The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 31

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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 31

Counterattack

While Blackwood’s attention remained fixed on material hoarding, the Old Town reconstruction site moved forward without obstruction.

As Kang Jun surveyed the site, a group of people crossed the security barrier into his field of vision.

Leading them was Brown, the representative of the Pasadena Old Town Autonomous Committee.
With a bulging belly beneath a Hawaiian shirt, he fixed Kang Jun with a glare brimming with discontent.

“Hey! You’re the one in charge here, right?”

The moment Kang Jun saw his forced attitude, he grasped the situation instantly.

‘A textbook troublemaker.’

This was the classic type of local official he’d seen countless times on Korean construction sites—using complaints as a pretext to pocket bribes.

Kang Jun lowered his posture and offered a friendly smile.

“Yes, I’m Kang Jun, overseeing operations at this site. Thank you for taking the time to visit, though I’m sure the noise has been bothersome. What brings you here?”

“What brings me here? You’ve blocked the temporary bridge and cut off the main bridge entirely—how are we supposed to get anywhere? Do you expect us to drive several kilometers out of our way just to reach the mall?”

As Brown raised his voice, Kang Jun smoothly played along and retrieved something from an inside vest pocket.

“My goodness, Chairman Brown. I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll have the bridge open for you soon, so I’d appreciate your generous understanding.”

It was Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year—the finest bourbon he’d won from his arm-wrestling bet with Dominic that very morning.

Brown’s pupils wavered at the sight of the label. Whether in Korea or America, there was nothing quite like this to soften rigid shoulders.

“Ahem, well… for the sake of safety, I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll do my best to explain things to the residents through our committee. Just finish up as quickly as possible!”

Without another glance, he hurried away from the site with quick strides.

Leo, who had witnessed the entire exchange, approached Kang Jun and gave him a thumbs up.

“Wow, Mr. Kang! That’s incredible negotiating skills. You got that stubborn old guy eating out of your hand in no time! But I haven’t seen Dominic anywhere—where’d he go?”

As Leo glanced around in search, Kang Jun kept his gaze fixed elsewhere and deflected smoothly.

“Oh, Dominic? The drinks from last night hadn’t worn off, so I told him to find a quiet corner and rest. Leave him be.”

When Kang Jun turned his head, his eyes met Sophia’s, who was standing at the entrance of the field office.

The two exchanged a subtle glance, and a faint smile crossed both their faces.

* * *

Moments later, inside the field office.

Sophia was headset on, making a series of calls to nearby material suppliers.
The answers coming through the receiver were all identical.

[Ah, you’re from Golden Gate, aren’t you? I’m terribly sorry, but our inventory of large H-beam specifications and prefabricated top plate modules has completely sold out. Blackwood? In any case, another buyer swept through and cleared everything out.]

[My apologies. Headquarters has issued a directive to suspend shipment of that volume.]

As expected, the materials Sophia had requested were nowhere to be found.

“Yes, sir. So shipment is impossible, I understand. I’ve got it.”

Sophia ended the call with composure.
On her monitor screen, the call recording program ran continuously without pause.

Under California state law, call recording requires dual consent as a matter of principle.
Illegal recordings not only lose evidentiary value in court; they can result in a countersuit.

But Sophia was someone who had fought in the mud of Wall Street. She wasn’t the type to leave loopholes.

Each time Sophia made a call, this disclaimer played.

[This call is automatically recorded to improve service quality and to document the terms of our agreement. If you do not wish to proceed, please disconnect.]

The conversations of company presidents who responded after hearing this disclaimer had full evidentiary standing.

Moreover, on one side of her monitor ran a B2B network database tracking the cash flows of Blackwood’s subsidiaries and paper companies.

‘Foolish bastards. Leaving a trail behind.’

Sophia was methodically sharpening the blade of her counterattack.

Fair competition? Such lofty words held no sway on Wall Street.

On the basis of these materials, she was drafting a complaint weaving together charges of Antitrust Law Violation and Illegal Interference with Contractual Relations.

* * *

A day later.

Mayor Scott arrived at the construction site with his aide Tom in tow. The mayor’s face was etched with worry.

“Mr. Kang, the situation is becoming serious.”

As soon as the mayor took Kang Jun’s hand, he lowered his voice and glanced about nervously.

“The pressure from local media outlets is relentless. They’re hammering away at yesterday’s bridge collapse, pushing a narrative like ‘A local construction company’s incompetence has crippled the feet of Pasadena’s citizens.'”

The mayor grimaced and exhaled a heavy sigh.

“Once public opinion has turned, it’s not easy to correct. If sparks of blame land on the disaster victims sheltering in our facilities, everything will fall apart.”

“I’m giving you exactly one week. Within that time, you must show results dramatic enough to reverse public opinion. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to hold Golden Gate accountable in some form.”

Public opinion that even Mayor Scott couldn’t contain. This was a genuine crisis.
But Kang Jun spoke with steady, unshaken resolve.

“Don’t worry, Mayor. In a few days, a miracle will unfold over that river.”

It was brazenly confident. Mayor Scott cleared his throat and turned to leave, but deep down, he was anticipating the miracle Kang Jun would deliver.

* * *

Two more days had passed.

The site ran like clockwork under Kang Jun’s direction—except for one barren stretch: the bridge span over the river.

“Director… is this really all right?”

Sophia’s worry leaked through. Even if the one move she was preparing proved effective, no bridge appearing before their eyes meant public opinion would still turn vicious.

Kang Jun adjusted his hard hat before answering.

“Sophia, have faith in our new employee. By now, he should be tearing down the highway.”

Dominic Peirce.

The feet of Golden Gate, as the system recognized him.
Kang Jun had absolute certainty he would not disappoint.

That was when it happened.
A Pasadena local news broadcast played on the television in the site office.

On screen, a man in immaculate tailored dress conducted an interview at the Disaster Victim Shelter site.

Eyes stretched long without double lids. A serpentine expression.

Julian Blackwood, Vice President, had taken the stage himself.

[My deepest sympathies to the suffering people of Pasadena. The Old Town reconstruction project currently harbors fatal flaws. Unverified small contractors and Golden Gate’s reckless construction progress have forced citizens to detour over ten kilometers. The Blackwood Group stands ready to mobilize all our resources to contain this crisis.]

It was a calculated media play designed to inflame the masses.
The moment Julian’s interview aired, the phones in the site office erupted.

Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring!

“When exactly will that broken road be fixed?”
“This is unbearable! How many more months do we have to take detours?”

Citizen complaints poured in relentlessly. Leo picked up and hung up the receiver in anguish.

“Mr. Kang! I’m afraid a riot might actually break out.”

Just as the site workers themselves began to murmur and grow uneasy—

Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!

An enormous vibration tore through the air as if an earthquake had struck. Moments later, a cloud of dust parted to reveal the source of the deafening roar.

“Oh… my… God!”

Leo’s jaw dropped.

What appeared before their eyes was a procession of ten Heavy Duty Lowboy Trailers, each bristling with dozens of wheels.

Piled high on the beds of the trailers were H-Beam Truss Structures, Galvanized Top Plate Modules, and Prefabricated Support Cap Blocks stacked like mountains to shore up the lower supports.

Enough material to span a thirty-meter bridge in a single stroke.

Those materials—the ones that had vanished without a trace across California—now appeared before their eyes, as if to defy all doubt.

A broad smile spread across Kang Jun’s face.

‘Perfect timing.’

* * *

Days earlier.
Back when Kang Jun had sent Max away and was meeting with Sophia and Dominic to discuss material procurement.

“Can’t source the materials? Come on, boss. How vast is American territory and you’re giving up?”

Dominic shrugged with a soft snort.

During his time in the special forces, he had navigated treacherous terrain—desert wastelands in the Middle East—handling supply logistics.

In the process, he had cultivated connections with America’s foremost military contractors and lobbyists.

Dominic’s eyes gleamed as he added a touch of bluster.

“There’s not a single material in America I can’t procure through my network—mark my words. And those comrades-in-arms I crossed the line of fire with? Nine out of ten who’ve retired are running shipping operations now. If we can’t source something in California, we just get it direct-shipped from the neighboring state.”

Dominic pulled out his phone on the spot and made a call.
The recipient was the president of a steel module manufacturing plant located near Las Vegas in Nevada State.

The steel company owner, who owed Dominic a considerable debt from years past, agreed without hesitation to provide the Modular Bridge Materials at cost.

Dominic didn’t stop there—with a single phone call, he recruited former special forces truckers to transport the materials.

And so, ten Heavy Duty Lowboy Trailers had crossed the Mojave Desert and thundered into California.

As Kang Jun reflected on those moments, he once again felt the truth of why the system called Dominic “the Golden Gate’s unwavering pillar.”

Insane mobility and connections.
This was a scale that Blackwood couldn’t possibly contain.

The door of the Black Mustang at the front opened, and Dominic, wearing sunglasses, stepped out.

“Boss! Your ordered bridge—delivery complete.”

Dominic snapped a salute toward Kang Jun. Behind him, burly truck drivers climbed out of their vehicles and offered their greetings.

Leo’s eyes glistened as he let out a cry of triumph.

But the counterattack was only just beginning. Sophia pushed her glasses up and peered at something in the distance.

“Supervisor, we have uninvited guests.”

A luxury sedan and a broadcast station news van were pulling in from far down the access road.

Stepping out were none other than Julian Blackwood and Director Reynolds.

They had come riding the wave of public opinion, intending to expose the Golden Gate’s incompetence.

Camera flashes erupted as Julian strolled forward with ease—then his expression went rigid in an instant.

Ten trailers and bridge materials stacked like a mountain. Things that absolutely should not be here, now in plain sight.

“This… what on earth is this?! I made certain all the supplies were cut off!”

Sophia walked forward with a briefcase full of documents, catching a stunned Julian off guard.

Camera lenses swung in unison toward Sophia and Julian. She smiled and thrust a stack of papers into his chest.

“Vice Chairman Julian Blackwood. Thank you for traveling so far. Your timing is impeccable, actually. I’d been hoping to show these documents to the relevant party before submitting them to the court.”

Sophia’s clear voice rang through the gathering.

“These documents contain evidence of illegal hoarding conducted by your company, as well as money laundering schemes executed through paper companies. You’ll want to take a good look.”

At Sophia’s bombshell declaration, the journalists’ hands began moving furiously.

Julian, who had meant to weaponize the press, instead found himself dealt a fatal blow by those very cameras.
It was Golden Gate’s stunning counterattack.

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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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