Chapter 750: I’m Not a Saint

I explained my plan to the two of them, at least to some extent.

“At this rate, we might be able to take down one of the pillars at the New York Times,” Wilson said after hearing my explanation.

Then, Flame echoed his words.

“We could crack the New York Times’ solid credibility.”

“Indeed. The court will likely order the source to be revealed, but Miller will resist to the end. Too many people who can’t afford to be exposed are involved.”

“What do you mean…”

I raised an eyebrow at the two stiff figures. They couldn’t not know.

“High-ranking officials at the White House are involved. You’ve probably figured it out already, right?”

The two nodded.

“Two people are involved, to be exact: Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, and Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff to the Vice President. It’s not circumstantial, it’s a fact.”

Wilson’s eyes widened as far as they could, and he asked,

“D-Do you have evidence?”

“I don’t have any evidence I can show you, but I’m certain they’re involved.”

It was a fact that would eventually be revealed anyway.

Not many people could know the identity of a CIA secret agent.

Even within the CIA, only a handful knew, so the number of people in the White House who could access information on a CIA agent was even smaller.

Since they were agents deployed to dangerous regions for the United States, risking their lives in operations, it was customary to keep CIA secret agent information top secret.

It was a principle to respect the secret agents and to handle their personal information confidentially so they wouldn’t feel their lives were at risk.

Yet suddenly, Flame’s identity was revealed.

“Federal law prohibits the disclosure of a secret agent’s identity. Disclosing it is a serious crime. But isn’t it strange? Wilson, did you know that Flame was a secret agent?”

Wilson shook his head.

“Even though we’re married, I had no idea.”

“But people won’t believe that.”

Wilson sighed instead of answering. Because it was true.

“This all started when Wilson published an op-ed in the New York Times.”

The justification for the Iraq War was that Iraq had bought a large amount of uranium from Africa.

However, the CIA judged that the information wasn’t credible.

“Then, just a few days later, Robert Novak revealed the identity of CIA secret agent Valerie Plame.”

“I was also shocked. That was the first time I ever argued with Flame.”

The two looked at each other and smiled sadly for some reason.

“Whether the two of you shared secrets or not isn’t the point. The issue is whether people believe it or not. That’s why her identity was revealed.”

The problem between the married couple was important, but the public only saw what was on the surface. In the end, it was an issue of trust.

“You two are Democrats, right?”

The two nodded. Immediately, Wilson fiercely defended himself as if he were spitting blood.

“But before being a Democrat, I am an American citizen. I did not say anything that wasn’t true.”

“I know. Hussein never bought any uranium and never possessed any large amounts of biochemical weapons. I met Hussein myself and asked him.”

“…You’re saying you met Hussein yourself?”

Wilson asked in a bewildered voice. Instead of a kind answer, I simply shrugged.

“I know Wilson’s claims are true. But the current atmosphere is strange enough that truth cannot be claimed as the truth, right?”

At my words, Wilson frowned. Then, he glanced sideways at his wife, Valerie Plame.

I watched him and said.

“The story about the uranium has faded from people’s interest, and only the story about Flame remains. Did she really tell her husband secret information? And who gave Flame’s identity to the reporters? That’s what people are talking about.”

“That’s right.”

“This is exactly what the people who told reporters about Flame’s identity wanted. If you can’t deny the message, attack the messenger.”

Dick Cheney and the Neocons’ goal was obvious.

They probably thought it was better to damage the White House’s credibility than to have the legitimacy of the Iraq War questioned.

The two looked at each other and exchanged glances, then nodded.

Flame was the first to speak.

“Okay. I’ll assume that Charlie’s assumptions are all true. Let me be frank. I’ve been excluded from all duties within the CIA right now. I’m even under internal investigation for allegedly giving my husband classified information.”

She didn’t hide any of the situation she was in and revealed everything.

“As a secret agent, I’ve accessed and used a lot of classified information.”

Even I don’t know exactly what Flame did.

Getting inside information about the CIA is almost impossible.

“Wouldn’t there be any illegal activities among those?”

I didn’t say anything. There would absolutely be some.

There was no way a CIA secret agent would only do legal things.

“I can’t say anything. That’s how I survive. It’s the same for my husband. Our honest desire is to wrap this up at a reasonable level.”

I could understand what the two were thinking.

But, would things really go as they thought? This situation was already out of their hands.

“I don’t know. Even if the two of you want to wrap it up at a reasonable level, will it happen?”

“What? What do you mean…”

“Even if you two don’t join hands with me, I plan to keep escalating things.”

“What are you talking about?”

Wilson’s face contorted.

I wore a deep smile at the sight of it.

“It’s not that I need you, it’s that you need me.”

Wilson’s lips twitched as if he was about to say something, but I held up two fingers to stop him.

“There are two choices.”

I folded one finger and spoke.

“You can reject the hand I’m offering and just stay still and get fooled like an idiot.”

I folded the other finger and gave an even deeper smile.

“Or, you can receive my help and fight to the end. Ah, but I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to win.”

The two looked at me with bewildered expressions.

Couples are alike, their expressions looked identical. Then, something came to my mind and I added,

“Oh, I’m sorry. There’s one more option. To humbly surrender to them. Then you can probably wrap it up at a reasonable level. But, I don’t recommend that method. I have no intention of leaving it alone.”

I made it sound like a grand choice, but in fact I had some idea of what they wanted.

In my previous life, they fought until the end.

As expected, Flame composed herself and asked me,

“You’re giving us choices, but you’re saying we have no choice but to take your hand.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

If the two joined forces with me, things would become a little easier, so I had to enlist them.

But even if the two rejected my hand, the result would be the same. It would just take more time.

I met Flame’s gaze as she looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, and I wiped the smile off my face.

“I’m not a saint.”

I spoke honestly without putting on a mask. Maybe it was because of the sudden change in the atmosphere that the two were blinking.

“I’m also not a philanthropist. I don’t care what happens to the two of you if it doesn’t benefit me.”

At my cold words, Wilson and Flame swallowed nervously.

There were many paths, but in the end, the two of them had only one choice.

* * *

The door opened and George Soros entered, Han Gyeong-yeong beamed.

Han Gyeong-yeong rose from his seat and approached him.

“Welcome, Soros.”

“Enough with the pretense of being friendly.”

George Soros snarled, pushing away the hand Han Gyeong-yeong offered.

“Well, if that’s what you want.”

Han Gyeong-yeong replied nonchalantly and sat down first, and George Soros followed him and sat down.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No. Let’s just talk about the business.”

George Soros didn’t hide his discomfort.

But the more he did, the more Han Gyeong-yeong treated him with an even deeper smile.

George Soros was infuriated at Han Gyeong-yeong’s behavior.

“What are you trying to do? Did you call me to mock me? To say that you’ve won?”

“Over something like this? Dow Jones is just the beginning. You and your backers can no longer coexist with us, can you?”

“What are you talking about? Coexist with you? Are you saying that you want to fight to the end? You have too much confidence.”

Han Gyeong-yeong shook his head.

“It’s not confidence. It’s a matter of whether we have to do it or not. We extended our hand first, and you were the one who took that hand. And then you tried to stab us in the back like this? That’s not good business ethics.”

“……”

“You started this fight. We noticed that everything that happened in China was a scam plotted by the people behind you.”

Han Gyeong-yeong was relentless. Even though George Soros was clearly showing his displeasure.

‘Reveal all the information we know. And pressure him.’

Han Gyeong-yeong recalled Kim Mu-hyeok’s words and spoke again.

“No matter how much I think about it, it was strange. There was no way that China would suddenly go crazy and drive us into a corner like this.”

Han Gyeong-yeong kept observing George Soros as he spoke.

“I was sure this time. Ah, it’s someone behind you who’s doing all of this.”

“Who do you say is behind me? Your imagination is too much.”

“Is that so?”

Han Gyeong-yeong replied with a sly smile. But his following words were extremely sharp.

“There’s no way someone like you could pull off such a scam alone. Would someone who’s already washed up even think about getting involved in this kind of game?”

At the word ‘washed up’, George Soros bared his teeth.

He threw away his mask and shouted angrily.

“James! How dare you mock me!”

Han Gyeong-yeong chuckled at George Soros’s reaction.

It was blatant mockery.

“Mocking you? I’m just talking about the reality.”

“Reality? Do you think I’ll crumble just because I lost the Dow Jones takeover battle?”

George Soros slammed the table hard. George Soros, gritting his teeth, glared at Han Gyeong-yeong.

“Who do you think I am! You can’t even leave a scratch on me with something like this.”

“Well, the big shot of hedge funds? Or an evil savior? Or, a person whose career would have ended already without my help?”

George Soros’s reputation was at its peak during the time of the Pound short selling.

He, along with his partner Stanley Druckenmiller, and his followers, mobilized all the funds they could and shorted the pound.

The pride-wounded UK defended itself by raising interest rates to 10%.

However, they couldn’t stop Soros’s attack, and the British government surrendered.

George Soros had made a country, even the Great British Empire, surrender.

From then on, many fund managers from Wall Street flocked to the places he invested in like moths to a flame.

In 1993, rumors of him aggressively buying the stocks of an American mining company caused fund managers to buy the stock competitively, causing gold prices to skyrocket around the world.

Also, the Nikkei stock price in Japan also surged from just one word from him.

“That’s why life is interesting. We were the ones who ruined you, and we were the ones who lowered a lifeline to you.”

George Soros’ influence was shattered during the Asian financial crisis.

After that, Dream High took most of the fruits from the game that George Soros had set up.

From that point on, George Soros suffered irreversible major losses during the capital crisis and the dot-com bubble burst, and his partner, Stanley Druckenmiller, left the fund.

It was Dream High that offered a hand to George Soros, who was on the verge of going down.

They used George Soros and Wall Street to shake up the yen and make Japan surrender.

But even though they were used, they gained huge profits.

Enough to restore the losses they had made during the dot-com bubble all at once.

“Even beasts don’t bite the hand that helps them. But you’re trying to bite us. Then doesn’t that mean that you have an even more terrifying master?”

Han Gyeong-yeong raised the corner of his mouth, meeting the eyes of George Soros who was trembling with humiliation.

“So, don’t pretend you don’t know. Do I have to tell you myself who is behind you? Then that’ll be a real disaster, you know?”

The secret organization, Valtiche.

They never appear on the front stage.

“Soros, we don’t want a full-scale war. It’s obvious who will lose more if we play chicken, isn’t it? You know better than anyone how much loss we were willing to take to see Japan’s surrender.”

“Me… Is it me who seems to be someone’s henchman?”

Han Gyeong-yeong chuckled seeing George Soros speaking with a trembling voice.

“What does it matter now? There is no evidence, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all about how you think about it. And if you don’t admit it, we’ll have to go to the end. Starting tomorrow, all the media owned by News Corporation will spread the name of that organization.”

George Soros glared at Han Gyeong-yeong and opened his mouth.

“Then we’ll also reveal Charlie’s name.”

George Soros pressured him in the same way as Han Gyeong-yeong.

It was already expected. Han Gyeong-yeong shrugged as if he knew it all along.

“That’s fine. Charlie alone versus that organization. Once they both surface, who will lose more?”

Han Gyeong-yeong trailed off, wearing a devilish smile.