I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 228

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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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228 – Reunion
228.
Unity Town.
The streets were teeming with people.
There were still many children,
and music echoed from every corner,
with conversations in different languages intermingling.
Unity Town was still growing.
Children who graduated from the School left Unity Town to find jobs elsewhere,
but even more children arrived at Unity Town anew.
Unity Town’s educational methods had become so renowned they were featured in the news.
Unity Town was the kind of place others envied.
It had produced an extraordinary number of corporate executives, judges, prosecutors, and doctors.
The only regret those who left harbored was that they couldn’t become part of the Rebel Forces.
Yet when word spread that studying at Unity Town could make one a judge or prosecutor,
countless people flocked to Unity Town.
So many people wanted to enter Unity Town that a waiting list was created,
and now a selection process was necessary.
Some people, even after graduating from the School, refused to leave Unity Town.
They settled near Unity Town.
They married here and found employment.
They built their lives centered around Unity Town.
Meanwhile, children who had studied at K-ORIGIN SCHOOL in South Korea
returned and began opening their own shops.
Restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, and more.
People flocked to them, and their popularity showed no signs of waning.
K-culture was no longer a passing trend,
but had established itself as a massive cultural force.
Mixed in with all this were my own people, whom I had brought for security.
People of all professions and diverse races and nationalities blended together.
As a result, Unity Town had become even more complex.
It was closer to chaos than orderly arrangement.
Yet strangely, it wasn’t unpleasant.
Rather, it was creating a unique atmosphere unlike anything I’d seen before.
Rough yet vibrant,
unstable yet oddly familiar.
In that strange atmosphere, I found someone.
Someone I had met back in Congo—
Jose and Poapi.
Jose was the man who ran a bar called L’Oasis in Congo,
He was someone who distributed all sorts of information and weapons.
When I was in Congo,
I received considerable help from Jose.
And then there was Poapi.
Poapi was the one who made me hesitate
right up until the moment I left Congo.
Poapi’s life changed because of me.
Where he lived changed, what he learned changed.
That’s why I even considered adoption.
I wanted to take full responsibility for him.
But back then, I was too young,
and international adoption was impossible for someone who wasn’t even married.
Since then, I’ve been sending him living expenses continuously,
but this was the first time I’d seen his face since then.
In the meantime, Jose had aged considerably,
and Poapi had become an adult.
The moment we saw each other, we embraced tightly.
I was truly delighted.
I had missed them.
I was curious about how they’d been living.
.
.
.
We left the crowded streets behind
and moved to a quieter place.
We had so much to talk about.
Jose said he was still running L’Oasis.
Congo remained the same, he said.
Nothing had changed.
His words were filled with regret.
Though Jose was French,
he had deep affection for Congo.
He loved Congo more than the Congolese themselves.
He seemed to hope that Congo would develop further.
Poapi had become an adult.
He’d grown quite tall.
Over 190 centimeters.
His body was muscular too.
He said he was attending university.
But in the evenings, he helps Jose with illegal weapons trafficking, he said.
Since Poapi had no guardian, Jose took care of him—
it was only natural.
A family trade, one might say?
I sent the money,
but money alone cannot sustain a child.
He needed an adult’s attention and protection.
Love is what allows one to grow properly.
Jose provided that in my stead.
Thanks to him, Poapi studied during the day and dealt in weapons trafficking by evening.
But what truly captivated Poapi was the world of information brokering.
Rather than buying and selling weapons directly,
Poapi loved listening to the stories that emerged from those dealings, recombining them into new patterns.
And the person Poapi admired most was none other than Alex.
“I hear this guy Alex has quite the influence in the Philippines these days.”
“He’s supposedly taken control of not just the Philippine underworld, but politics and business too.”
“The Triad Society, the Yakuza, even Korean Gangsters—they’re all beneath him, apparently.”
“The Alex Group, I think they call it?”
“He has influence in China as well, they say.”
“I heard he receives state guest treatment?”
Poapi would chatter endlessly about Alex, a man whose face he’d never even seen.
But then—
“So you were Alex all along? Hehehehe.”
Jose laughs.
Poapi is too stunned to speak.
“I apologize for not mentioning it sooner. It just ended up this way.”
“No need to tell me. Besides, the fewer people who know about these things, the better.”
While Jose accepted it coolly, Poapi still seemed unable to believe the situation.
“You’re really Alex, hyung?”
The expression of a successful fanboy, one might say?
His face radiates pure joy.
After the brief greeting ended,
I gave them a rough explanation of the current situation.
Why I was anxious.
Why I’d called them here.
“We heard a brief explanation while waiting. Chairman Parallax, you said?”
“Yes.”
“If it’s Parallax, then it must be Adrian.”
“You know him?”
Jose nodded matter-of-factly.
“I do. Adrian was the one distributing weapons from Congo. The sniper rifle you requested from Congo back then—Adrian was the one who distributed it.”
“Pardon?”
The gun I used was something Adrian had procured for me?
I had no idea.
“There are rumors that Adrian was also the one who instigated the civil war in Congo.”
“Really?”
Is this what they call a rap sheet?
Every story about Adrian is darker than the last.
I couldn’t find a single redeeming tale.
In any case, I now had one more reason to eliminate Adrian.
If not for Adrian, my brothers wouldn’t have died, and neither would Dennis.
If Adrian remained alive, there was no telling who else might fall.
For the sake of the future, Adrian had to be removed—no question about it.
But then.
“We want to deal with Adrian too, but we can’t find where he is.”
“Really? Just track down the people who were with him. He’s probably nearby, right?”
“Of course we searched for them first. We found all the guards stationed on the perimeter, but Adrian? He’s vanished without a trace. Clean.”
“I see.”
Jose seemed to be thinking about something.
“Well, since Parallax originated in Zurich, why don’t we dig around there? That’s where he’d feel most comfortable and secure, wouldn’t it?”
“Hmm… Do you think Adrian would actually return to his old headquarters?”
Jose shook his head after a brief moment of consideration.
“Probably not. That would mean he went to a branch office or a safe house, but there are so many of those it would be nearly impossible to sort through them all.”
Our conversation was heading toward a dead end.
We had no answers.
That’s when Poapi spoke up hesitantly.
“I heard something a while back.”
Our attention turned toward Poapi.
Feeling our gaze, Poapi looked slightly flustered.
“I’m… I’m not certain about it. It’s just something I overheard, but I thought it might be helpful.”
“It’s fine. Say whatever comes to mind. In situations like this, those kinds of details can be more useful than you’d think.”
I set him at ease so he could speak freely.
“While making a delivery once, I overheard someone sitting nearby say that these days, he doesn’t hide the way he used to.”
“Doesn’t hide?”
I struggled to understand what Poapi was saying.
We couldn’t find Adrian, and now he’s saying Adrian isn’t hiding?
“Well… I guess what I mean is he doesn’t hide himself in physical locations anymore?”
“Explain that more clearly.”
“In the past, he’d set up safe houses and hold out in them. But apparently, that’s become too risky these days.”
“Why?”
“Because patterns emerge.”
“A pattern?”
“When people stay somewhere, they leave traces. When those traces accumulate, their location eventually becomes identifiable.”
“Ah···.”
It felt like I’d been struck from behind.
Until now, I’d only assumed Adrian was ‘staying’ somewhere.
“So where is he hiding then?”
“He’d go to places with lots of people instead. Because he’d blend in when there are crowds.”
“I see. Places with crowds, where people constantly come and go. But so many that it’s hard to verify, where people keep changing and records overflow. Right?”
“Exactly.”
Poapi answered with a smile.
“Places like that would be airports? Harbors?”
Poapi shook his head.
“Those actually have even more surveillance. You can’t stay long there either. It’s not comfortable.”
“Then where?”
At my question, Poapi hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know where Adrian is hiding. But I know what we should be looking for.”
“What should we be looking for?”
“··· Where the money moves.”
“Money? Are you talking about banks, securities firms? He’s hiding there?”
“No. Those aren’t good places to hide. Adrian will now be extremely careful about concealing himself.”
“So we hack the CCTV and···”
“That won’t work.”
“You don’t understand our TraceNet. TraceNet is at a level where···”
“No matter how advanced it is, it won’t find him. Because he’ll be hiding his face.”
“Ha, we know that much too. That’s why we calculate comprehensively beyond just the face···”
“Height can be solved with elevator shoes, body shape can be corrected with shoulder pads, and if he puts mismatched insoles in his shoes, his gait becomes irregular so gait analysis won’t work either—how can you be so certain you’ll find him?”
“···.”
“The more advanced TraceNet is, the harder it becomes to find him. Systems like that are more sensitive to small changes.”
Poapi had taken control of the room at some point.
We were all listening intently to what he had to say.
“To find Adrian, we need to abandon everything he possesses. Adrian will conceal his appearance and hide his name. Instead of his name, he’ll operate through corporations or investment companies.”
“Operating through corporations, so···”
“We need to find Adrian’s money, not Adrian himself.”
The conference room fell silent for a moment.
Poapi continued speaking.
“Adrian in hiding will need money.”
“If he’s just hiding and breathing, would he really need money?”
Poapi shook his head.
“We need more than that. Until now, the organization had a department handling finances, but would they risk contacting them while in hiding? And you said quite a few Parallax members died last time. Can we assume there was no one managing the money there? Adrian’s connection has been severed.”
“The accounts are still active, but there’s no one to transfer the funds?”
“Exactly. The money exists, but it’s unusable. They probably split it across dozens of accounts.”
“He needs the money, but he’s in hiding so he can’t contact the organization. Must be frustrating.”
“If he can’t contact the organization and can’t trust his subordinates, there’s really only one option left.”
“He’ll do it himself.”
“That’s right.”
Poapi’s voice hardened.
“He’s going to gather the scattered money. He won’t have any immediately available funds right now, and he needs it to prepare for the next plan. So he’ll collect it. In cash.”
“In cash?”
“It’s convenient to use right now, and harder to trace.”
“That sounds risky. Would Adrian really take such risks to gather money?”
“He has to, even if it’s risky. Otherwise, he’ll be caught quickly.”
Poapi spoke with certainty.
Only then did I understand the situation from Poapi’s words.
Adrian is experiencing serious anxiety.
He’s gone completely into hiding.
But hiding costs far more money than one might think.
This was the part I had been overlooking.
We’re engaged in a deadly game of hide-and-seek right now.
If caught, we die.
So should we just stay in one place and wait for the seeker to find us?
No.
We must keep moving, constantly relocating.
Leaving no traces,
evading CCTV while moving continuously.
Changing locations,
switching vehicles with each move.
Changing clothes every time,
wearing disguises,
altering our appearance.
Especially since Adrian isn’t alone.
He must have at least a few attendants with him.
The attendants must be disguised as well.
Fake identities need to be created.
Records must be erased with every move,
and using people requires even more money to keep them silent.
The fewer trustworthy people around,
the more everything had to be solved with money.
Right now, Adrian is alone.
No organization,
no connections,
and no reliable hands to move on my behalf.
That’s why I needed money.
I had to gather the scattered funds.
So instead of chasing Adrian, I had to follow the flow.
The flow of money.
I urgently summoned Ana and Tian Zihao.
******
Somewhere in Europe.
Adrian gazed out the window at the falling rain.
I’d lost count of how many hotels this was.
I changed hotels multiple times a day.
I never stayed in one place for long.
I always booked several accommodations simultaneously.
Under different names.
But I only used one of them.
The rest I left empty, or deliberately left traces to create confusion.
I installed cameras in the booked accommodations.
Just in case anyone was pursuing me.
Every time I moved, I changed my appearance,
switched clothes, and altered my physique.
It was inconvenient, but unavoidable.
I didn’t use a mobile phone.
When I had to, I used disposable ones,
used them briefly, and discarded them immediately.
I never used cards.
I only used cash.
I didn’t keep my travel routes simple.
I switched vehicles multiple times in between,
or changed cars.
I deliberately complicated my movements.
Honestly, I hadn’t intended to go this far.
At first, I only planned to hide for a while.
After leaving Mauritius, I separated from the main group and acted independently.
It was because of the look in Alex’s eyes.
I thought I should just be a little careful.
There was also a calculation to create confusion.
The Adrian who left Mauritius
had vanished completely into hiding.
A day?
Two days at most?
I thought that would be enough.
I assumed Alex would be wandering around searching for the missing Adrian.
I was planning to counterattack while watching Alex panic.
But in that time, Teams 2 and 3 were completely annihilated.
They were wiped out the moment 24 hours passed.
It meant they had been hunting us.
They waited, and the moment 24 hours elapsed, they killed them.
Chills ran down my spine.
I had to be careful.
If I acted recklessly now, I would be discovered immediately.
Even a trivial mistake could expose my location.
A single connection,
A single movement,
A single choice.
Any of it could reveal my whereabouts.
So I had to stay hidden for now.
That was the only way to survive.
And only by surviving could I seek revenge.
But right now, there was nothing I could do.
I couldn’t contact anyone, trust anyone, or make a move.
To disappear completely,
I had distanced myself from headquarters and used men from the branch as attendants.
It was a miscalculation to think two days would be enough.
Adrian slowly closed his eyes.
I needed money.
There was no way around it to stay hidden.
Identity, transportation, lodging, food, information—
Everything, even the smallest thing, required money.
And hiding while operating meant everything came with a premium.
Everything cost more than usual.
I had plenty of money.
My accounts overflowed with it.
But right now, there was no one to bring that money to me.
He, lost in thought, opened his eyes.
I made a decision.
To go to the bank directly.
I had an account set up under a corporate name.
An account where anyone could withdraw with just the account number and password.
I disguised myself and went to the bank.
I opened a secret corporate account.

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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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