I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 211

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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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211 – Unity Union
211.
Seoul.
Unity Village.
We were bustling about from early morning.
Today, guests were coming to Unity Village.
Unity Village was always well-maintained, but today we paid extra attention to every detail.
The landscaping team arranged the flower beds, and the windows were cleaned again.
Even the smallest dust on the terrace was wiped away.
Unity Village was managed daily by a hotel housekeeping team with over twenty years of experience.
The security team was equally busy.
They rechecked all access logs and confirmed today’s guests.
External communication networks were inspected, and CCTV systems were verified.
Security personnel were checking movement patterns throughout the facility.
Dae-hun arrived first.
“You’re here?”
“It’s been a while.”
I greeted Dae-hun casually,
and he extended his fist toward me.
I lightly bumped it against his.
“It’s good to see your face after so long.”
“Tell me about it. Hasn’t it been forever? Why were you so busy?”
“It wasn’t that. I had some business in Japan, so I stayed longer.”
“What kind of business?”
Dae-hun asked, but I couldn’t tell him the truth.
I couldn’t exactly say I’d been busy paralyzing Japan’s logistics and dismantling the Seiwakai.
I wanted to prevent any fallout from reaching Dae-hun, even by the slimmest chance.
The fewer people who knew about such matters, the better.
“Just this and that.”
“What? Why won’t you just tell me?”
“By the way, aren’t you moving in here?”
“Why are you changing the subject?”
“I gave you a unit here—you should move in. Geun-su moved out, so it’s lonely. Come live here. I’m bored too.”
“I’d like to, but I get a little nervous every time I come here.”
“Ha, what’s there to be nervous about?”
“The security is so tight that it feels like someone’s always watching. I feel like I can’t do anything wrong. I don’t think I could even smoke here. It makes me cautious.”
“Forget it—just move in. Let’s see each other more often.”
“Alright, I’ll visit more frequently.”
“Good.”
As Dae-hun and I exchanged casual banter, a radio crackled to life.
“Sir, Du Man-sik, the Triad Society Chairman, has arrived.”
“Alright. Let him in.”
A moment later
“It’s been a long time. Du Man-sik pays his respects.”
Du Man-sik entered and bowed with utmost courtesy.
Yet his eyes were busy darting around the surroundings.
This place didn’t seem to be merely an upscale residential district.
Hidden CCTV cameras scattered throughout.
Security personnel standing casually yet emanating an unmistakable aura of authority.
Window angles that were subtly different from the norm.
He quickly grasped that this was no simple townhouse.
This was a colossal fortress—and a trap with no exit.
There was a conviction that nowhere here could be safer,
Yet an ambivalent dread that even the smallest misstep could mean death.
It was quiet, but all the more suffocating.
Du Man-sik seemed slightly flustered as he smoothed his gleaming scalp.
His signature—a body completely devoid of hair—remained unchanged.
If anything, it shone even more brilliantly.
Did it radiate light?
Yet it carried an undeniable presence.
Indeed, position shapes the person, they say.
He was utterly transformed from when he first became Triad Society Chairman.
The appearance was the same, but the depth had changed.
Du Man-sik gave a brief report on the current state of the Triad Society.
As I listened, a radio transmission came through announcing Kurokawa’s arrival.
“Kurokawa? Who is Kurokawa?”
I was familiar with him, but Du Man-sik was meeting him for the first time.
Dae-hun had only seen that sharp-edged Kurokawa from our first trip to Japan.
“Kurokawa? That Yakuza Kurokawa?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is Kurokawa coming here?”
“Nothing major. I just invited him to grab a meal together.”
“You called him all the way from Japan just to eat?”
“You kept summoning me when I was in the Philippines all the time.”
“Still, that’s…”
“He’s here.”
Kurokawa, having shed his work clothes and dressed in a sharp suit for once, looked quite impressive.
Kurokawa glanced around the entire time he entered.
No different from Du Man-sik.
He seemed both amazed and somewhat tense.
I could sense the overwhelming pressure this space emanated, as if my instincts were reacting to it.
Kurokawa entered and offered a light greeting.
He didn’t bow, but his greeting was far from casual.
Though a simple gesture, it carried profound respect.
And so, at Unity Village, South Korea’s gangsters, Japan’s Yakuza, and Asia’s Triad Society all gathered in one place.
And then came the final arrival.
“Sorry I’m a bit late?”
It was Sandro.
Sandro, who controlled the Philippines.
Once I confirmed that Sandro had arrived, I smiled broadly and spoke.
“Everyone’s here. Shall we eat?”
We all gathered together and began grilling meat.
Today’s menu was pork belly.
The charcoal fire was lit, and the meat was placed on the grill.
Sizzle—
Oil dripped down, causing small flames to flare up.
The savory aroma mingled with the acrid smoke.
Mushrooms and garlic were added to the grill.
“Should we go with some soju and beer tonight?”
“Sounds good.”
Dae-hun began mixing the soju and beer.
He poured an appropriate amount of soju and then sprayed beer over it like a water gun to create the drink.
Dae-hun’s hand movements were practically at the level of a professional.
Meanwhile, I grilled the meat.
Du Man-sik had offered to grill, but I cook meat well.
I couldn’t count how much meat I’d grilled during my guide days.
Whenever we went on hopping tours, I’d grill the meat.
When I flipped the meat, the pork belly showed beautiful grill marks from the Maillard reaction.
The juices glistened.
I dipped it in sauce, ate it with garlic, and it was pure bliss.
“Wow, that’s really delicious, sir.”
Du Man-sik, though not the youngest, was playing that role and expressed his amazement.
Kurokawa also wore an expression of pleasant surprise.
Sandro had eaten plenty before, but perhaps because it had been a while, he savored every bite.
Besides the pork belly, beef, shrimp, and various seafood were served, but the pork belly remained the most popular.
“This is the same menu that President Kim Min-su and Wei Zhonglin ate here.”
“Really?”
I took out my phone and showed them a photograph.
In it, President Kim Min-su, Chairman Xi Wei Zhonglin, and I were arm-in-arm, smiling for the camera.
In front of us, pork belly was being grilled.
Du Man-sik and Kurokawa were startled by what they witnessed.
Dae-hun and Sandro were equally shocked.
“I knew you were impressive, but I never imagined it was to this extent.”
Du Man-sik spoke while appearing to contemplate something.
“Then was Chairman Wei Zhonglin’s sudden announcement the other day because of this?”
Wei Zhonglin had eaten meat with us and then made a pointed declaration about South Korea being an “eternal friend,” warning that “disrespecting Korea is no different from disrespecting China.”
I nodded slightly.
Du Man-sik’s jaw dropped.
Meanwhile, Kurokawa, observing this situation, felt bewildered.
How could someone possess such immense power
and such tremendous wealth, yet refuse to dominate,
instead asking to walk shoulder to shoulder as equals?
Saying we’re all family,
rejecting tribute and the title of Boss, yet promising to help in times of need—this man.
Could Kurokawa have acted like Alex if he had possessed everything?
He shook his head.
Absolutely not.
This man was young, yet he was great and magnificent.
How could one not serve him?
Kurokawa barely suppressed the tears threatening to spill.
Thus the second grilled meat gathering commenced at Unity Village.
If the first had been a summit between national leaders,
the second was a gathering of Asia’s black market—Yakuza, Triad Society, Sandro Group, and gangsters all assembled.
As beer and soju circulated and light conversation flowed, deeper topics gradually emerged.
They began revealing their true concerns.
“Boss, no matter how much I think about it, we need to reorganize our management system. Since our organization spans all of Southeast Asia, it’s becoming difficult to manage. We can’t even trust our personnel.”
Du Man-sik spoke first.
“We’re in the same boat. We may have changed our clothes to waste disposal, but we still can’t establish a proper foundation. This is the perfect time to expand, yet finding ships is incredibly difficult. And whose fault is that?”
Kurokawa glanced at me as he spoke.
I had thrown Japanese logistics into chaos, making it extremely difficult to acquire ships now.
“Our scale is growing too, but as the money amounts increase, money laundering becomes harder.”
Sandro said.
“Doesn’t Ana handle that for you?”
“Ana is already struggling with processing your money alone. Honestly, compared to how much you earn, we’re like a mom-and-pop shop? No, we’re basically begging.”
Sandro chuckled.
“We lack personnel. We have plenty of desk jockeys, but we don’t have enough people to do the actual fieldwork. That’s what worries us.”
On the surface, they all appeared to be doing well, but each carried various problems.
These were growing pains—inevitable challenges as organizations expanded.
Yet as I listened to their concerns, I thought differently.
It seemed their problems could be resolved if they cooperated with one another.
Du Man-sik’s concerns seemed like something the Rebel Forces could handle.
Personnel control and training—the Rebel Forces excelled at that more than anyone.
Once they were admitted, they’d be brought up to basic standards.
They’d even build their mental fortitude.
And if we taught them Korean on top of that?
Dae-hun’s concern about lacking people to rely on at the sites would be solved.
We’d gain exceptionally skilled personnel.
Then Du Man-sik and Dae-hun’s concerns would be completely resolved.
And Kurokawa’s concerns were even easier to address.
Using Jason, who handles smuggling, would solve it immediately.
Sandro could also resolve his issues sufficiently by leveraging the Yakuza.
Unlike the Philippines, Japan’s economy was massive, so the scale of money we could handle was entirely different.
Money laundering was possible.
By using Jason to exchange goods back and forth, we could create evidence that merchandise had changed hands.
And looking at it this way, everything could be resolved right here.
We simply shared our difficulties with each other, and solutions emerged immediately.
“Wow~ we just talked about it, and it’s already solved? Hahahaha.”
Du Man-sik spoke with genuine delight.
“Right. I wish we could gather like this often, eat together, and talk things through.”
“That would be great.”
Everyone agreed.
We decided to call this organization the “Unity Union.”
But everyone except me called this organization the “Alex Group.”
********
At that same moment in Singapore.
The instant Gavin’s call ended,
an ordinary-looking trading company office near Raffles Place in Singapore suddenly became bustling with activity.
On the surface, it was a trading company dealing in Southeast Asian agricultural products,
but once you passed through the security door, an entirely different world revealed itself.
The entire wall was covered with monitors.
Numerous people sat focused on their individual monitors, their fingers dancing across keyboards.
This was Parallax’s Singapore branch—a front office responsible for intelligence gathering and special operations throughout the Asian region.
Victor, the Team Leader of the Singapore team, received Gavin’s call and immediately issued orders.
“Intelligence Analysis Team, immediately look into what this ‘Phantom Grid’ is.”
“Confirm whether it actually exists or if they’re just con artists.”
“Find out when and where Phantom Grid’s demonstration will be held.”
“Hacking Team, first locate where their servers are.”
“Check if hacking is possible, and if it is, extract the data immediately.”
“Dennis, you’re on 24-hour surveillance starting now.”
“Check everything—which hotel he’s staying at, which restaurants he visits, what cards he uses.”
“Secure all movement routes from the CCTV footage.”
At Victor’s command, the agents moved with perfect synchronization.
.
.
.
Thirty minutes later, reports began arriving one after another.
“No materials related to Phantom Grid found.”
“Unable to locate the server.”
“No confirmed details about the demonstration either.”
“The target is currently dining at Marina Bay Sands.”
“The target’s device has a satellite security link, making it inaccessible. However, we’ve detected a backdoor signal being transmitted from Zamboanga, Philippines. It appears that location is their main base.”
“Where? Zamboanga?”
“Yes. Zamboanga.”
“Hmm···”
Victor crossed his arms and contemplated.
Zamboanga—a place of dense jungle and swarming rebel forces.
Even for Parallax, it wasn’t an easy location to operate in.
But Victor wasn’t the type to abandon a signal he’d caught.
“Find the signal’s source. Pinpoint it to a level we can strike. And send the retrieval team to the location immediately.”
“Understood.”
“Tell them to grab only the technical data and destroy everything else. Make it impossible to recover any forensic evidence. Clean it up thoroughly.”
“That’s what the retrieval team does best. They’ll handle it cleanly.”
.
.
.
While Victor directed the operation with tension,
Dennis was leisurely dining at Marina Bay Sands.
All while on a call.
– They’re coming, I’m telling you.
“Still, they’re Parallax. Would they really act so petty? They’re not street thugs.”
Shin Jung-gi’s voice came through the phone.
– The established ones always do worse.
At Shin Jung-gi’s words, Dennis let out a quiet laugh.
“If those guys show up like you say···they’re dead.”
This was a bet between the two of them alone.
Shin Jung-gi believed they would definitely come to steal the Phantom Grid,
while Dennis doubted that someone as prominent as Parallax would act so cheaply.
If Dennis lost, he’d buy Shin Jung-gi ice chocolate for a month.
If Shin Jung-gi lost, he’d buy unlimited beer.
So they had sent a fake signal using Phantom Grid.
It was a trap.
The abandoned factory contained not servers, but hundreds of tons of explosives.
Rebel Forces stood by nearby, ready to eliminate any survivors who might miraculously escape.
The next dawn.
Parallax’s retrieval team arrived at the signal’s origin point.
After confirming there were no hazards, the moment the retrieval team kicked through the iron door to enter the interior,
what they discovered was not server racks, but a detonator timer blinking red.
There was no time to escape.
Rumble rumble boom boom!!!
A deafening roar engulfed the abandoned factory.
Parallax’s vaunted retrieval team vanished along with the factory.
Not a single survivor remained.

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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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