thenovelthief Chapter 141
Chapter 141
Translator: DreamscribeThe sudden outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.
It was bound to be a major blow for Europe, which had been dependent on Russia for natural gas and other resources.
This was because economic sanctions had to be imposed on Russia, which started the war, and that meant they had to cut off natural gas imports as well.
"On top of that, we Germany have been serving as a hub connecting Russia and Europe. Compared to other European countries, the damage we suffer is enormous."
Germany suffered the most from the halt in natural gas imports.
The pipeline known as Nord Stream connected Russia and Germany, but due to the economic sanctions, the entire line was shut down, cutting off the supply of natural gas on which they relied as much as 70%.
"How much damage are we talking about on our side?"
"If the supply of Russian natural gas is completely halted and we have to keep paying more than three times the current price, a report has estimated that losses of about 300 billion euros will occur over the next one to two years."
"300 billion euros?!"
German Chancellor Olaf's face stiffened.
300 billion euros.
It was truly a staggering amount.
It was almost equivalent to the nation’s annual budget.
Until now, Germany had been supplying natural gas to Europe while acting as a hub.
They had made quite a profit from that, but now it was all being cut off.
"That domino effect will impact all sectors of the German economy. That’s why it leads to massive losses."
"In other words, we’re the ones who have to bear the brunt of it all?"
"Yes. Through this Russia-Ukraine war and the economic sanctions on Russia, the one suffering the most damage has to be us, Germany."
As if that wasn’t painful enough, they had to send weapons and various supplies to Ukraine. Money would continue to drain away there too.
"Isn’t there a way to delay the negotiations a bit? It makes no sense to buy natural gas at three times the current price."
"We have no choice. The countries that are relatively less affected by the gas shortage are already pushing ahead to finalize negotiations with Kwangwoon as if it’s none of their business."
Among them, France was the most vicious.
While countries like Germany were phasing out nuclear power, these guys actually increased the number of their nuclear plants and have now become the country with the highest proportion of nuclear power in the world.
"Because of that, France doesn’t have to panic over natural gas like Germany. They actually seem to see this as an opportunity."
"An opportunity?"
"Yes. Recently, under orders from the French President, they’re preparing to operate nuclear power at maximum capacity to generate energy and export it. It’s predicted that they’ll be able to export energy at a record high this year and next year."
France also used natural gas, but its share was quite small.
That’s why, even while blatantly expressing their dislike for Kwangwoon, they were working to smoothly conclude negotiations with Kwangwoon.
"Kwangwoon doesn’t just have natural gas, but also wheat and nickel. Especially wheat is critical. France may be the country with the highest wheat production in Europe, but due to last year’s poor harvest, they don’t have that much in stock."
"But still, France produces the most wheat in Europe, doesn’t it?"
"Yes. To go straight to the conclusion, France, which is leading the negotiations as the representative, has suffered very minimal damage from the Russia-Ukraine war, and the damage expected in the future is also very small. In fact, they stand to benefit greatly."
President Perron of France was relentlessly issuing statements condemning Russia almost daily, using them to boost his political standing.
He was also playing a leading role in the EU, pushing negotiations forward to quickly calm the chaos in Europe, and it was all for a reason.
"The French election is coming up soon. President Perron is struggling to win reelection this time. His approval ratings had been quite low, but through the Russia-Ukraine war, he’s been appearing in the media constantly, making statements and regaining support."
That made things even more unpleasant.
Wasn’t President Perron the one who couldn’t stand Kwangwoon?
But now, he was fervently clinging to Kwangwoon’s coattails to negotiate.
They were trying to package the chaos that had hit Europe as if it had been resolved by themselves and use it as a tool to boost approval ratings.
“Chancellor. This only ends up benefiting others. Especially Kwangwoon and France. Those two, in particular.”
“There’s a connection between Kwangwoon and France?”
“Yes. It’s a situation that raises enough suspicion. Of course, it could just be that President Perron is doing it purely for his own reelection.”
He clearly remembered that Perron used to despise Kwangwoon immensely.
But now, to secure his political future, he was joining hands with Kwangwoon.
Well, that’s how politicians are, aren’t they?
Today’s enemy becomes tomorrow’s ally.
“Either way, we can’t just stand by and let those two benefit, can we? If things keep going like this, Eastern Europe will have to suffer tremendous economic losses, while the others are stuffing themselves full.”
“Then what do you propose we do? Should we start building nuclear power plants right now? Do you think we can afford the cost and time?”
“That’s not what I’m suggesting. The solution is surprisingly simple. If we reopen all the currently closed pipelines, the problem will be solved.”
“What? But... we already agreed on sanctions, didn’t we?”
“Yes. But given the situation, don’t you think we need to reopen them? In fact, Russia reached out to us first. They’re asking to negotiate.”
Chancellor Olaf was tempted.
“If things go on like this, we’re looking at over 300 billion euros in losses within one or two years. We can’t afford to throw away an entire year’s worth of the national budget, can we, Chancellor?”
He was right.
Just because the Russia-Ukraine war had broken out didn’t mean Germany and its people had to suffer.
They could participate in the economic sanctions to a certain extent, but was there any need to throw away 300 billion euros just like that?
***
Trinity Guild.
There wasn’t any grand reason behind why hyung had chosen that name for the guild.
'Work, family, and games. It means these three need to be well balanced. Hehe.'
'You didn’t just pick it because it sounded cool or anything?'
'Tsk. Sometimes you’re too sharp for your own good.'
Anyway, the guild had continued under the name Trinity until now.
'But... this is unexpected.'
I was looking at a document I had pulled up myself.
So-called battle analyzer.
It was an in-game metric that showed how well a player used their skills and dealt damage. But just looking at this data, it was impossible to think this person was a newbie.
'I heard he’s barely played games before, could this be natural talent?'
In fact, this was the battle analyzer of Chairman Kang Sung-ho.
I had him try playing a dealer role, and he did surprisingly well.
As they say, the numbers don’t lie.
'If he practices a bit more here, he might actually become our guild’s main damage dealer.'
I suddenly felt happy, like I had discovered an unexpected gem.
Tank and healer roles are important too, but ultimately, the dealer has to land good damage for the game to be cleared.
“CEO-nim. You seem to be reviewing an important document.”
“Huh?”
“You looked very focused while going over it.”
“Ah, yes. It is important. Did you bring the report?”
“Yup. Here’s the report summarizing the current market information.”
There’s a report I always receive once a day.
It’s a report compiled from domestic and international news.
But it was different from ordinary information reports.
That’s because it includes data that ordinary people wouldn’t have access to.
“......”
I slowly reviewed the document.
From politics and economy to entertainment.
All sorts of information were packed inside.
Then, my eyes caught something.
“Germany is trying to reopen the pipeline?”
“Ah, yes. That seems to be the most important piece of information in today’s report. It hasn’t been made official yet, but apparently Germany is negotiating with Russia to reopen the pipeline and resume natural gas imports.”
“But they’re currently imposing economic sanctions, aren’t they?”
“Yes. But the problem is, if they keep the pipeline shut like this, the economic loss to Germany will be enormous. Around 300 billion euros. That’s more than 400 trillion won in our currency. It’s only natural that Germany doesn’t want to continue sanctions at the cost of such losses.”
Germany’s position was completely understandable.
Because the war had broken out suddenly, they had closed the pipeline as instructed. But once they actually ran the numbers, it turned out the economic damage to Germany was immense.
“The negotiations with the EU were in the final stage. All that was left was to sign. In fact, the deal was practically done. But it seems the delay is due to this.”
“Germany’s holding back?”
“Yes. If they manage to negotiate again with Russia, they won’t have to buy natural gas from us at more than triple the price.”
Which meant that the deal with the EU could fall apart completely.
“The problem is, this news is spreading and affecting natural gas prices. There are even rumors that prices might plummet drastically in the next few days.”
“So since the natural gas deal is likely to fall through, we should dump our inventory now?”
“Yes. It might be better to do that. We’re still paying storage fees as we speak. If we keep going like this, there’s a high chance we won’t even break even.”
If Germany really did negotiate with Russia, fully reopened the pipeline, and resumed supply, the situation would flip entirely.
Our side could end up suffering enormous losses instead.
“.......”
I hovered my hand over the natural gas sector.
Should we offload the volume quickly before prices crash?
“......!”
At that moment, an image flashed across my mind.
A strange scene of bubbles rising violently over the sea.
“CEO-nim, what should we do? Selling now would be the least damaging option.”
I knew that logically.
But I wasn’t sure what exactly that image I had just seen meant. Still, if natural gas was truly about to plummet, would my intuition have led me to start buying it a year ago?
"Let us just... wait and see?"
***
Ukraine was now walking the edge between life and death.
It was a brutal war.
When news spread that Russian forces were invading, morale collapsed. But Zelenskis’s will to resist had completely revived it.
Still, regaining fighting spirit doesn’t mean you win the war.
Because their opponent was none other than Russia.
No matter how much Russia’s military might had been exaggerated, Russia was still Russia.
Even a toothless tiger still has claws.
“This... is it true?”
“Sir?”
“Germany. Those bastards are trying to reopen the pipeline?”
“Ah, yes. After several checks, it seems to be true. The German government is already in close contact with the Russian side, trying to resume natural gas supply through the pipeline.”
Valerii, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief, frowned.
“So they’re tossing economic sanctions aside and shaking hands with Russia again?”
“Europe is already a slave to Russia, isn’t it? They can’t give up natural gas.”
Rage boiled up.
Here, in Ukraine, hundreds and thousands of young soldiers were dying every day trying to stop Russian forces.
And yet Europe, which had promised to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia, was now reversing its stance.
“If this continues, Russia won’t be under sanctions at all. They’ll fund their military with money from natural gas sales, and then pressure us even harder.”
Having failed to quickly conquer Ukraine, Russia was now preparing for a long war.
And what does a long war require?
Money.
That’s why they were trying to resume natural gas sales by working with Germany again.
Which meant European money would soon be used to buy the bullets and missiles destroying Ukraine.
“That’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Valerii realized it was time to make a critical decision.
Europe, being dragged around by natural gas. And Russia, trying to use that European money to arm itself.
There was only one way to cut both of them off completely.
“That Baltic Sea operation we planned earlier. We need to revisit it.”
“You mean... the sabotage operation?”
Sabotage.
It refers to the act of deliberately disrupting or destroying production activities.
“Yeah. If those bastards won’t give up to the end, then we have to force them to.”
At the commander’s words, everyone’s expressions stiffened.
What did sabotage in the Baltic Sea mean?
It meant blowing up the underwater pipeline currently connecting Germany and Russia.
“Commander. This operation was opposed by the President. Especially the U.S. side explicitly warned us not to carry it out, didn’t they? That’s why it was indefinitely postponed.”
“I know. But they’re the ones who broke the promise first. On the surface, they claim to support us, but now they’re openly announcing they’ll fund Russia! And we’re just supposed to sit back and watch!?”
“But if it becomes known that we’re behind this, we don’t know how the EU or Germany will react. We won’t be able to avoid international condemnation.”
“That’s why it’s called a covert operation. We need to carry it out in a way that doesn’t reveal we’re behind it. And even if it is exposed, we just deny it and insist it was all Russia’s doing. Besides, this isn’t something we’re doing because we want to. They’re the ones who created this situation.”
No one could refute the Commander-in-Chief’s words.
Because it was true that Germany had broken their promise first.
“Proceed with the operation immediately. I’ll... take full responsibility.”