I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 91

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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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091-Coercion
91.
I woke up early in the morning.
To enter Mindanao and retrieve Ashland.
Scott came by to organize my schedule and mentioned it.
The men who were in the conference room yesterday were waiting in the lobby.
I let out a bitter laugh, assuming they were waiting for me to smooth things over after Simon had inflated the ransom demand.
So I had no choice but to leave through the staff entrance to avoid running into them.
I had no idea what they were doing from this early in the morning.
I prefer to handle my own affairs myself.
When I entered Mindanao, Simon greeted me warmly.
“Welcome. Alex.”
I thanked Simon first.
“Simon, thanks for helping out this time.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re making some pocket money thanks to you, so we should be thanking you.”
“But will South Korea actually pay? You demanded 10 million dollars? I didn’t think you’d ask for that much.”
“They won’t pay. But honestly, those bastards wouldn’t pay even if we asked for 1 million dollars.”
“Really?”
“How many hostage negotiations have we conducted with the government? The government’s pattern is always the same. First, they ask for time. They say they’re in internal discussions. Officially, they can’t negotiate with terrorists. But they’re exploring options. If you reduce the amount, they’ll consider it positively. Then they send in the military behind the scenes. And everything gets wiped out. That’s why we fundamentally distrust the government. What they say upfront and what they do are always different. Either live badly and openly like us, or be cowardly bastards.”
“Kkhaha. That’s true. There is that aspect. Then why demand money you won’t even receive?”
“Just to give them some trouble, I guess? And occasionally, there are people who actually pay. With 10 million dollars, even if we cut it significantly, it’s still a profitable deal.”
“Hahaha. That’s right. Once we get the money, we’ll take care of the kids.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Understood, Boss.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
“You’re not going to see that guy?”
“Who?”
“The one we brought in yesterday.”
“He’s a stranger anyway. What’s the point in seeing him?”
“True. He still hasn’t come to. The stress must have been considerable. He won’t wake up.”
“Treat him well. If South Korea suddenly tells us to bring someone and his condition is a mess, that’s awkward too.”
“Right. We’ll take good care of him.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Take a look at this.”
Simon brought something over.
“That day, that guy got beaten by the New People’s Army and seems to have lost all his teeth. Among them, there’s one like this. It looked unusual, so I kept it. Can you take a look? Is it just an implant?”
I examined the tooth Simon had brought carefully.
It was definitely a tooth, but something felt off and awkward about it.
It was unusually large for a molar.
It’s strange, but I can’t figure out what it is.
Then again, I’m no dentist—how would I know what’s wrong with it?
But I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.
I think I saw something about it during special forces training—World War II spies or something.
I recall seeing that if a spy got caught, they’d swallow the poison hidden inside something like this.
I just glanced over it at the time.
I’d never swallow anything like that anyway.
Is it a similar concept?
Does it contain poison?
I have no idea.
I don’t need to know either.
“Just leave it alone. Something’s definitely there, but if we force it open, we’ll ruin everything.”
“Okay.”
“So we’re good?”
“No, there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“What are we going to do with those New People’s Army guys we caught yesterday?”
“Why are you asking me? Simon, you handle it.”
“If I do it, I’ll end up killing them all. These bastards are pissing me off.”
.
.
.
“These guys?”
“Yeah.”
“Who’s the leader?”
“This one.”
Where Simon pointed, there lay a man in tatters.
The Broker—who had tried to extract data from Shin Jung-gi—was sprawled there, beaten to a pulp.
“Go easy on him. What is this?”
“Sorry. The more he talks, the more he pisses me off. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Geez. Still, what is this? Untie him.”
One of the men standing behind me came over and loosened his bindings.
I opened a bottle of water and handed it to the man.
“You’re pretty banged up. Drink this.”
The man glared at me instead of taking the bottle.
“Why are you glaring at me? I’m just giving you water because you might be thirsty.”
“······.”
“I’m offering you water out of basic human decency. Don’t be suspicious—just drink it. When someone shows you kindness, accept it. Don’t start with the suspicion.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Who asked you to trust me? I’m telling you to drink water because you’re thirsty! Don’t you understand? Why are you stepping on the gas by yourself?”
“That’s enough. How would I know what’s in the water?”
“Hahaha. Simon’s got a point. If you don’t like it, forget it. Do I really need to explain myself and beg you to drink a simple glass of water? I had no idea. If I’d known you were like this, I wouldn’t have offered. Water’s off the table.”
I took a sip of the water I was holding.
It was a gesture to show there was no poison.
“But you know, you don’t seem to grasp the situation very well.”
“What?”
“I mean… what would we be lacking that we’d go through the trouble of poisoning water? If we wanted you dead, we’d just kill you. If we wanted to check what’s in your belly, we’d just cut you open and look. Why would we bother going through the hassle of poisoning water? It’s annoying.”
“I…”
Broker wanted to argue back, but the logic was too sound. He had nothing to say.
“Anyway, your throat doesn’t seem parched, and you still look fine, so tie him back up. This time, bind him tight. Make sure he can’t move. He shows no signs of remorse. He’s still got too much energy.”
“Yes.”
As Simon’s subordinates moved to restrain Broker, he suddenly lunged toward me.
I must have looked the easiest target.
Broker threw a punch at me, and I slipped it lightly with a weave I’d learned long ago, then planted a left hook squarely on his jaw.
Thud.
The man crumpled without resistance.
Simon spoke from beside me.
“Damn! This bastard’s got serious hands. Didn’t know that. Should’ve mentioned it.”
.
.
.
“Let him down.”
At my command, Broker, who had been hanging upside down, was finally able to support himself on the ground.
Even as he gasped for breath, he made no effort to hide the hostility in his eyes toward me.
“Your name.”
“…”
On the way back from Dalapaanan with the samples.
I hadn’t planned on this, but the anger was unbearable.
So I came back.
Originally, I was going to have a casual conversation.
“Let’s be careful. Don’t touch each other’s territories. If that’s the case, we won’t touch the New People’s Army.”
That’s what I intended to say before letting him go.
Just acknowledge that it happened, but let’s get along from now on.
We’d do our gangster work and rebel work in our own territories and coexist peacefully.
I even had it in mind to help if help was needed.
But this bastard is making me out to be the villain.
As if he’s an innocent person who did nothing wrong, and I’m the evil one.
He acts as though he’s done nothing wrong, and I’m the one who brought him here to torment him.
When he’s the one who committed fraud with maps and tried to steal data before getting caught.
He acts as if he’s a freedom fighter, a persecuted religious figure, a pioneer.
He looks at me with eyes that say he can endure any torture like this without breaking.
That bothers me far too much.
Now I understand why Simon was so infuriated.
No matter how much I shout that I’m not a villain, it’s pointless in moments like these.
They’ll call me a hypocrite if I act decently, that’s the kind of people they are.
Even if I speak kindly, they won’t believe me anyway—they’ll just contradict themselves later.
Do I need to prove, persuade, convince, or explain that I’m a good person?
Why should I?
Besides, I’m not even a good person to begin with.
In times like these, it’s easier to just become the villain.
When someone interprets goodwill as malice, I simply return malice for malice.
Why bother trying to get along?
I’ll just crush them with force.
I become the villain, and Broker becomes the one who submitted to the villain.
“This bastard’s still got plenty of fight in him. We’ll need to keep him up there longer.”
“Yes, sir.”
The organization members begin pulling the rope he’s bound with again.
Creak. Creak.
The pulley turns, and the rope tied around the man’s feet begins rising slowly.
Broker’s expression changes.
It must be painful.
In truth, hanging upside down is extraordinarily difficult.
As blood that should flow to the legs pools in the head and upper body, intracranial and intraocular pressure rises.
Breathing becomes labored, and heart rate and blood pressure become problematic.
Leave him like this too long, and his life is in danger.
He doesn’t say anything, but that bastard must be terrified too.
If he went up all at once, he wouldn’t have time for these thoughts, but we bought a pulley for employee welfare—to avoid wasting unnecessary effort.
So Broker’s body, still bound, is rising slowly, starting from his legs.
The sound of the pulley turning fills the air—creak, creak.
His back remains pressed to the ground while only his legs rise.
An L-shape, essentially.
And once his waist begins to separate from the ground, he’ll be perfectly inverted.
His hands are bound behind his back too—that must be incredibly suffocating.
“You don’t want to talk? Suit yourself. We have plenty of time, plenty of money, plenty of everything. So let’s take this slowly.”
“······”
“At least I’m doing this, so I’m being gentlemanly about it. If someone else had come, you’d have no fingernails left by now. Maybe your thumbs would be gone too. Ever seen someone without thumbs? Thumbs seem insignificant, but they’re truly essential. The other four fingers—you can live without them, just inconvenient. But without thumbs, your hands become useless. Can’t grip anything, can’t hold anything. Can’t even hold a cup. So usually, to scare people, they start with the pinky, but I’ve heard of guys who start with the thumb. Since they’re cutting anyway and have no time, they do it fast. Efficient bastards, those. They don’t understand the art of patience.”
“······..”
“I despise that kind of efficiency. I prefer doing things very slowly, over a long time. Giving pain that’s bearable. Like a frog in a pot of water. Testing how much you can endure. That’s why I always keep a doctor on standby. Can’t have you dying. I revive you and start again, revive you and start again. In that sense, you’re a very fine specimen. I hope that spirit of yours doesn’t break.”
“······”
“Leave that bastard hanging for an hour.”
“Yes. I’ll keep watch from the side.”
I gave instructions to the men operating the pulley beside me.
“Right. Don’t work too hard on this unproductive task. Just glance at it once every five minutes while watching YouTube.”
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I was leaving, the man finally spoke up.
“What do you want? What is it you need to hear?”
“The whole sob story?”
*******
“Director. This is Park Do-jin from Overseas Team 2.”
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
“We’ve identified Shin Jung-gi from the ADD.”
“Really? You’ve done excellent work despite the difficult circumstances. You said he was in the Philippines, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Bring him in immediately.”
“That’s the thing…”
“What?”
“The side protecting Shin Jung-gi is demanding a ransom.”
“What? A ransom? Wasn’t Shin Jung-gi trying to sell classified information? So why a ransom?”
“Shin Jung-gi was the victim. He was scammed by the Broker, beaten, and then rescued by another Criminal Organization. Now they’re demanding payment for the rescue.”
“Just pay it if you can. That’s something Team Leader Park can cover with discretionary funds.”
“The… amount they’re demanding is 10 million dollars.”
“Ten dollars is about 14,000 won. Why are you even calling about something like that?”
“Not ten dollars—10 million dollars.”
“What?? Ten… million? 14 billion? These bastards are completely insane. File a protest with the Philippine government and ask for their cooperation.”
“The thing is… Shin Jung-gi is being held in Mindanao.”
“Why there?”
“It’s completely controlled by the Rebel Forces. The Philippine military can’t even enter.”
“There must be military units stationed in Mindanao.”
“Those military units and the Rebel Forces work together.”
“These insane bastards.”
“Can’t we pay the 10 million dollars?”
“Pay it? Honestly, Shin Jung-gi isn’t what matters. The data is what matters. You obviously secured the data, right?”
“We haven’t secured it yet.”
“Damn it. So what have you been doing in the Philippines? Sightseeing? Going on island-hopping tours?! Forget about Shin Jung-gi and find that data first. Understood?”
Click.
The call ended, and Park Do-jin let out another heavy sigh.
It seemed things were better before finding Shin Jung-gi.
Back then, I just needed to find him, but now that I have, there’s nothing I can do.
I can’t go pick it up, and I can’t ask where the data is located.
I’m simply at a loss.
******
Shin Jung-gi opened his eyes.
Seeing everything so bright, I wondered if this was heaven.
Looking more carefully, it was a hospital room.
And it looked like a hastily constructed one at that.
Shin Jung-gi had been beaten, and at some point, I lost consciousness.
I remember begging them not to hit my face, boasting that I’d enjoy my last night on earth more, but after that, I have no memory whatsoever.
The first thing I did upon regaining consciousness was to check my eighteenth tooth.
The large molar at the very back of the upper right side.
I moved my tongue to check, but I felt nothing.
There was nothing where the tooth should have been.
I tried to get up quickly and check in the mirror, but as soon as I moved my body, pain shot through me everywhere.
Just how much of a beating did I take?
I dragged my battered body to the mirror and opened my mouth to check my teeth.
It was gone.
I had embedded all the data into a specially crafted tooth-shaped microchip, and it had vanished.
This was a disaster.
I had screamed so desperately for them not to hit my face, worried this might fall out, but it seems it was all for nothing.
I never imagined I’d be beaten hard enough to lose a tooth.
Then again, I hadn’t embedded it that deeply in the first place.
No, I never even calculated that I’d be beaten at all.
I should have just played it cool.
Regret washed over me, but it was already in the past.
I needed to devise a new strategy.
Without the data, I was useless.
Without the data, I was just a psychopath bound by routine.
The data was what mattered.
I had to find that data.
And no one could know that I had lost it.
I had to act as though I was keeping the data somewhere safe.
Shin Jung-gi prayed.
I prayed that my lost tooth had simply been discarded.
I desperately prayed that no one had seen it and that it had simply disappeared along with the blood at the scene.
********
“Please.”
“Well, we don’t have anything to lose. When should I start distributing?”
“Starting next week.”
“Okay. I just put it out on the counter, right?”
“Right. Exactly. You can give it to whoever you want, or to people you don’t like.”
“I can do as much of that as needed.”
“Then I’m counting on you.”
I handed a small amount of Assand to Lafei of the Golden Lotus.
With this, all preparations were complete.
Months of buildup had come to an end.
Now it was time to release the Assand I’d carefully accumulated from afar.
But not all at once.
I would begin with Macau.
Starting from Macau, I would proceed through Guangzhou, then to Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and finally Shanghai in sequence.
I would release the product slowly along the coastline, timing each distribution carefully.
Inland, I would release Assand as if following the rivers upstream.
There was no particular reason for this approach.
It was to create the impression that someone was supplying drugs through smuggling.
That’s why I chose coastal cities where smuggling actually existed.
Drugs would enter Guangzhou through Macau,
and through smuggling routes, they would reach Xiamen, Fuzhou, and Shanghai.
To stop the drugs, they would naturally target the smuggling operations first.
But the inland supply had been prepared long ago.
They could never stop it.
Inland, I would open distribution points sequentially, one by one, following the rivers.
Why do it this way?
Opium spread like this during the Qing Dynasty, or so I’ve heard.
I wanted Assand to follow that same path.
Just as opium nearly consumed the Qing Dynasty,
I hoped Assand would consume China.

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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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