I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 235

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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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235 – Cooperation
235.
Zurich Parallax Headquarters.
Overlooking Lake Zurich,
the car came to a stop before a palatial building.
The door opened.
I stepped out first,
and Mateo followed behind me.
Mateo took the lead ahead.
I walked one step behind him.
Like his secretary.
It was intentional.
Today, the master of this place had to be Mateo, not me.
Mateo walked with confidence,
and I followed silently in his wake.
As we entered the building’s lobby,
every employee’s gaze fixed upon us at once.
A moment of silence.
Time seemed to stop as everyone froze.
They recognized Mateo.
The man who had gone silent.
The man they believed had died with the Singapore staff.
He had returned as if nothing had happened.
And he brought an unfamiliar man with him.
A subtle ripple of disturbance spread among the employees.
Their pupils trembled.
They attempted silent conversations, their lips moving soundlessly.
Someone moved away to make a phone call,
while others remained frozen in place.
But Mateo did not stop.
He did not spare them a glance.
He simply walked on.
As if it were natural.
As if he had always been the master of this place.
A Security Officer inside the building bowed respectfully to Mateo.
“It has been a long time since we last met.”
The Security Officer’s gaze passed over Mateo and fixed upon me.
The temperature shifted.
Cold.
I said nothing.
Mateo spoke briefly.
“She’s my secretary. It’s fine.”
“Yes, understood.”
The Security Officer answered reluctantly.
“And convene an emergency meeting right now. In the main conference room in ten minutes. All executives must attend without fail.”
“… I’ll relay the message immediately.”
Having issued his orders, Mateo strode confidently toward the conference room.
I followed in his wake, committing the building’s layout to memory.
Corridors, entrances, stairwell locations, exits.
I also noted the positions of the security personnel.
It was a habit I’d developed without thinking—something I did whenever I entered unfamiliar territory.
The path to the conference room.
Beyond the glass windows, Lake Zurich stretched out below us.
It appeared perfectly serene,
but the atmosphere here was anything but.
Mateo steadied his breathing before the conference room entrance, hesitating briefly at the door.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”
I whispered to Mateo.
He nodded and pushed the door wide open.
.
.
.
The conference room.
The moment the door closed.
The air itself seemed to crystallize.
A long, extended table.
Parallax’s executives sat arrayed around it.
Weapons, logistics, intelligence, finance, mercenaries, smuggling, and more.
All of Parallax’s “instruments”—each division head—had assembled.
More than thirty people occupied the room.
They all turned their gaze toward Mateo as he entered and took his seat.
Their stares were so glacial that even I, standing behind him, felt my breath catch.
“… So you’re alive.”
Someone muttered low.
That single phrase spread like a signal.
“I thought you were dead in Singapore.”
“What happened?”
“Shouldn’t you have explained before calling this meeting?”
“Maybe the audit team should investigate you first before we proceed?”
Words poured forth.
There was mockery, and there was open hostility.
But Mateo offered no response.
He simply walked forward, slowly, toward the center seat.
He stopped in front of where Adrian had been sitting.
He settled down.
He took that chair.
In that instant.
The murmuring ceased entirely.
Some narrowed their eyes,
while others made their displeasure unmistakably clear.
Everyone gathered in that Conference Room understood precisely what that seat represented.
Yet Mateo had claimed it for himself.
“Mateo. You’ve come back from the dead, but it seems you’ve lost your senses. That seat isn’t yours.”
The voice was ice-cold.
More than cold—it was chilling.
But Mateo remained composed,
crossing his legs as he answered.
“You’re right. It’s mine.”
The executives’ expressions darkened further.
The temperature in the Conference Room plummeted.
“Just because you speak of that seat doesn’t make it yours—surely you know that better than anyone?”
“I know. Better than anyone.”
Mateo’s reply came with a cryptic smile,
and he withdrew something from his pocket.
A soft clink.
Mateo placed a small ring on the table.
“That… that can’t be.”
Someone’s breath caught.
It was a signet ring that Mateo had laid upon the table.
The symbol of authority that only Adrian had possessed.
Within Parallax, the one thing only a single person could ever hold.
Contracts, approvals, executions.
It embodied absolute power.
And Mateo possessed it.
Mateo continued.
“The Chairman has declared his retirement.”
A brief silence fell.
“What?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Where did you hear such a lie?”
“Adrian isn’t the type to relinquish power.”
“I won’t believe it until I hear it directly from Adrian.”
“I agree.”
Objections erupted from all corners of the room.
It wasn’t skepticism—it was outright refusal.
These were people who had stood beside Adrian for years.
They couldn’t fathom that Adrian would voluntarily step down.
But Mateo remained unmoved.
“It doesn’t matter what you all say. The facts won’t change. I’ve received the succession directly from Adrian, and I’m here simply to notify you of that. I don’t need your permission.”
Mateo calmly picked up the signet ring resting on the desk and slipped it onto his finger.
Those who witnessed it gasped, their mouths falling open in shock.
None of them had ever imagined that signet ring adorning anyone’s hand but Adrian’s.
It was an act so profane, so utterly shocking.
That was when it happened.
“You bring a single signet ring and expect us to believe Adrian has retired? Ha. Would you believe such a claim if you were in our position?”
A low, weighty voice pressed down upon the conference room.
The voice belonged to Rodrigo Luiz.
The head of the Mexican Cartel and, in essence, the man who controlled all of South America.
If not for Adrian, the most likely candidate for the next Chairman.
He bore the nickname El Carnicero—the Butcher—
a man known for his ruthless and brutal nature.
Rodrigo fixed his gaze upon Mateo,
and Mateo met his stare without uttering a word.
Electricity seemed to crackle in the air between them.
Rodrigo’s lips curled into a cold smile as he continued.
“You could have killed Adrian and stolen the signet ring, couldn’t you?”
The conference room stirred at those words.
“Are you saying Mateo killed Adrian?”
“Surely not···”
“Could Mateo even manage that?”
“Adrian killed by Mateo? That’s absurd.”
Murmurs spread throughout the room.
Most of them bordered on ridicule.
The consensus was that it would be impossible for Mateo to kill Adrian.
Yet, unexpectedly, Mateo nodded his head.
“Perhaps? It’s possible, isn’t it?”
Several people fell silent in that instant.
It was an unexpected response.
Mateo’s eyes swept across everyone in the conference room.
“So what?”
Silence.
It was a blatant provocation.
“So… what’s the problem? What matters here is one thing alone. Who possesses the Signet Ring? Who has legitimately inherited the power? That’s all.”
Short and simple logic.
There was no room for rebuttal.
“Hahaha. Amusing.”
Rodrigo Luiz burst into maniacal laughter.
But his eyes weren’t laughing at all.
“Then if I kill you here and take the Signet Ring, can I become the master of Parallax?”
Several people looked at Rodrigo Luiz in shock.
It wasn’t a joke.
This man was truly capable of such a thing.
He could draw his gun right now and put a bullet through Mateo’s forehead,
and seize the ring.
But Mateo didn’t seem frightened at all.
He didn’t even flinch.
“If you can, then try. Can you?”
At Mateo’s arrogant response, Rodrigo Luiz’s laughter vanished.
His temples twitched, veins bulging prominently.
Then one person slowly raised his hand.
It was Felix, who oversaw the European operations.
“I’m in favor.”
Felix wasn’t a man of many words.
He was always composed.
When such a man lent his support to Mateo, the conference room stirred with a different atmosphere.
“What?”
Exclamations of surprise erupted from various corners.
Rodrigo Luiz glared at Felix,
but Felix didn’t budge.
“We need a center right now. Without one, we’ll fracture immediately.”
Felix explained his reasoning.
“So you want to put that guy at the center? An unverified man? Someone who just followed Adrian around?”
Those who couldn’t accept it voiced their opposition.
“Wouldn’t that actually be better? Better than us, stuck in the backwoods. At least he’d know the most about the Parallax system.”
“···..”
“And verification? When would we verify? We’d accept it once verification is complete, right? What about all the incidents and accidents that would occur during verification? Can we handle that? So we need someone to take the center now. And I support Mateo taking that position.”
At Felix’s clean logic,
several people nodded in agreement.
But there were those who didn’t agree.
Tap.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Jamal, the Middle East faction executive, slammed his palm against the table.
“What does that bastard know to be climbing over us?”
“Then you want to do it?”
“Fine. I’d do better than that asshole.”
“But if you said you’d do it, would people actually acknowledge you? Would anyone follow the fool from the Middle East?”
“What?”
Jamal growled, his anger rising.
“Just as you won’t acknowledge Mateo, why would others acknowledge you?”
Jamal’s expression hardened.
From the atmosphere, it seemed he had no one to support him.
“Tch. That doesn’t mean I can serve that bastard.”
The Middle East executive spoke,
his voice dripping with dissatisfaction.
Then Mateo opened his mouth again.
“Were we ever an organization with hierarchy?”
“What?”
“We’re nothing but a consortium, a syndicate that came together for profit. I’m not trying to become your boss. I’m simply creating a system so you can operate more safely, more comfortably, and earn greater profits. We need someone to coordinate things, just as Adrian did.”
Several people looked at Mateo with curious eyes at his words.
New calculations were running through their minds.
The conversation had shifted from domination to profit.
Mateo added substance to it.
“Have you heard of the Alex Group?”
Everyone tilted their heads at Mateo’s question.
“The Alex Group?”
“What’s that?”
“Doesn’t it have no substance?”
“You don’t know the Alex Group? It’s the Alex force that controls the Philippines and exerts tremendous influence over the Yakuza, Triad Society, China, and South Korea.”
Someone offered an explanation.
Only then did exclamations burst out from various corners.
Now that it was mentioned, they seemed to understand.
“Ah~ that place.”
“That was called the Alex Group?”
“Since there was no official naming, it seems to just be called the Alex Group.”
“Wasn’t Alex a fictional person?”
Murmurs continued.
But it wasn’t an organization they were completely unfamiliar with.
Though the names, scale, and fields varied,
they all shared the perception of it as ‘the most successful, largest force in Asia.’
Mateo opened his mouth slowly, as if confirming their reaction.
“I’ve established an exclusive cooperative framework with the Alex Group. That’s precisely why Adrian entrusted me with Parallax’s future.”
The Conference Room trembled.
Mateo’s argument had shifted.
It wasn’t mere posturing about power or naked greed.
Mateo had invoked “the future” and “Asia.”
Sensing the reaction, Mateo pressed forward with renewed conviction.
“Africa has reached its ceiling. The returns don’t justify the investment anymore. How much longer can we trade in blood-stained diamonds? But Asia—what does Asia offer? Population, capital, infrastructure—everything is perfect. Isn’t it a land flowing with milk and honey? We will expand into the Asian market alongside the Alex Group.”
Greed flickered in the eyes of several men.
To them, Asia was an uncharted frontier—a goose that laid golden eggs.
Then Rodrigo Luiz spoke again.
His voice was low.
“The Asian market… it’s certainly tempting. But how do we trust your word?”
The atmosphere chilled instantly.
The anticipation and avarice that had burned moments before extinguished in an instant.
Everyone snapped back to reality.
“Shouldn’t you be presenting something tangible? At least some scrap of paper to prove your sincerity?”
Rodrigo Luiz spoke.
It was a precise observation.
In this world, “promises” mean nothing.
When circumstances shift, yesterday’s contracts become garbage overnight.
But mere words with no substance?
They’re worth less than tissue paper.
Only then did Mateo glance toward me.
“This friend here. He’s been sent from their side.”
Every gaze in the Conference Room fixed upon me.
Sharp, piercing stares bore into me.
Heavy, cold, and utterly unguarded.
I stepped out from behind Mateo and stood before the table.
“I’m a representative from the Alex Group.”
I offered a light greeting, but no one returned it.
“You asked just now, didn’t you? How can we trust? You demanded faith.”
“We don’t peddle faith as merchandise.”
“We sell risk, we inject fear, and we trade in uncertainty for profit.”
“But ‘faith’? It seems you conduct business quite… softly here. I’m envious.”
It was unmistakable mockery.
Rodrigo Luiz’s expression hardened.
“Instead, let me show you. Here.”
I withdrew a tablet and placed it on the table.
“Transaction networks across Asia, logistics routes, and… a current list of active disputes.”
Eyes widened.
My mouth felt parched, as though saliva were dripping away.
“This is territory that Parallax hasn’t yet touched.”
“If we’re going to speak of trust while sitting before something like this, then frankly, we see no reason to deal with Parallax at all.”
“We’re searching for a partner to work alongside, not a parasite to drain us dry.”
Rodrigo Luiz’s expression twisted.
And then he posed a question.
“Then Mateo won’t be able to become Chairman?”
“You seem to be misunderstanding. Mateo and we are merely cooperating. He’s simply someone to smooth the process along. But if we can’t cooperate in the first place, what good is smoothing anything?”
I could see Rodrigo Luiz’s bewilderment.
He didn’t like where this was heading.
He coveted the Asian market,
yet raising Mateo to Chairman felt wrong.
And being dragged along like this was even worse.
These three desires clashed within him.
After a moment’s consideration, Rodrigo Luiz spoke.
“What does Alex Group want from Parallax? I need to know that before I can decide whether to cooperate or raise Mateo to Chairman.”
I smiled faintly.
“Now that’s a proper question. We want a bigger game. A much bigger one. If we combine our strength, we can feast on something far greater—so why would we fight among ourselves?”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rodrigo Luiz drummed his fingers slowly against the table.
“Interesting.”
It was neither agreement nor disagreement.
But there was no hostility in his manner.
“Take your time thinking it over, and contact me.”
I picked up the tablet.
And I left the Conference Room.

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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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