Chapter 413: Celebrating Our Meeting

A villa owned by the Heavenly Group on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

The men seated at the long tables flanking the head seat made no effort to hide their discomfort.

Yoo Sung-jin entered the conference room and snorted. The atmosphere was already tense before they’d even started.

Ignoring the men eyeing each other warily, Yoo Sung-jin headed for the head seat.

As his footsteps echoed in the quiet room, all eyes turned to him.

“Looks like I’m a bit late.”

Yoo Sung-jin smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood, but no one responded.

The only non-Asian among them broke the silence.

“It’s not polite for the host to keep his guests waiting, is it, Chairman Yoo?”

The man spoke in Russian, but his subordinate quickly whispered a translation.

Yoo Sung-jin nodded slightly and broadened his smile.

He then replied in fluent English.

“I apologize for that. But you’re being just as impolite, Ussoyan. Didn’t we agree to speak English, given we have people from various countries here? Ignoring a pre-agreed rule seems far more discourteous to me.”

Ussoyan frowned visibly. Yoo Sung-jin walked past him, clearly showing his displeasure, and took his seat at the head of the table.

“Thank you all for coming. It’s an honor to host you. While I’m sure we all know each other, let’s start with introductions, shall we? Since someone here values etiquette so highly, I should do my best to oblige.”

Ussoyan’s frown deepened, but Yoo Sung-jin continued with a gentle smile.

“I’m Yoo Sung-jin. As you know, I run the Heavenly Group in Korea.”

After his brief introduction, Yoo Sung-jin shifted his gaze to Ussoyan.

Ussoyan cleared his throat and spoke.

“Ussoyan from Russia. Known as the godfather of the Bratva.”

As soon as Ussoyan finished, Yoo Sung-jin looked at Hao Xun.

“Hao Xun, Vice Chairman of the Black Dragon Society in China. I never expected to meet so many bosses like this.”

Finally, Yoo Sung-jin turned to Yamamoto.

“Yamamoto Ken of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. Pleased to meet you all.”

No sooner had Yamamoto finished than Ussoyan spoke up with disdain.

“Why is that bastard here? They’re all washed up. He’s not in our league.”

“What did you just say?”

Yamamoto bristled at Ussoyan’s provocation.

“Did I say something wrong? Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, not even the real Yamaguchi-gumi. This isn’t a place for nobodies.”

“…And you have a pedigree? Didn’t you just grab that seat after Semyon disappeared?”

“What? You little shit!”

Despite being the one who provoked first, Ussoyan jumped up, slamming the table and pointing at Yamamoto.

He raised his voice, gesturing wildly at Yamamoto.

“You want to die? How dare you mention Mogilevich’s name in front of me?!”

The room erupted into chaos, but Hao Xun just watched the two with interested eyes.

“Calm down. Let’s stop this pointless posturing. Unless you want to start throwing punches like thugs? If you want to draw blood, I won’t stop you.”

Yoo Sung-jin rebuked the two in a cold voice.

“We haven’t even started yet. Isn’t it too early for this kind of aggression?”

“Before that, answer my question first, Chairman Yoo. Why is that guy here? I just can’t understand it.”

Ussoyan’s eyes were filled with contempt as he pointed at Yamamoto.

“Ussoyan. I know you have a quick temper, but is it necessary to raise your voice before hearing my explanation? I’ll explain everything soon, so please calm down.”

“Hmm…”

As Yoo Sung-jin calmly refuted, Ussoyan swallowed his words.

Appearing to back down, Ussoyan sat in his seat.

“Fine. But you’d better make me understand.”

Having barely calmed the commotion, Yoo Sung-jin nodded.

“Good. Let’s all have a drink first.”

After finishing his words, Yoo Sung-jin made a slight gesture.

Subordinates entered the conference room, placing glasses and bottles on the table and filling the glasses.

After checking the glasses in front of each person, Yoo Sung-jin nodded, and the subordinates bowed and left.

The three men’s eyes gleamed as they observed the subordinates’ disciplined and precise actions.

Yoo Sung-jin picked up his glass first and spoke.

“It’s not often we all gather in one place like this. Let’s have a drink.”

Hao Xun raised his glass first, followed by Yamamoto.

Once everyone had raised their glasses, Ussoyan reluctantly followed suit.

“To celebrate our meeting.”

Yoo Sung-jin drained his glass of whiskey in one go, and the others followed, emptying their glasses.

“Now, I’ll explain why I asked you all to gather here today. It’s to determine the path we should take.”

At Yoo Sung-jin’s words about the path they should take, the gathered men turned their attention to him.

Receiving their gazes, each filled with different intentions, Yoo Sung-jin calmly continued.

“Ussoyan from Russia, Hao Xun from China, Yamamoto Ken from Japan, and myself, Yoo Sung-jin from Korea. If we join hands, we connect the hegemony of East Asia. Then no one can carelessly interfere. This is why I asked you to gather today.”

Hao Xun, who had already had some discussions with Yoo Sung-jin, pretended not to know and spoke up.

“Are you suggesting we merge our organizations?”

Yoo Sung-jin slowly shook his head.

“Even if we say we’re merging, it’s not like we actually could, right? I’m suggesting we form an alliance. Then we can join forces to solve problems when they arise.”

“Forming an alliance…”

Hao Xun muttered softly and then nodded.

“Sounds like a good idea. The world is practically tied to a single sphere now, and we’re especially close geographically. I like the idea of combining our strengths. The Black Dragon Society agrees.”

Hao Xun showed a positive reaction. However, this was already a part that had been pre-arranged with Yoo Sung-jin.

“Listen here, Chairman Yoo. Alliance or whatever, you need to be of similar size to join forces, don’t you? The Black Dragon Society doesn’t even control all of China, and the Japanese Yakuza are as good as finished…”

Ussoyan frowned and objected.

“And you too, Chairman Yoo. How much business can you really do in Korea? The gap between Bratva and you is too big to join forces.”

At Ussoyan’s words, bordering on criticism, Yoo Sung-jin’s face hardened. But Ussoyan continued without concern.

“This seems like a losing deal for us… I don’t see why we need to do this. Even in the recent Japan incident, the Black Dragon Society just provided manpower, while we supplied all the weapons and resources.”

“We paid you enough,” Hao Xun retorted.

But Ussoyan just curled his lip.

“Enough money? Maybe enough for you, but we practically gave away our goods for a pittance. If anything, we took a loss.”

“Ussoyan, do you know how much damage our people suffered while you were hesitating to avoid a fight with the Yakuza? And now you’re saying this…”

Finally, Hao Xun’s voice rose. It seemed he could no longer hold back, as the Black Dragon Society had suffered the most damage in this incident.

“If you had supported us just a little faster, our people’s casualties wouldn’t have been even half as bad. And now you’re bragging about handing over weapons? Those weapons are worth less than the blood of our people. Watch your tongue if you don’t want to pay for those lives!”

Hao Xun glared at Ussoyan with fierce eyes.

Even under such a menacing gaze, Ussoyan merely snorted dismissively.

“Ha! Even if hundreds die, would that make the weapons we gave to the Black Dragon Society any cheaper? Not a chance.”

“You bastard!”

Hao Xun slammed the table hard and stood up.

The hand of the man sitting next to Hao Xun, serving as both interpreter and bodyguard, moved inside his jacket.

Noticing this, Ussoyan’s subordinate also reached for his back pocket.

“…Vice Chairman. Please calm down for now.”

“Chairman Yoo.”

Hao Xun turned his gaze to Yoo Sung-jin. Even as he met the eyes full of resentment, Yoo Sung-jin quietly nodded.

Yoo Sung-jin was already aware that Ussoyan’s attitude was blatant.

“I fully understand why you’re angry, Vice Chairman. But didn’t we create this meeting to have a dialogue? So please, sit down for now.”

“…”

After glaring at Ussoyan one more time, Hao Xun sighed and sat down.

Hao Xun couldn’t refuse Yoo Sung-jin. He remembered the figure behind him, and the one behind that figure.

“Ussoyan, what exactly are you dissatisfied with? Let’s hear it.”

As if he had been waiting for this, Ussoyan opened his mouth.

Looking at Yamamoto, Hao Xun, and Yoo Sung-jin in turn.

“I don’t like this whole situation. I don’t even know why I’m here right now. I don’t like Yamamoto sitting in front of me, of course, and I don’t like that slit-eyed, mean-looking bastard either…”

At first glance, it sounded like childish whining, inappropriate for the occasion.

Seeing Yoo Sung-jin’s expressionless face, Ussoyan twisted his lips and continued.

“And I don’t understand why you’re sitting there either.”

Yoo Sung-jin smiled. Yes, that must be his real intention.

“Ah, so you’re not happy with me leading this meeting. Is that why you’re causing trouble here?”

Yoo Sung-jin directly hit the core of the issue.

Ussoyan, too, revealed his ambition openly in his reply.

“Didn’t I say it earlier? For an alliance, the largest organization among us should take charge, right?”

“…”

At these words, bordering on arrogance, fire flashed in the eyes of both Yamamoto and Hao Xun.

“What if you and I form an alliance, Chairman Yoo, and put the Black Dragon Society and Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi under us as subordinate organizations? What do you think of my idea?”

Silence fell over the conference room at Ussoyan’s words.

So, you’re pretending to back down, but actually trying to create discord like this.

Just as Yoo Sung-jin was about to speak, the door opened and a subordinate entered.

Before Yoo Sung-jin could reprimand him, the subordinate rushed over and whispered in his ear.

“Chairman, there’s a call from CEO Kim Mu-hyeok. Should I connect it?”

“Connect it right away.”

Without hesitation, Yoo Sung-jin picked up the phone next to him.

“CEO, this is Yoo Sung-jin.”

“How’s the meeting going? I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“Not at all. We were just about to start.”

“Is that so? Perfect timing then. Could you put me on speaker?”

Following Kim Mu-hyeok’s instruction, Yoo Sung-jin switched to speaker and put down the receiver.

“It’s on speaker now, CEO.”

“Hello, everyone. This is Kim Mu-hyeok.”