thenovelthief Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Translator: Dreamscribe“Chairman. As of today, our market capitalization has dropped to 500 billion dollars.”
“.......”
Rainjof let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his face wearily.
“Why is the stock price dropping like this?”
“There are two major negative events that have hit our Bluezone hard. One is the massive layoff of 15,000 employees due to poor earnings. The other is the issue with pirates causing ships to be stuck at sea, leading to a logistics crisis. Ah. And also, Kwangwoon and Kangseong unilaterally cutting off semiconductor support to our BWS.”
But there was something else that dealt a decisive blow to Bluezone.
“Currently, the rumors circulating on social media seem to be having the biggest impact on the stock price.”
“Are you talking about that trash post that Milon Tusk uploaded?”
“Yes. He’s been talking as if you, Chairman, already sold off all your shares and made your exit.”
One must acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.
Milon Tusk is the biggest troll on social media.
That bastard loudly claimed that Bluezone was already finished, and that Rainjof had used the space industry as an excuse to sell off all his shares and run away.
The problem is, once Milon Tusk posts something on social media, people all over the world see it, and many believe it as if it were true.
“Why the hell is that bastard acting up again lately, when he was quiet for a while?”
“Hasn’t there been talk for a while about a connection between Kwangwoon and Milon Tusk? According to rumors, Milon Tusk is working under Kwangwoon.”
“That arrogant, crazy bastard? That’s ridiculous.”
Rainjof knew what kind of person Milon Tusk was.
He was never the kind of guy who would crawl under someone and work for them.
“But circumstantially, it’s clear that Milon Tusk has teamed up with Kwangwoon to pressure our Bluezone. Thanks to that, Kwangwoon keeps buying up our shares at low prices, and Milon Tusk keeps posting on social media to drive our stock price down.”
“Make a statement that it’s absolutely not true. When did I ever sell off all my shares!”
“But Chairman, isn’t it true that you’ve been steadily selling shares and transferring them to Bluezone Space?”
“I still hold more than 10% of the shares.”
“That doesn’t matter. People only care about whether or not you sold your shares. Didn’t you promise to grow Bluezone even more when you stepped down as CEO and became Chairman? In the eyes of the public, that promise has been broken.”
Rumors that Rainjof had been selling his shares to invest in the space industry had existed for some time. But back then, people didn’t pay much attention.
Because Bluezone wasn’t in crisis like it is now.
“That’s exactly the kind of weakness Milon Tusk and Kwangwoon are exploiting. When public attention is focused, they keep pressing. And doesn’t Milon Tusk’s Space T business overlap with Bluezone Space? He’ll be eager to eliminate a potential competitor while he has the chance.”
“So Kwangwoon is deliberately helping Milon Tusk?”
“They’re helping each other and gaining mutual benefits. Kwangwoon is trying to acquire our Bluezone, and Milon Tusk wants you, Chairman, out of the space industry.”
Currently, Bluezone Space was still in the development stage.
It wasn’t yet at a scale that could threaten Space T.
But in a few years, it was certain to catch up.
Hadn’t they already reached an agreement with NASA for a future contract?
That’s why Milon Tusk was trying to cut it off before Bluezone Space could grow any further.
“At this rate, we’ll be forced to make a choice, just like FaceWeb was. Before FaceWeb was taken over by Kwangwoon, they also suffered from all kinds of defamatory news, their stock price crashed, and they went through massive restructuring, just like us right now.”
The situation of FaceWeb and Bluezone was unfolding in a similar way.
Both had undergone massive restructuring due to poor performance, and their stock prices had plummeted from external attacks.
“Even asset management firms, which had never interfered in our business direction until now, are starting to pressure our board of directors.”
The biggest problem was that even asset management firms like Whiterock and Wingard, which hold large amounts of shares but don’t participate in management, were now pressuring the board.
“Ha. If I had known this would happen......”
Every time the name Kwangwoon came up, Rainjof hadn’t paid much attention.
After all, it was just a company that started in a small country.
He had thought it was hopelessly lacking compared to Bluezone’s dominance.
But while he was ignoring them, Kwangwoon had been expanding its influence across the globe.
Could it be that Milon Tusk had realized this early on, which is why he bowed his head in advance and aligned himself with them?
***
“Nigeria is the 10th largest oil-producing country in the world. It’s also a member of OPEC. Furthermore, it ranks within the top 10 globally in natural gas reserves.”
In gaming terms, it’s like a cheat map.
A land flowing with milk and honey, truly a blessed land.
But the current state of Nigeria, despite all those resources, is one of extreme poverty.
The wealth gap is enormous, and endless civil wars and conflicts have left people’s lives devastated.
"Seeing that Nigeria was overflowing with oil and natural gas, foreign companies jumped in en masse, but most have withdrawn now."
“Because of the civil war, right?”
“Yes. That, and also because there are so many forces attacking pipelines and stealing oil. When oil prices skyrocket, oil plundering becomes completely uncontrollable.”
Even when companies tried to drill for oil, armed rebels or military factions would appear and seize the oil, turning all their efforts into someone else’s gain.
And the government didn’t do much to protect them, either.
The government itself was riddled with corruption, and many within it were allied with those criminal groups. In the end, companies simply gave up and pulled out.
“Even when oil is extracted and sold, the profits go only to certain vested interest groups, and the people under them don’t receive a single penny. So everyone ends up joining criminal organizations, worsening the situation.”
Ultimately, this meant the country was full of thieves.
If the government had gradually distributed money starting from the top and looked after the people’s livelihoods, far fewer people would have fallen into crime, and public order would have stabilized, making the country much better than it is now.
“But the elite class monopolized the wealth so severely that Nigeria as a whole collapsed. The ongoing civil wars are a result of that as well.”
The curse of oil-rich countries.
Nigeria is often cited as a representative example of that curse.
Despite having the resources to become wealthy, the lives of the people grow poorer. This is a phenomenon where reliance solely on resources causes the collapse of industrial diversity, and horrific consequences arise due to corrupt politicians.
“But Somalia is in an even worse state. They also have enormous reserves of oil and natural gas. Even uranium, iron ore, copper, and so on, many resources are buried there. Yet nothing has actually been developed.”
“And their fishing grounds are massive too, right? I heard they’re among the top in the world.”
“Yes. The problem is, there are so many pirates here, along with criminal organizations and rebel forces, that development is simply impossible. Since the collapse of the regime in ’91, the country’s been in a constant state of anarchy. Although a central government was eventually formed, a massive rebel force called Al-Shabaab controls everything outside the capital.”
Somalia, too, was a land of opportunity no less than Nigeria.
But it had been in a prolonged state of anarchy. Even though the UN had intervened and helped it function as a country, it wasn’t long before a massive rebel force appeared, and now everyone has washed their hands of it.
“With multiple financial crises having occurred, developed countries are no longer able to care about other nations as they once did, and that has made the situation even worse.”
I let out a short sigh.
"We'll have a rough time too. If we want to conduct the shipping business safely."
“Yes. Right now, we’ve aligned ourselves with the military, but even with heavy investment, it’s hard to say whether we can truly control things the way we want and expand our influence.”
At the Vice President’s words, I suddenly felt a jolt of fear.
I was worried that we might end up losing money and making the security situation worse, dealing a fatal blow to our shipping business.
“CEO-nim. And here’s the list of people who applied to our PMC. There were more applicants than expected, so we filtered out some at the document stage and gathered only those with top-tier qualifications.”
“Really? We had that many applicants?”
“Yes. I didn’t expect this many either. Plus, quite a few of them used to work for intelligence agencies like the CIA.”
I looked over the list handed to me by the Vice President.
I’d heard before that people who used to work in the CIA or MI6 often moved into PMCs.
Just as expected, there were a number of people who had left intelligence agencies.
“.......”
But even if I read all their profiles, I wouldn’t be able to judge who’s actually needed for me.
However, my intuition can.
I briefly closed and opened my eyes.
And sure enough, lights started to glow from certain names.
I checked every name that lit up without missing any and handed it back to the Vice President.
"Please hire them as is."
“Uh... Aren’t you going to conduct interviews or anything?”
“No. But I’ll meet them at least once after hiring. I’ll need to assign positions, too.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
“Alright. Please do.”
I felt a bit guilty for giving the Vice President so much to handle.
Still, it was comforting to feel like things were moving forward.
***
“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to hire so many employees based on documents alone, without any interviews.”
“That’s just our CEO-nim’s style.”
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan had suddenly taken on the PMC matter as well, causing his workload to increase significantly.
But he didn’t feel irritated at all.
He had a vague sense that something huge was about to happen.
Rather, he was grateful to be entrusted with such a core responsibility.
Because that meant CEO Jung Jin-ho trusted him that much.
“It’s a shame, really. I was hoping to meet CEO Jung Jin-ho at least once. I was going to use the interview as an excuse.”
“You wanted to meet our CEO-nim?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, Vice President, but do you know which organization CIA, MI6, and many other intelligence agencies were most interested in? It’s Kwangwoon. And in particular, CEO Jung Jin-ho, who’s said to be the top decision-maker in Kwangwoon, draws a lot of interest.”
“.......”
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan tried not to show it, but his throat was already dry, and he was swallowing hard.
“So we dug into this company persistently, but not even a speck of dust came out. Even after investigating it in connection with numerous incidents, it’s the first time I’ve seen a company with absolutely no links. It was terrifying, honestly.”
“.......”
“And then suddenly this mysterious company starts recruiting PMC personnel? Anyone who’s worked in an intelligence agency wouldn’t be able to resist. I was the same. That’s why I rushed over and submitted my application.”
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan looked at the profile of the man in front of him.
Anthony Watson.
15 years of service in the CIA.
That was as far as his background went, and that alone was enough.
The real issue was that people with such formidable resumes were now flocking to Kwangwoon PMC.
“Do you know what kind of work you’ll be doing in our PMC?”
“Yes. I got a rough idea from the earlier briefing session. And that’s exactly what gave me chills.”
“Huh?”
“Looking at the people who were hired this time, I recognized quite a few. Of course, there were some unfamiliar faces, but after talking a bit, I realized they had worked in departments similar to mine.”
“Departments similar to yours...?”
“Operations. Outwardly it’s called an operations department, but the actual work is black ops. Slowly weakening and dismantling enemy forces, making them turn on each other, and taking control of the area.”
“......!”
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan had no idea about any of this.
“Joining hands with the military, and then, through covert operations, taking control of not just the government, but even the rebel forces and criminal organizations. It seems you’ve gathered only specialists in exactly that kind of work. I’m sure the employees selected here, myself included, realized today why they were chosen. And what kind of work they’ll be doing.”
“.......”
“But what’s even more surprising is that none of us, myself included and the familiar faces I saw here, ever revealed our actual specialties. In the case of black operations, most of it involves national secrets, so it’s not something that’s publicly disclosed. It’s rarely even written in our profiles. And yet, as if someone already knew all of it, only people from those specific fields were selected and brought in-”
Anthony shook his head.
“I had a feeling, but Kwangwoon’s intelligence capabilities are truly beyond imagination. I think I now understand why there weren’t any interviews. It’s because you already knew everything. Including the fact that we would apply. Isn’t that right?”
“.......”
Kang Ji-hwan recalled CEO Jung Jin-ho checking off profiles without hesitation.
To others, it may have looked like a rushed selection process, but in reality, Jung Jin-ho had already decided whom he would pick.
Then who, before Kang Ji-hwan, had brought him those profiles?
“If you appoint me as the one responsible for leading this PMC team, I’m confident I can carry out the work Kwangwoon wants.”
“What kind of work?”
“What Kwangwoon wants is control over Nigeria, Togo, and Somalia. But from the outside, it must never appear that Kwangwoon is orchestrating this behind the scenes. That’s our area of expertise, isn’t it? Through covert operations, without ever exposing Kwangwoon’s name, we weaken opposing forces as if it happened naturally.”
“You’re saying you’ll go ahead and do things that Kwangwoon hasn’t even ordered?”
“Yes. It's about keeping the right hand from knowing what the left hand is doing. As long as the support is solid, there will never be any exposure.”
They’re not supposed to act independently on matters the company hasn’t authorized.
But what if that’s exactly what CEO Jung Jin-ho wanted?
“I know my position hasn’t been decided yet, but I ask you to seriously consider it. With the personnel we’ve gathered here, I believe we can carry out the work very effectively.”
“Nothing has been decided yet. We’ll inform you separately regarding your position.”
“Yes. Then shall I call in the next person?”
With a grin, Anthony left the interview room.
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan stared blankly at his retreating figure, then lowered his gaze back to the profile in front of him.
Saying the positions hadn’t been decided was a lie.
In truth, CEO Jung Jin-ho had already assigned roles after selecting the personnel.
And the position of Anthony Watson, who had emphasized that he could carry out all operations without exposing Kwangwoon’s name was-
“.......”
General Director, with command over all personnel.