn’t a homosexual, but it didn’t matter.
Once people accept something first, they believe it as truth.
Explaining that it’s not true requires long effort and time.
Even then, that label doesn’t come off easily.
At that moment, a white-haired man spoke politely.
“It doesn’t matter how you got here or whether the video you showed is real. This is a place where we gather to have a conversation, and since we have things to discuss among ourselves, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave. In that case, I’ll overlook your disturbance so far.”
“Let me see… Esteban?”
Esteban spoke politely, but his voice seemed somewhat tense.
“That’s correct.”
“Are you afraid I’ll prevent you from becoming chairman of La Camara? Scared? I thought you had the chairmanship in your hands. It seemed like you’d become chairman just by voting, but I came and ruined it, didn’t I? No. You bastard.”
“That’s a bit harsh. There’s no one here younger than you.”
“Does age put food on the table? Just listen for a moment instead of barking like a pack of dogs. I said I’d throw you a bone.”
“Now that you mention it, your language is getting pretty harsh.”
“Some nobody walks in here and tries to act like a king.”
No matter how hard I tried to resolve this through dialogue, we weren’t making any progress.
They kept interrupting me.
I couldn’t conduct the meeting.
“Sigh… Scott.”
“Yes.”
“Lock the door.”
“No one will be able to enter or leave.”
Click.
Scott locked the entrance and took his position in front of it.
“I tried to handle this with words, but you won’t give me the chance. Everyone, lie down flat on the ground.”
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Who’s going to do that?”
But Bituin was the first to stand up and lie down flat.
“Is that all? Everything that happens next is on you teachers. I gave fair warning.”
I pulled a baseball bat from my inventory.
The people were more shocked that a baseball bat emerged from my possession than anything else could have been.
But it was effective.
At the sight of the bat, two more people went over next to Bituin and lay down.
“There’s an old saying that a mad dog needs a beating to be cured. Let’s test it. Let’s see if that’s true. If it can be fixed.”
I distributed the beatings fairly to everyone except those already lying down.
Since they’d never been in a fight, they didn’t even try to fight back—just covered their faces with both hands.
I only struck them a few times on the back, buttocks, and thighs.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
After one round of beating, everyone except two had lain down.
I hit them gently because of their age—worried about breaking bones—but it was effective.
Meanwhile, the senior executives were having the time of their lives—in the worst way possible.
Some strange man had appeared and was swinging a bat without mercy.
It hurt.
It was the first time in my life I’d been beaten.
It hurt more than I expected.
And it was humiliating.
I wanted to run away, but someone was standing guard at the door.
I didn’t think I could overpower that man and escape.
I wanted to call for help from outside, but I had no phone.
You couldn’t bring phones into High Table meetings.
It was their own rule—to prevent recordings or videos of sensitive matters being discussed.
Out of habit, I left my phone outside.
Unable to avoid it, not wanting to take more hits, I lay down on the ground.
Only two people remained standing.
“Oh, Esteban’s impressive, huh? And that’s Rafael over there? Am I right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Port and logistics magnate. I’ve heard rumors he dabbles in the black market too.”
“So? What about it?”
“How should I know? I’m Alex of Mindanao. People in the same business shouldn’t push it too far.”
“Ah… Alex? The Ruler of the South, Alex?”
Rafael’s face went pale when he heard my words.
He began to stammer.
His hands seemed to tremble slightly.
“Well, some people do call me that.”
“Eek… I didn’t know. I’m sorry. If you’d told me beforehand, I wouldn’t have caused all this trouble. I apologize.”
Rafael apologized and then went to lie down on the ground himself.
Esteban watched Rafael go with a pitiful gaze.
Only Esteban remained standing, alone.
“Old man. Now I’m really going. That was just a warm-up.”
I gripped the bat again.
“Wait… just a moment…”
“Why? Why are you scared? Show me some military spirit.”
“I’m retired. And what do we gain from doing this? I think we can settle this through conversation.”
“So when I tell you to listen, you ignore me like hell, but once I start hitting you, you change your mind? I guess a mad dog really does need the stick.”
Esteban spoke with a friendly expression on his face.
“Let’s do this with words instead. Words.”
“Fine. Everyone up. Sit in the chairs.”
Everyone sat down in the chairs.
“Have some water and we’ll resume the meeting in five minutes. We’ve wasted a lot of time with all this nonsense.”
Everyone drank water while sweating.
Barely catching my breath, I spoke immediately.
Not even a minute had passed, let alone five.
“Since everyone’s busy, let’s move quickly. I’m becoming Chairman. Any objections? Raise your hands.”
Everyone just exchanged glances with each other.
It seemed they couldn’t easily agree to this either.
That nagging feeling stirred in my chest again.
“I’m not doing this because I want to be Chairman. The situation is chaotic right now, so we need to establish a focal point quickly. Don’t pretend you don’t understand.”
But the hesitation continued.
“Scott.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s do this our way. Cut off the hands of anyone who raises theirs.”
“Why do they always make me do stuff like this?”
Scott grumbled as he drew a sharp blade from his pocket.
The gleaming steel was enough to silence any objections.
“No one objects then. By unanimous vote, I have become Chairman. Bang, bang, bang.”
And so I became Chairman of La Camara.
Through the Inventory, I had become a titan of the black market.
143 – Obsidian Unit
E-book Publication
/ December 12, 2025
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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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