Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 158

Translator: Dreamscribe"As you instructed, CEO-nim, I have assigned positions to each of the KW Sentinel employees."

"Has everyone gone to headquarters?"

“Yes. They’ve all moved to the headquarters in Turkey, and soon employees will also be dispatched to the naval base in Nigeria.”

KW Sentinel.

It means guardian, or watcher, and hyung named the company that way to symbolize flawless vigilance and protection.

The sole purpose I founded this company was simple.

To ensure that our shipping vessels are safe from pirates.

And not just our shipping vessels, but to create a world where everyone passing through the sea can feel safe.

How heartbreaking it was to see crew members fall helplessly to pirate attacks, dying from gunshots in vain.

I planned to invest generously to ensure that never happens again.

So while this was about protecting our business, I also saw it as a kind of social responsibility.

Earning money is important, of course, but shouldn't human lives come first?

That’s why I didn’t care how much it would cost.

“For now, they’re only going into the Nigerian naval base, right?”

“Yes. Anthony Watson, who was appointed as the general director, is going in first with the employees to set up the system. If more personnel are needed, he’ll request it from headquarters. Also, Nigeria is the only place where a naval base is even modestly established, so it’ll probably take quite some time for Somalia and Togo.”

In the end, what we wanted was active cooperation from each country.

If these three countries could gain enough power through our investment to drive out criminal organizations in large numbers, that would be enough.

“But it seems there are also voices of concern from their side. Some are saying that Kwangwoon might be trying to control national military forces under the pretext of investment.”

“Well... what we’re doing is purely for safety. It's understandable if they misunderstand. Please ask Director Anthony to coordinate that well. That’s his area of expertise, after all.”

The fact that I entrusted the entire operation of Sentinel to him as general director meant I believed he was capable enough.

On the surface, it might look like we’re messing around with national military forces, but wouldn't such misunderstandings be cleared once we show our actions?

“Our Kwangwoon Foundation also wants to dispatch employees to those regions, as they’ve been suffering from prolonged civil wars and are in need of help.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“Security is definitely a concern. But if Sentinel provides security personnel and tightens protection, we can probably prevent any damage.”

I had to acknowledge the passion of our foundation employees.

To be honest, I was worried they were throwing themselves into dangerous areas without concern for their safety.

So I was about to say no-.

“......!”

At that moment, I felt my intuition reacting.

Could it be, like the Vice President said, that if we just deploy the right number of people, we could safely carry out good deeds?

“Phew. If I say no, they’ll probably feel restless, right?”

“Yes. They’re really angelic people. They just can’t pass by those in need without doing something.”

Yeah. How could I stop people who are voluntarily trying to do good?

Besides, seeing how my intuition is reacting like this, it seems even this guy doesn’t want to block a good deed.

“Then tell them to carefully select security personnel. Let them know it’s okay to hire more than needed. Employee safety should be our top priority.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

I was really grateful for our foundation employees.

I know there are many people who don’t look kindly on our Sentinel entering Nigeria.

But I wanted to show that we’re starting this with good intentions, not bad ones.

And I felt like our foundation employees would fulfill that role properly.

***

“Has the personnel deployment been completed?”

“Yes. We’ve roughly planned out how to begin operations once we move into Nigeria. Everyone’s such a professional in this field that coordination has been seamless.”

Anthony Watson heard the headquarters director's report and grinned.

“Of course. Didn’t I tell you? Even before we submitted our applications, Kwangwoon had already chosen us and made all the plans on where to place us.”

The more he worked at the Sentinel headquarters established in Turkey, the more he could feel it becoming real.

Kwangwoon had never passed the employees here just based on paperwork.

It seemed that, perhaps, they had been carefully planning for years, deciding who to bring into their company, and where to place them to extract the best efficiency, calculating everything in advance.

“What are the directives from higher up?”

“They said Director can take care of things as he sees fit.”

“What? They’re leaving everything to me?”

“Yes. They said they’ll provide full support if we request it. However, they also mentioned there are some voices of discontent within the Nigerian government regarding the establishment of our Sentinel, so they told us to handle that well.”

“Really?”

Leaving everything to him meant that even purchasing weapons and supplementing personnel was now entirely up to Anthony, the general director.

He didn't expect them to push this hard. Did this mean they trusted his capabilities that much?

“Or maybe it's a test.”

“A test? But you’ve already been appointed as general director.”

“You just said it yourself. There are opposing factions within the Nigerian government. What do you think that means? It means I need to quietly handle them. Whether I lay the first brick properly or create noise, they want to test me based on that.”

“This place is more suffocating than I thought.”

Suffocating?

Anthony didn’t think so at all.

“This Sentinel is the cornerstone to creating a borderless empire. It’s about building a history no one has ever dared to try or succeeded in. That’s why Kwangwoon isn’t doing this half-heartedly.”

In truth, even Anthony hadn’t known what Kwangwoon ultimately sought before coming here.

Even people in the intelligence agencies at the time couldn’t figure out who was pulling the strings behind Kwangwoon, or what their goals were.

But after entering this place, he came to understand naturally.

Kwangwoon was trying to build a new kind of empire, one that no one could touch.

Just participating in that historic endeavor made Anthony’s heart race.

And hadn’t Kwangwoon even granted him the authority to command Sentinel freely?

“Director-nim. There is one very important directive.”

“What directive?”

“The Kwangwoon Foundation is planning to dispatch employees to Nigeria for volunteer work. However, since the public safety situation is so unstable, they’re asking to send a large number of security personnel.”

Employees from the foundation, out of the blue?

Anthony immediately understood the intention.

It seemed the head of headquarters realized it as well.

The two of them smiled at the same time.

“This feels like Kwangwoon is opening the path for us far too easily.”

“Yes. If we deploy a large number of security personnel under the pretext of protecting the volunteers, it will make covert operations within Nigeria much easier. Also, we can plant our own people disguised as volunteer staff to carry out activities.”

“What’s the Nigerian government saying?”

“They have no reason to reject it. Volunteers coming to do good deeds and feed the hungry, that improves public sentiment. Besides, the Kwangwoon Foundation has a great global image. They’re known for generously spending money on good causes.”

So the Nigerian government eagerly took the bait.

They didn’t even consider that it might be a Trojan horse.

“Headquarters isn’t even giving us time to adjust and is throwing us straight into the action.”

“Well, they’re paying us a lot, so I guess they want us to earn our keep.”

“Even better. I was already getting bored here. Call a meeting. We’ll prepare an operation and enter alongside the foundation members.”

“Yes, Director-nim.”

Just as the head of headquarters finished speaking and was about to leave, he paused.

“Oh, Director-nim. What should we do about screening internal spies?”

Internal spies.

In any organization, identifying internal spies was a crucial matter.

“Especially in our case, we were famous from the moment we began accepting applications. Almost every intelligence agency probably tried their best to plant spies here.”

But no one knew who was wearing a mask.

And for the sake of what was to come, that was exactly what needed to be uncovered.

What was KW Sentinel’s corporate motto?

To make sure the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

But if someone inside were to gather information and leak it, it would undoubtedly become the biggest scandal in history one day.

“Ah, that? There’s no need for it.”

“What? But you know very well. Even the CIA must have planted a spy among us.”

“Yeah. I’m sure they tried.”

Anthony let out a faint chuckle and shook his head.

“But do you think Kwangwoon wouldn’t have known about something even we are aware of?”

***

Kwangwoon created a legitimate PMC and partnered with small nations under the justification of eliminating pirates, all while building a powerful military system.

They were dangerous to begin with, but now they were trying to go beyond that.

Still, one couldn’t just take them down without cause.

This was a nation ruled by law.

So we had to expose all the filthy things they were doing behind the scenes and bring them to justice.

That’s why intelligence agencies tried to plant their chosen people inside when Sentinel began large-scale hiring.

“But... not a single one got in? With that many people being hired, at least one should’ve made it, right?”

Sentinel didn’t just hire a few people.

They launched a truly massive recruitment drive.

Which is why spies were deployed.

To somehow bring down Kwangwoon’s ambitions.

“Yes. Even though the CIA sent people they had carefully and painstakingly selected, Sentinel didn’t accept a single one of them.”

In fact, attempts to plant spies inside Kwangwoon had always existed.

The problem was that even if someone managed to enter the company as a low-level employee, no one had ever made it into what were considered the core departments.

“It wasn’t just our CIA. We checked through our connections with other agencies, and apparently no one has ever succeeded in placing a spy within Kwangwoon’s key industries.”

They had managed to enter at the bottom, but as soon as they attempted to move up and enter core departments through promotions, Kwangwoon suddenly blocked the path.

“That means they already knew. Who the spies were, I mean.”

“And this time, we were even more careful in our selection, weren’t we? But not a single one made it in…”

“It seems there was already a leak within the CIA. And probably within other intelligence agencies too…”

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut.

For a moment, he felt so dizzy he nearly stumbled.

“M-Mr. President!”

“I’m fine. So… you’re telling me that the reason we’ve never been able to plant even one person inside Kwangwoon, not just this time, but all along, is entirely because of information leaks?”

“Yes. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. We were cautious every time, but Kwangwoon always acted as if they knew from the start. They never once accepted any of our people into their core departments.”

But there was still a sliver of hope.

“Then what about recruiting those who already got into KW Sentinel? There must be some former CIA agents among them, right?”

“Since the organization is operated with extreme secrecy, we don’t know exactly who joined. We’ve managed to track down a few through backchannels, but from what we hear, they’re all terrified.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“They say Kwangwoon seems to already know things about them that they themselves never disclosed. So if they were to try and cooperate with us, Kwangwoon would undoubtedly find out…”

“So now they refuse to cooperate with our government?! Even though they once served in the CIA for the sake of the country?!”

“Yes. We’re still doing our best to bring them in, but they’ve all cut off contact. On top of that, we can’t even confirm who exactly is inside Sentinel…”

At that moment, Aiden felt another wave of dizziness.

This had been happening a lot lately.

And now, even the person standing before him, he wasn’t sure if they were on his side or had already been turned by Kwangwoon.

He began to look at people with suspicion, starting from that.

As these kinds of incidents continued, it became increasingly difficult to focus on conversations, and he could clearly feel his memory deteriorating.

On social media, people were mocking President Aiden by turning this into a dementia meme.

“Don’t tell me… even this is part of Kwangwoon’s plan.”

Making him constantly doubt his own people like this, while the outside world applied pressure through ridicule on social media.

And now, with the confirmation that even the CIA’s entire intelligence network had been breached, there was no one left he could trust or rely on.

“John. You’re the only one I can trust now. Please, don’t betray me, at least not you.”

“Of course, Mr. President.”

The Chief Secretary, who answered as such, had hands that trembled faintly.

In truth, it wasn’t just Aiden who was consumed by fear.

Here, he had come to painfully realize that Kwangwoon’s claws had already reached into every corner.

Which meant, John felt, the next target could very well be him, the closest aide to Aiden.

“.......”

That’s why, once again today, John found himself on the verge of telling the President that he wished to resign from his position as Chief Secretary.