Chapter 376: You’ve Crossed the Line First

The voice on the other end of the receiver belonged to Lorenze Medici, the head of the Medici family.

Not being well-versed in Italian, I replied in English.

“Lorenze.”

Whether he recognized my voice or not, I suddenly heard the sound of hurried movement.

It seemed he was shifting to a secure location to avoid eavesdropping, as only muffled sounds filled the air for a while.

I waited silently for Lorenze to speak. After a moment, his voice finally broke through.

— Charlie, it’s been a while. What’s this sudden call? Didn’t we agree not to contact each other? This is dangerous.

“I’m in a bit of a rush. This isn’t related to Valente.”

— Hmm…

His faint sigh made it hard to tell if he was relieved by the absence of Valente or confused.

“Actually, do you know the player An Jeong-hoon?”

— …. Of course I know him. Isn’t he the traitor of Italy? Ah, just thinking about it makes me furious!

His response came much later than anticipated, but there was a hint of agitation in his tone.

What can you expect from an Italian? He must really love soccer.

“You seem quite fond of soccer.”

— To an Italian, soccer is life. But why the sudden inquiry about An Jeong-hoon?

“Do you know the owner of Perugia? I believe his name is Gaucci.”

— Gaucci, the team owner? Of course I know him. He’s an old friend.

Even with just a bit of luck, his answer came back immediately. Lorenze couldn’t possibly be unaware of wealthy individuals owning soccer clubs.

“That’s a relief. I called to ask you to help get An Jeong-hoon released. You can do that, right, Lorenze?”

I didn’t provide detailed explanations, but Lorenze seemed to understand the situation clearly.

— If this is about Gaucci’s comments, you needn’t worry. I may not like An Jeong-hoon, but I will take responsibility for him. Weren’t you aware that the director of Perugia also apologized to the Korean press for An Jeong-hoon and the Korean people?

“I appreciate that, but the player’s heart has already left. He thought that returning to Italy and scoring goals against a solid defense would finally earn him proper treatment. Truthfully, it’s been discrimination up till now.”

Lorenze fell silent. If he knew the owner of the soccer club, then he must have a fair understanding of the situation within the club.

“But what he returned to was a death threat. Thankfully, the Korean company I own is An Jeong-hoon’s original team. However, Perugia made a million-dollar deposit without consulting us and has fully transferred him. You just need to communicate that they should restore the player and nullify the loan contract.”

An Jeong-hoon’s heart had left Italy a long time ago. Well, who could blame him?

Returning under these circumstances would likely yield nothing but bad outcomes.

— Um…

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Just relay this to Gaucci: If you refuse my request, it’s war then. Perugia will pursue players even if it means outbidding Leeds United.”

Lorenze, still contemplating, finally spoke up.

— Do you really have to go that far?

“You’ve crossed the line first. I don’t want to be involved in such matters, but are you not aware of the climate in Korea right now? It’s a celebration. I can’t sit back and watch the player who made this celebration crumble.”

— ….

“You can do it, right? With the power of the Medici family, it’s certainly possible. Isn’t it?”

The Medici family’s power in Italy was immense.

If Lorenze asked, he would never be refused.

To do business, one had to take loans from the banks owned by the Medici family, and no one in Italy would dare disregard someone as influential as Lorenze.

— Huh… You have quite the difficult request.

He let out a deep sigh, but it was an agreement nonetheless. He might be feigning difficulty even when it wasn’t.

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to return the favor later.”

— Let’s do that.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we helped each other out?”

This was a chance for Lorenze to owe me a favor, which wasn’t such a bad deal for him either.

After all, releasing just one player in exchange for more help from me could be quite beneficial.

“And once the affairs in Korea are settled, let’s meet up. We need to discuss our future.”

— For now, it’s tough. There are too many eyes watching me. I was aware of the recent Taliban attack in Afghanistan, but I couldn’t reach out. My butler is one of their spies.

“What?”

Suddenly, Lorenze mentioned the attack in Afghanistan.

Worried I might have misheard, I unintentionally asked back.

“Afghanistan attack?”

— Didn’t you hear? There was an ambush in Afghanistan recently. We were aware beforehand. Well, more accurately, the head of our group knew. He passed the information on to me the day before. It was likely a test, monitoring whether I would divulge it to you or keep it secret through my butler. So I couldn’t inform you.

“Are you saying Valente hired the Taliban to attack me?”

— That’s beyond my knowledge. I only received information that you’ve become the Taliban’s target.

“There’s no certainty…”

I didn’t know if Valente orchestrated the attack, but it was clear I had some ties to it, however tenuous.

“For now, I understand. Thank you for the information. It would have been better if I had received this warning before the ambush occurred.”

— I couldn’t help it. The moment he learns of my change of heart, I’d be found dead in cold blood.

Lorenze was clearly terrified of Valente.

For the head of a family with absolute power in Italy to tremble like that… What kind of person could cause such fear?

I asked once more about that head.

“Lorenze, are you still unwilling to tell me the identity of Valente’s leader?”

— ….

There was no answer. Lorenze was still walking a tightrope between me and Valente.

I knew that, but I let him linger for a bit longer to extract information on Valente.

As soon as things settled in Korea, I planned to force this man into a decision.

“I see. Understood.”

— I’m sorry, Charlie.

“It’s fine. I understand. By the way, has Lorenze’s family entered the Japanese foreign exchange market as well?”

— Isn’t it obvious? We’ve all jumped in. It’s a guaranteed victory, isn’t it? Why aren’t you participating, Charlie?

Indeed, everyone thought victory was assured.

If I didn’t foresee the future, I might have thought the same way.

Beating the same warehouse twice after already doing it once isn’t that difficult.

“You’re likely to lose. You might incur astronomical losses since the Japanese government is serious about this.”

Loud laughter erupted from the other end of the receiver.

— Ha ha, Charlie. Did you not witness the Asian financial crisis? When the hedge funds ally together for an attack, they are unstoppable. A single nation cannot stop them. They might manage a short-term defense, but can’t hold out long-term, especially since the Japanese government’s finances have limits despite being an economic powerhouse.

“If you suffer massive losses this time, I assure you that while others might recover, you, Lorenze, will not. I’ve been quite clear on that. You should really consider why Dream High is not participating in this venture.”

The Medici family had already incurred immense losses from the previous conflict with me.

Though at a level that could lead to their collapse, they had slowly been recovering through negotiations with me and support from other families aligned with Valente.

— Normally, that might be the case, but presently, not just hedge funds but also regular investors are selling dollars and buying yen. A lot of anxiety has built up due to the two wars launched by the U.S.

Seems you’re determined not to back off. If you’re that resolute, I didn’t need to add anything further.

Whenever he faces a huge loss from this incident, I can simply lend a hand then.

Though the price for that help would likely be astronomical…

“I’ve warned you. Don’t hold it against me later.”

— ….

“In that case, I’ll trust you’ll handle An Jeong-hoon’s situation. The sooner, the better, preferably before the semi-finals. See you next time.”

After ending the call with Lorenze, I closed my eyes. Rubbing my throbbing temples, I let out a low sigh.

Terrorism, Valente, the foreign exchange market, An Jeong-hoon. I slowly sorted the thoughts swirling in my mind and opened my eyes.

Later, the director of Perugia contacted Jungwoo Royals, indicating that if they returned the million dollars, the loan agreement would end.

Immediately, a call from Lee Sang-geun came through.

— Perugia has agreed to terminate An Jeong-hoon’s loan. They want the million dollars returned. Did the boss step in?

Indeed, I couldn’t underestimate Lorenze’s influence. A response had come back so quickly.

“Yes, sure. That works. By the way, what about the agent issue? Has that been resolved yet?”

— We’ve set a meeting for tonight.

Seems they haven’t tackled it yet. Before I could even speak, Lee Sang-geun opened his mouth.

— The director had been abroad, and Perugia couldn’t possibly let go that easily. He was surprised and came to see me. We’ve arranged to meet tonight, so I will definitely terminate the agent contract.

“I believe you’ll handle it well. Once the agent contract is terminated, please contact An Jeong-hoon and ask where he’d like to transfer, and help him find a good club.”

— Aren’t we bringing him to Leeds?

I wasn’t really keen on that.

“If Coach Hiddink wishes for that, then we can consider it, but as of now, I can’t guarantee whether An Jeong-hoon can play properly if he comes to our club. It may be better for him to join another club.”

— Understood. I’ll take care of that.

I quickly ended the call with Lee Sang-geun and turned to Eva, who was sitting across from me.

“Sorry, I got caught up with something else.”

“It’s fine.”

Eva waved her hand dismissively.

“Have you found out about Ilseong Electronics?”

The matter I entrusted to Eva was related to Il-seong Group.

“According to the boss, they’re preparing a physical separation without letting the board members know.”

“Physical separation? Are they really going to resort to that?”

“It seems they’re thinking of raising funds through a separate IPO if the selling becomes difficult. First, I protested through our directors, and now I’m waiting for their response.”

I didn’t know whose idea this was, but it felt like Eva had been caught off guard.

“Did this come from Seo Jae-hoon? He’s clever. He’s implying they would like to sell the business by devaluing our stakes.”

Eva, pouting slightly, nodded.

“Exactly. If they choose to split this way, they have to give up shares equal to the amount held by Il-seong Electronics during the separation. This will make it hard to gain substantial profit when selling. However, if they opt for a physical separation, Il-seong Electronics will maintain 100% of the shares, enabling them to funnel the proceeds from any sale into the reserves of Il-seong Electronics seamlessly.”

When separating a business, there were generally two methods.

Physical separation and human separation. In our country, human separation was usually the principle, but who said it was that easy to do?

Thus, exceptions were made to allow physical separation, yet most major corporations preferred to split their businesses this way.

Both methods have their pros and cons, but physical separation was advantageous for those holding management rights.

“Looks like they want to grow the electronics division while dumping the semiconductor business.”

“Il-seong Mobile is number one in our country, after all. The semiconductor sector has become a money pit, so selling it is a reasonable judgment.”

“Chairman Seo Yong-geon would jump out of his seat. That guy wouldn’t consider giving up on semiconductors, would he? Well, given the current state, he has no choice but to do so.”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s lifelong dedication was the semiconductor business.

It was a hard-won struggle to start a semiconductor company from nothing in Korea, leveraging help from Japan to expand their technology.

Eventually, they achieved a global number one ranking in memory, but that was history from a past life.

Now they were locked in a tough battle due to Jungwoo Electronics’ provocations.

Given that, it would be a decision that Seo Yong-geon would never consider.

It felt almost worthy of applause for Seo Jae-hoon to make such a clean break from semiconductors, but I couldn’t let it slide.

“The sale is going to be halted. They’ll be rejected in Japan. Then an IPO will happen, right?”

At that moment, Manager Ma knocked and entered. A crack appeared in his normally stoic expression.

“Boss, Ha Myung-hoon just reached out.”

Was there something urgent? I asked, puzzled.

“Chairman Ha? What did he want?”

“He said the Industrial Bank lent Il-seong Group five hundred billion as an emergency fund.”

I stood up from my seat, shocked.

“What? They let that go?”