I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 240

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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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240 – Opportunity
240.
Outskirts of Luxembourg.
A hastily established base of operations.
Pablo stood gazing down at the documents spread across the desk.
Photographs, movement records, access logs, communication transcripts.
They lay scattered in disarray,
yet Pablo’s gaze fixed not on the papers themselves, but on empty space beyond them.
“… Something’s off.”
Pablo muttered to himself.
Adrian had vanished completely.
Of course, given Adrian’s capabilities, disappearing was certainly possible.
But for his entire entourage to vanish so thoroughly as well?
No matter how I turned it over in my mind, it made no sense.
It was as though their very existence had been erased—a perfect disappearance.
It felt less like a ‘cover-up’ and more like a carefully ‘orchestrated’ performance.
That was when it happened.
One of his subordinates approached with a tablet.
“What is it?”
“While reconstructing the existing communication logs, we discovered an unusual pattern.”
“An unusual pattern?”
“Traces of routing through an abandoned satellite—not a standard channel. Someone deliberately rerouted to avoid leaving logs.”
Pablo’s eyes sharpened.
“Open it.”
The subordinate extended the tablet.
Fragments of recovered messages glowed on the screen.
– Phase-2 maintained. No external exposure.
– LUX deployed as noise. Continuous insertion.
– F-Team dispersal complete. Routes eliminated.
– MUS status maintained. Primary unit stationary.
– Internal contact suspended. Blocked until verification.
Brief, terse sentences lined the display.
Incomplete recovery made them difficult to decipher.
But it was enough.
Pablo’s attention locked onto a single line.
MUS status maintained. Primary unit stationary.
“… MUS?”
Pablo murmured, reading it aloud.
“Based on country codes, that would be Mauritius.”
The subordinate answered.
Mauritius?
It’s the last place Adrian was officially seen.
After that, I believe he moved to Europe.
So we’ve been tracking him since then.
Pablo’s lips curled upward as if amused.
“… Ha.”
His subordinate flinched in surprise at the sound.
But Pablo continued tapping the tablet screen, his smile taking on a peculiar quality.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
The subordinate asked cautiously.
“Haha. We’ve been played.”
“Sir?”
“Look at this.”
Where Pablo pointed, the words “LUX used as noise” were written.
“Adrian drew us to Europe.”
“Then… it was all fake? Luxembourg, the Ancient Castle, everything?”
“Not fake—bait.”
Pablo leaned back in his chair as he spoke.
“He made it look like he was out in the open, got us to chase after it, while his real self never moved. Hahaha. That’s Adrian for you. This is the level Adrian operates at. Truly.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Pablo even applauded, laughing with genuine admiration.
The subordinate asked carefully.
“… Could it be a trap? I think we need more thorough verification.”
“Kekek. A trap? We’re not going?”
“…”
“If it’s a trap, we go even more. We need to see who set such an audacious trap with such care.”
“Should I send the investigation team?”
“No. Our entire team moves.”
Pablo shook his head firmly.
The subordinate was uneasy because Pablo was too intuitive.
“If we send the investigation team first, and then move afterward—”
Pablo glared at his subordinate at those words.
“I worked with Adrian for twenty years. I know Adrian better than anyone. This is Adrian’s style. Adrian’s probably lying on white sand in Mauritius right now, sipping whiskey. He was the type to rest even during war. Ehehehe.”
Pablo laughed as if remembering old times.
“Still… wouldn’t we need more confirmation? Through other channels at least…”
“Every moment we delay costs us.”
Pablo cut him off decisively.
“Once Mateo establishes himself, we won’t have an opportunity like this. We need to secure Adrian before then if we’re going to shake the board.”
“…”
The subordinate fell silent at Pablo’s words.
“Prepare everything. Get the private jet ready, connect with local coordinators, and search through ports, airports, and private medical facilities. We don’t know what might turn up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pablo glanced at the tablet screen.
“Prioritize MUS-related intelligence and operations at the highest level.”
“Understood.”
The subordinate bowed and left the room.
“Wait, Adrian. Let me see your face.”
Pablo spoke with absolute conviction in his voice.
Since he had uncovered the information himself, he didn’t believe it could be contaminated.
He was certain it was 100% truth.
That certainty was pulling him in a completely wrong direction.
It was sending him not to Luxembourg, but to Mauritius.
Yet Pablo harbored no suspicion whatsoever.
Instead, another sentence occupied Pablo’s mind.
He hadn’t told his subordinate, but it was a different sentence that troubled Pablo.
[Internal contact suspended. Blocked until verification.]
Internal contact suspended?
Blocked until verification?
Why?
Adrian doesn’t trust Parallax?
That was absolutely impossible.
It was an organization he had built with his own hands his entire life.
Then what?
‘There’s a problem within the organization.’
Information was leaking.
A rat had infiltrated.
He didn’t know who.
It could be a mere operative swayed by money,
someone from Rodrigo’s faction within the organization,
or perhaps something far greater.
The corners of Pablo’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
“Interesting.”
Pablo believed he alone possessed this answer.
He thought he alone had solved this puzzle.
Cradling that sweet delusion, Pablo prepared to move to Mauritius.
He left Luxembourg and headed for Mauritius.
Unaware that where he was heading was not Adrian’s embrace,
but false information scattered by Alex.
He was lost in hopeful dreams of meeting Adrian.
*******
Somewhere in Europe.
A nameless small town.
A persistent rain fell beyond the window.
Lights half-extinguished,
an end room on the second floor of a dilapidated hotel, some fixtures not even switched on.
Shin Jung-gi sat there.
The room was cramped,
the air humid.
The bed creaked,
and rainwater trickled slowly down the window pane.
Shin Jung-gi did nothing,
simply sitting in a daze for a long while.
He only stared out the window.
His mind was tangled.
‘Ending it here is the right call.’
The Young Boss’s words kept echoing in his ears.
It wasn’t wrong.
In fact, it was the correct answer.
Adrian was dead,
and all those who protected him were dead too.
Parallax would crumble soon.
Or rather, be absorbed into the Alex Group.
No matter how he thought about it, the Young Boss was right.
Logically, strategically, stopping here was the correct move.
“… I know. I understand.”
Shin Jung-gi muttered through gritted teeth.
He knew it all.
That’s why he was even angrier.
“But… ending it that way isn’t right.”
Shin Jung-gi clenched his fist.
He hated cold reason seeping into Dennis’s vengeance.
He couldn’t bear calculating revenge as ‘efficient’.
Dennis’s vengeance.
Dennis’s face surfaced in his mind.
His smiling face.
The way he’d tease with a cigarette dangling at an angle.
His voice complaining while offering handfuls of iced chocolate, asking why he’d eat such things.
The warmth of him saying ‘That’s our Jung-gi’, ‘Our Jung-gi is the best.’
All of it still remained with Shin Jung-gi,
but they had erased it,
We couldn’t accept that we would end with just Adrian alone.
Absorb Parallax and make it ‘ours’?
That wasn’t revenge—it was business, a compromise.
Nothing more than a transaction using Dennis.
Shin Jung-gi shook his head.
Only the sound of rain filled the quiet room.
After staring out the window for a long time, Shin Jung-gi slowly rose to his feet.
He pulled a USB drive from his pocket.
Brought from Unity Town.
A USB drive containing all of Shin Jung-gi’s research results.
He stared at the USB for a moment, then plugged it into the laptop.
The screen came to life,
and neatly organized folders appeared in rows.
– High-Explosive Compression Device Design
– Underground Structure Collapse Simulation
– Chain Explosion Calculations in Enclosed Spaces
– Urban-Specific Strike Profile
– Low-Power Distributed Transmission Module
– Drone-Integrated Control Protocol
I absorbed each one with my eyes.
The folders filling the screen were no longer for ‘defense’ or ‘security’.
They were blades forged solely for efficient destruction and complete annihilation.
And at the very bottom.
My cursor paused on one location.
[PHANTOM GRID 2.0]
The most recently developed,
an upgraded version of Phantom Grid that I hadn’t yet reported to anyone.
Calling it an upgrade was generous.
It was an entirely different technology from Phantom Grid 1.0.
While Phantom Grid 1.0 was optimized for aerial radar jamming and generating false signals,
Phantom Grid 2.0 was completely different.
It could expand the environment.
It could continuously send false signals in cities, indoors, or at close range.
It could make non-existent targets appear real to enemies.
After staring at the laptop screen for a long time, I began typing on the keyboard again.
The existing results seemed insufficient.
I didn’t believe they were enough to bring down Parallax.
No team.
This time, there was no supporting team.
I had to do this alone, from beginning to end.
That’s why the program had to change.
I needed to modify it so I could handle everything alone.
The system had to be integrated.
Everything had to be simplified.
It all had to be more certain.
This is my fight alone.
I won’t let anyone else get involved in this battle.
I will take my revenge alone, and I will bear full responsibility for the consequences myself.
It was a resolve I had already made when I left Unity Town.
Shin Jung-gi reaffirmed his determination and began typing on the keyboard.
******
Zurich.
Parallax Headquarters.
Mateo opened the door to the Chairman’s office and stepped inside.
The spacious command room was silent.
Outside, people moved about busily, but this room alone felt as though time had stopped.
Mateo sat down at the desk.
In the chair where Adrian had sat. At that desk.
He sat in the chair, gazing down at the ring on his hand.
A signet ring.
Adrian’s.
And now, his own.
As the signet ring caught the light,
its weighty surface gleamed with a subtle radiance.
“···. Chairman.”
Mateo murmured softly.
The word that left his lips felt somehow foreign.
It wasn’t entirely his yet.
Formally speaking, he was the Chairman.
There was still much talk,
but no one openly opposed him.
Only Mateo, who possessed the signet ring,
could become a Chairman who was perfect in both justification and procedure.
But everyone knew it wasn’t real.
For one, Rodrigo was eyeing this position,
coveting Mateo’s life at every opportunity.
If Mateo died, Rodrigo could claim the Chairman’s seat anytime.
And the face that came to mind even before that.
Alex.
Honestly, this position was one that Alex had created for him.
Mateo’s position wasn’t built through his own relentless effort,
but rather placed there by Alex.
Saving him, seating him,
designing and orchestrating this entire game—it was all Alex.
Mateo knew this truth better than anyone.
Which made it all the more unbearable.
The signet ring on his finger
felt like a shackle.
Mateo touched the ring slowly.
This is a symbol of power.
But at the same time,
it was also evidence of owing a debt to someone.
“This isn’t… right.”
Mateo shook his head.
The current Mateo was less a chairman than a proxy.
A puppet. A figurehead.
A piece placed on the board Alex had arranged.
He’d known it from the start, but he didn’t want to accept it as it was.
Mateo’s eyes changed.
Ambition began to rise within him.
At first, it was only about survival.
He’d bent his back to stay alive,
cooperated to keep his eyes from being gouged out.
Bowed his head to seize opportunity.
And as a result, he’d come this far.
But now that he’s come this far, his heart has changed.
‘I’ve come this far. If I take just one more step, I could become a true chairman.’
His heart began to race.
‘Why should I stop here?’
This isn’t Johor Bahru.
Not an underground warehouse where screams go unheard no matter how loud,
but Parallax headquarters.
His grip tightened on the signet ring.
He knows Rodrigo is eyeing this position.
That’s not the problem.
Alex will handle that on his own.
So what should Mateo do?
What can he do to seize Parallax?
How can he make this position truly his own?
Mateo rose slowly from his seat and walked toward the window.
Beyond the window lay the serene expanse of Lake Zurich.
Yet my mind churned with turbulent complexity.
“… This is undoubtedly an opportunity.”
The current state was one of profound chaos.
Adrian was dead,
and Chairman Parallax wavered in uncertainty.
Rodrigo prepared for rebellion,
and internal factions fractured accordingly.
Beyond that lay the formidable external force known as the Alex Group.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been consumed managing this crisis,
but now was different.
Chaos was opportunity.
The corners of my mouth lifted ever so slightly.
“All I need do is consolidate.”
Distinguish ally from enemy,
and filter them out through this very chaos.
If Alex had created the board,
then I would simply exploit it.
“… Alex.”
I turned the name over in my mind once more.
A figure worthy of gratitude.
And simultaneously, the most dangerous one.
For now, a collaborator—
yet one who could drag me down at any moment should I falter even slightly.
‘For now, I’ll walk alongside him as long as necessary.’
I would cooperate, but never submit.
One day, I would erase Alex’s shadow and stand alone.
I pushed the signet ring deeper onto my finger.
With the resolve never to remove it again.
My gaze had transformed.
This was no borrowed seat.
No temporary perch.
I made a vow to make this position irrevocably my own.
My eyes had changed.

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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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