The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 26

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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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Chapter 26

Blackwood’s Counterattack

“……That’s how it came to pass, Vice-Chairman. I never imagined the Canadian Consulate would actually issue the visa. I apologize.”

Blackwood Construction Headquarters, executive office.

Reynolds bowed his head, cold sweat beading on his brow. It was an utter failure, one without excuse or mitigation.

Tap. Tap.

A man reclined in his chair, silently rolling a fountain pen between his fingers.

Julian Blackwood, Vice-Chairman and the true power behind the Blackwood Group.

When Julian first took office as Vice-Chairman, many had dismissed him as a pampered heir, a crony insertion into the conglomerate. But it hadn’t taken long for that label to fall away.

Within three years of his appointment, profits surged four hundred percent.

A man with sociopathic inclinations, he’d crushed mid-sized competitors through ruthless acquisitions and monopolized the entire industry.

Even the city council chairman Richard, pulled like a puppet from behind the scenes—that too had been orchestrated from Julian’s mind.

At last, Julian lifted a single report from the desk with rough force.

“Ah…!”

Reynolds squeezed his eyes shut of his own accord.

It wouldn’t have been strange if a stack of papers came flying into his face that very moment. But the sharp rebuke he’d braced for never came.

When Reynolds slowly opened his eyes, he found Julian smiling instead.

“Take it easy, Reynolds. There’s nothing to be done about how things have turned out.”

At the sound of Julian’s measured voice, Reynolds felt ice crawl up his spine.

“Mayor Scott played quite a bold hand. With the State Department already in the mix, there’s no point in getting our hands dirty in a mud-slinging match.”

Julian set the report down on the desk and continued.

“Director, this time—spare no expense on equipment. Oh, and Golden Gate? Seems the neighborhood contractor has some sharp-minded employees after all. Just make sure the paperwork is clean, without any loose ends to seize upon.”

“Yes…? All the equipment? But Vice-Chairman….”

Julian cut him off and rose from his chair. His eyes flashed with the glint of a viper.

“I want to watch that Oriental supervisor perform a bit longer.”

Julian was calculating a board flip.

A shallow attack merely sharpened the enemy’s edge.

As the project neared completion, he would introduce a variable they couldn’t endure—a fatal one—and snatch the victory. That was the lethal move Julian was plotting.

“Why snatch fruit before it’s fully ripened? The real profit comes in the taking when it’s perfectly sweet. Keep that in mind when you go.”

Leaving Julian’s smile behind, Reynolds fled the office as if his life depended on it.

* * *

At that same moment, Pasadena Old Town Restoration Project site.

“Hey! Section B Pouring Team! Is that formwork angle lined up properly? We need to finish before the rain hits, move it!”
“Crane operator! Did you secure that sling belt? You nearly dumped all those bricks!”

Engine roars and shouted orders erupted without pause across the site.

During the time Kang Joon had stepped away to resolve visa issues, the site had noticeably slackened.

But that laxity was short-lived.

“Crane One, shift five meters to the left. The workflow is tangled.”

A firm, raw voice—unamplifed by loudspeaker—cut through the site’s din. It was Kang Joon, hard hat pressed down on his head.

He bounded up a dirt mound and surveyed the site from above, barking orders.

“Pouring team! Stay sharp! The concrete’s too loose—you’ll blow out the formwork like this.”

Kang Joon narrowed his eyes, scanning the site methodically.

[Skill Activated: Master’s Blueprint (Lv.1)]
[Passive Skill: Mark of Authority takes command of the site.]

Whoosh—!

Kang Joon’s vision washed in blue light, and the entire Old Town site transformed into a holographic blueprint.

The tangled workflows unraveled at a single gesture of his hand, and the workers found their stations and began nailing in unison.

Barely thirty minutes after Kang Joon’s return, the site moved like a rusty gear freshly oiled and meshing perfectly into place.

“So this is it… Master Kang. Now we’re actually getting somewhere.”

Just then, Max, the site supervisor, approached Kang Joon, wiping the sweat gathered at his chin.
But Max’s expression seemed unusually dark.

Kang Joon asked without lifting his eyes from the blueprint.

“Why the look, Max? Did you miss me that much?”

“This isn’t the time for jokes, sir. I have good news and bad news.”

Kang Joon finally turned to face Max.

“Headquarters is sending extra Excavators and Dump Trucks. Generously, too. That’s the good news.”

Kang Joon’s brow furrowed slightly.

Blackwood’s sudden shift in stance. Something smelled off, but shortening the Project Timeline was worth it regardless.

“Then what’s the bad news?”

Max’s face darkened further.

“It’s just… there’s a section that wasn’t part of the original scope—a bridge between Section B and Section C that spans a creek. It needs to be restored immediately.”

Max continued his explanation.

The bridge, which had appeared sound on the surface, had developed problems from the constant traffic of heavy equipment.

“The city conducted an emergency safety inspection today, and the results are catastrophic. They’ve issued a closure order. If this bridge shuts down, our project timeline doubles!”

Kang Joon’s expression froze.

Design changes and additional work. The project timeline could balloon if they weren’t careful.

In construction, every day costs money. Contractors didn’t repeat their mantra—”finish when you can finish is the best course”—for nothing.

“Max! Get a car ready now!”

Leo and Sophia, who’d been working at the site office, were summoned as well. The four of them climbed into a pickup truck and headed for the troubled bridge.

* * *

A stream flowing between Section B and Section C.
The truck pulled up before the bridge that spanned it.

Kang Joon and his team stepped out and examined the bridge.
A concrete span roughly thirty meters long, wide enough for a single vehicle to pass—that was all.

Two massive concrete piers supported the structure.
To the naked eye, there was nothing alarming—just a thin coating of algae, nothing that suggested imminent collapse.

“Hmm… it looks fine to me… Are you sure the inspection wasn’t wrong?”

Leo tilted his head in confusion, but Kang Joon didn’t answer. He descended to the streambed below.

Standing before the pier, Kang Joon pressed his palm against the concrete column.

[Skill activated: Voice of Materials (Lv.1)]
[Skill activated: Earth’s Pulse (Lv.2)]

A soft shimmer rippled across his palm.

Blue light streamed from his fingertips, spreading outward.
The internal structure of the pier and the condition of the riverbed materialized before his eyes.

[Target: Reinforced Concrete Bridge Pier / Structural Integrity: 18% (Collapse Threshold)]
[Defect 1: 80% of internal rebar corroded, progressive microcracking in concrete.]
[Defect 2: Void formation beneath foundation from heavy flooding. 40% of pier foundation suspended in air.]

‘This is grave. A few more passes by heavy equipment and it would have come down entirely.’

Kang Joon drew in a breath. It was a mercy they’d caught the warning signs before the bridge failed catastrophically.

Once his assessment was complete, he climbed back up and turned to Sophia with a request.

“Sophia. I need you to write down the materials I’m about to list and draw up a budget estimate.”

“Yes, Director. I’m ready.”

Sophia quickly pulled out her tablet, her ears sharp and attentive, determined not to miss a single word.

Kang Joon glanced back at her once, then turned to Max with an easy expression.

“Max, we’re going to save this bridge. The deck stays as is—we reinforce only the lower piers.”

“Reinforce it? And if it collapses…?”

“Here’s the list of personnel and equipment we’ll need. Fifty rolls of 200-millimeter Carbon Fiber Sheet, thirty drums of Epoxy Resin rated for underwater curing. Sheet Pile to dam the water around the pier supports, two Pump Trucks for the temporary cofferdam, and four laborers with diving certification.”

As Kang Joon rattled off the list, Sophia’s fingers began dancing across the screen.

“Sir, if we source these materials and personnel on an emergency basis, I believe we can just barely cover it from the contingency fund.”

A calculation that sprang from Sophia’s mind in a single minute. Then Leo ventured in carefully.

“Mr. Kang. Setting the budget aside… if the design changes, naturally the Project Timeline extends. Should I go to City Hall now and file for an extension?”

Kang Joon shook his head firmly.

“No extensions. We finish within the original budget and the deadline—no exceptions.”

“What? You’re going to repair that bridge and meet the deadline? How… is that even possible?”

Max let slip a sigh despite himself. But Kang Joon’s gaze remained unshaken.

There was a clear reason Kang Joon wanted to finish the project quickly.

He had far too many things to do if he was going to devour this foreign American land.

Lot 1248—the land now in his possession. And beneath it, the real treasure waiting to be unearthed.

That said, he had no intention of cutting corners on this Restoration Project, slapping cement over rot and calling it done.

Kang Joon stared at the corroded pier support.
Already, the construction method conceived by the Master’s Blueprint unfolded in his mind.

‘Build a cofferdam around the support, wrap the column in Carbon Fiber Sheet, and pump Epoxy Resin through the gaps under high pressure. It’ll be harder than steel. A week is enough.’

A smile bloomed across Kang Joon’s lips.

* * *

At the same moment, the top floor of Blackwood Construction Headquarters.

Vice President Julian Blackwood sat at his desk, staring at the monitor screen.

The report Max had urgently transmitted was displayed across it.
The very photograph of the pier that Kang Joon had pinpointed with his palm, and the safety assessment certificate.

“Hoo….”

Julian’s eyes—lacking a double eyelid—narrowed to slits.

In the mind of a man colder than most, a decisive move was taking shape.

“The passage spanning the creek is on the verge of collapse. If this bridge cannot be repaired, the entire project will face severe delays.”

A variable to bring down Golden Gate and monopolize the glory of Pasadena’s reconstruction.
Julian was not one to let such an opportunity slip away.

His gaze fixed on the list of materials Golden Gate had requisitioned.

High-strength Carbon Fiber Sheet and ultra-fast-set Epoxy Resin.

“I can provide all the equipment. But… material procurement isn’t entirely within our control.”

Julian lifted one corner of his mouth and pressed the intercom.
After a few rings, the voice of his secretary came through.

[Yes, Vice President.]

“Immediately—contact every construction material wholesaler across western California. Freeze all shipments of Carbon Fiber Sheets and ultra-fast-setting Epoxy Resin destined for the Pasadena Restoration Project site.
Spend whatever it takes. Buy out the inventory and lock it in the warehouse.”

Julian’s voice remained infinitely soft, yet beneath it lay a blade sharp as steel.

[Understood, Vice President. I’ll arrange it at once.]

After issuing his orders, Julian gazed toward the Old Town in the distance and adjusted his tie.

A crisis Kang Joon couldn’t yet see was bearing down upon him.

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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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