I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 215

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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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215 – HSA Mortuary
215.
Singapore.
My first destination was the HSA Mortuary located in Outram.
It was the forensic autopsy facility of the Health Sciences Authority.
Dennis was there.
Unlike the sweltering Singapore air outside, the interior of the building was chillingly cold.
I passed through the frigid corridor and ventured deeper inside.
Fluorescent lights stretched along the hallway, casting their pale glow.
My footsteps echoed unnaturally loud.
The building was eerily silent.
It was a different kind of silence than a hospital.
There was no trace of life here.
The staff member led the way without speaking.
Shortly after.
We arrived at a room lined with large metal drawers.
“Here it is.”
The staff member pointed to one of the many drawers.
I nodded,
and the staff member grasped the handle and pulled.
Click.
A dull, metallic sliding sound echoed through the room.
Dennis emerged from the large silver mortuary drawer.
He was covered with a white sheet.
The staff member carefully folded back the sheet.
“Please confirm the identity.”
The staff member’s voice was as sterile as the building itself.
I paid no attention to their words, my eyes fixed solely on Dennis.
It was indeed Dennis lying on the cold metal slab.
He was far paler than I remembered.
Beneath his chin, the marks of his final choice bloomed like a crimson flower,
yet strangely, his expression seemed peaceful, as if he were merely asleep.
He almost looked as though he were smiling.
I could not speak.
I simply held my breath and gazed at Dennis.
To remember this final image.
I took his hand.
It was cold.
There was no warmth of a living person.
Only then did it truly sink in.
He’s really dead.
It reminded me of Congo, when I lost my brothers.
The shock and terror I felt then are still vivid.
That sensation of the world crumbling,
the loss of everything I had been holding up—it still weighs on me.
The reason I handle everything through money,
the reason I invest so heavily in equipment—it all comes down to this.
I didn’t want to lose anyone.
I didn’t want to feel that emotion ever again.
I didn’t want to drive my family to their deaths.
Money is replaceable—with it or without it, it doesn’t matter.
If it’s gone, I can earn it again.
But family that’s lost can never come back.
“The cause of death is presumed to be suicide. A full autopsy will reveal more details, but···”
“An autopsy isn’t necessary. It’s Dennis. We’ll take him.”
“That’s not for you to decide. The coroner must confirm and determine whether an autopsy is needed. Until then, please wait···”
“I’m taking him.”
I stared down the employee listing off procedures, my voice low.
A low growl.
The employee flinched and stepped back.
But it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t leave Dennis in this cold place any longer.
I couldn’t leave him in this strange place for even another second.
Dennis belonged in Zamboanga, not here in Singapore.
I had to take him home.
I looked at Dennis’s face one more time.
It seemed he had made an extreme choice to handle everything alone.
He must have done it to protect us.
That’s the kind of man Dennis was.
“Dennis goes to Zamboanga now. And call an emergency meeting.”
Scott bowed his head instead of answering.
I gazed at Dennis’s peaceful face.
‘Find peace there. I’ll handle what’s left.’
This wasn’t the end.
It was only the beginning.
*******
I headed toward Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
It was where Dennis had stayed last.
The place where his final moments remained.
I couldn’t move forward without checking it.
The elevator came to a stop on the 55th floor.
The corridor was silent.
Yellow police tape cordoned off the entrance, but no one stood guard.
It seemed they had already closed the case as a suicide.
I ducked under the police tape,
opened the door, and stepped into the 55th floor Suite Room.
The scene remained exactly as it had been.
No one had disturbed anything.
I paused at the threshold, surveying the room.
Then I moved slowly inside, examining my surroundings with care.
The floor, the sofa, the window—
I shifted my gaze methodically across the space.
The events of that day began to take shape in my mind.
Dennis had already known.
That the enemies were coming up.
Dennis would never have failed to notice.
How terrified he must have been.
How desperately he must have wanted to be with us.
He loved people more than anyone, always quick with a grin.
He must have been filled with the desire to lean on someone.
But Dennis did not.
He pushed away the urge to ask for help,
and instead chose solitude to protect us.
Rather than call for assistance, he severed every connection that could lead back to us.
He destroyed his phone.
So we would not be dragged into this,
he bore all the suffering alone.
I should have stopped him before the end,
should have forbidden him from taking such risks.
Belated regret washed over me quietly.
I took another step forward.
Dried bloodstains appeared on the floor.
At least there was that mercy.
Before they arrived,
before their filthy hands could touch him, he made his choice.
He was spared the humiliation.
I stood before the window.
Singapore’s waters stretched beyond the glass pane.
And beside it, a bottle of San Miguel beer came into view.
From what I could hear, the half-empty beer sloshed softly inside.
“This bastard…”
Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.
So this is where his final moments were spent.
Drinking San Miguel beer, yearning for Zamboanga.
Longing for us until the very end.
Then he should have reached out.
He should have called for help, begged for rescue.
I would have risked anything to bring him back.
The tears I’d held back continued to fall.
It felt like my fault alone, and I couldn’t lift my head.
“…Can you see Zamboanga from here?”
I asked, but there was no answer.
“You’ve done well. Let’s go home now.”
I committed the final moment to memory.
Checking the Hotel Room, I began to understand why Dennis had done this.
He’d tried to settle everything on his own terms.
He’d wanted to close the chapter himself.
Everything was organized, just like Dennis.
Even his laptop and phone were neatly arranged.
Still…
This isn’t how it should end.
This cannot be how it ends.
Now only one thing remains.
To discover who drove him to this point.
They must feel the weight of their actions in their bones.
******
Emergency Response Meeting
The emergency meeting was held not in Singapore, but in Johor Bahru.
A place where crossing a single bridge would take you to Singapore.
A place where you could reach anywhere in Singapore within an hour.
But it was Malaysia, not Singapore.
Johor Bahru.
We met there.
There was a reason we met in Johor Bahru instead of Singapore.
Singapore was on high alert right now.
The Police and government offices were on edge.
I didn’t know why.
But it meant Dennis’s death was no ordinary death.
No one said it outright, but something had clearly happened.
We didn’t need to draw attention by moving around in groups in such a place.
There was no need to go poking around everywhere.
I had to clear Dennis’s name,
but I didn’t want to create unnecessary friction with the authorities over trivial matters.
I didn’t want to complicate things with such actions.
In times like these, I had to be careful.
That’s why I chose Johor Bahru, close to Singapore, as my base of operations.
There was a decisive reason for selecting Johor Bahru as my temporary headquarters.
The Rebel Forces.
Now I had no idea what might happen.
I wanted to prevent any unfortunate incidents,
but my nature wasn’t kind enough to let an enemy standing right before me slip away.
I decided to station the Rebel Forces nearby so I could respond to any situation.
Ready to unleash firepower the moment anything occurred.
Ready to wage war itself if necessary.
But Singapore was too cramped to station the Rebel Forces there.
There were too many watchful eyes.
The authorities were too powerful.
So I had no choice but to establish myself in Johor Bahru.
I set up my headquarters near the Second Link Bridge connecting Johor Bahru and Singapore.
So I could enter Singapore at any moment.
Nearly everyone attended the emergency meeting.
Sandro, Simon, Edward, Tian Zihao, Ana, and Magiting.
Patrick couldn’t make it.
He was unable to move due to his international summit schedule.
Even if he could come, I would have stopped him.
But Patrick’s rage upon hearing of Dennis’s death exceeded our imagination.
Even through the phone, his fury was palpable.
Patrick promised all funding and information support to find those behind it.
And there was one more person.
Shin Jung-gi also didn’t attend.
He didn’t participate in the meeting, and he didn’t explain why.
He didn’t even take calls.
He was holed up in his workshop and wouldn’t come out.
He was just absorbed in something.
Apparently he barely ate.
I was worried about Shin Jung-gi,
but I didn’t have the luxury to concern myself with him right now.
We had work to do.
What we needed now wasn’t sorrow—it was truth.
We needed information.
Why Dennis died,
and who drove him to that death.
.
.
.
The air in the Conference Room was heavy.
But it wasn’t merely a somber atmosphere.
Within the silence, I felt a sharp, cutting edge.
If anyone were caught,
it felt as though they’d be torn apart on the spot.
What filled the Conference Room was a burning thirst for vengeance.
“So it’s Parallax?”
“Yes. During recent dealings with Parallax, certain… unfortunate incidents occurred.”
Leon, who had worked alongside Dennis for years in weapons trafficking, answered.
Leon was a colleague who had shared life and death with Dennis since their days running weapons under Jerico.
Dennis had primarily handled sales and negotiations,
while Leon managed weapons inventory and distribution.
The two, who grew up in the same village as children, were old friends and partners.
Leon’s voice was calm,
but his eyes were already bloodshot with rage.
“Explain in detail.”
“There’s an organization called Parallax that holds overwhelming dominance in the black market weapons trade. They demanded a monopoly on Phantom Grid and quoted 10 million dollars, but Dennis refused, saying it wouldn’t even cover operational costs.”
“He made the right call.”
“The problem came after. Parallax, holding a grudge, invaded Zamboanga to steal Phantom Grid… a bomb detonated at the Factory… Gavin led the team out···”
Leon’s explanation continued.
The account was long, but no one interrupted him—everyone listened intently.
Yet beneath the table, everyone’s fists clenched, swallowing their rage.
In that silence, I felt how desperately Dennis had fought to protect the organization.
The more I felt his efforts, the more my anger burned.
“His last contact said he didn’t know what would happen, that he was destroying his phone. He said he’d contact us once he got a new one. That was the end.”
“Was there anything else?”
“He mentioned that Gavin seemed to have been dealt with. Nothing certain… just a feeling.”
“Understood. Leon. Now you secure weapons.”
“We have plenty of weapons right now.”
“Do you think I’m talking about rifles? Not that kind. Get weapons capable of waging war. Tanks, fighter jets, nuclear weapons—whatever you can find. Don’t worry about money. Get everything you can.”
My voice rose without my realizing it.
“That’s···”
“What’s the problem?”
“With guns, maybe, but weapons of that caliber will inevitably draw Parallax in.”
“So buying weapons helps Parallax?”
“That’s correct. Moreover, we have no idea what kind of sabotage they might have rigged inside those weapons.”
I exhaled heavily.
But Leon’s words were right.
I couldn’t buy weapons from Parallax while preparing for war against them.
And there was no telling what tricks they’d planted inside.
Purchasing weapons from them was off the table.
“Understood. Source whatever weapons you can find without going through Parallax. And dig deeper into Parallax itself—their organizational structure, funding sources, headquarters, supply routes, everything.”
“Understood.”
Leon bowed and left the room.
As the door closed, the conference room fell silent once more.
But no one sat idle.
Everyone seemed to be mentally calculating their own methods for retaliation.
All we knew so far was the name Parallax.
Everything else remained a mystery.
Yet I couldn’t afford to sit back and do nothing.
There was a chance someone out there might know something.
I called Du Man-sik, the Chairman of the Triad Society.
“Do you know anything about Parallax?”
– I only know the name.
“Anything else?”
– They’re a European organization, so they don’t operate in this region. We have limited intelligence. They’re primarily active in South America and the Middle East. As far as I know, their main office is in Dubai.
“Dubai?”
– Oh! And they also have an office in Singapore. It’s not a large one, though.
“Do you know the address of their Singapore office?”
– I’ll look into it and contact you within ten minutes.
Du Man-sik sent over an address in less than five minutes.
They’d sent us a gift, and it would be rude not to reciprocate.
“Prepare for deployment. It’s only proper to return the favor.”

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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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