Chapter 764: What If I Reject Your Offer?

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau was a symbol of the city’s authority.

Inside that iron fortress, Yoo Sung-jin spent his days without undergoing any investigation.

Except for meal times, he didn’t see another person’s face, and the interrogation room where he was held was under 24-hour surveillance.

He even slept on a makeshift bed set up inside the interrogation room.

After several days, Shin finally entered the interrogation room.

“Let’s talk now.”

Shin said as he sat down.

Yoo Sung-jin who had been perched on the makeshift bed, sat in front of him.

“How have you been? Unlike the rumors, the facilities of the Public Security Bureau’s interrogation room are quite good, aren’t they?”

Shin said with a smile. Yoo Sung-jin simply stared at him without a word.

“I’m going to ask you a few things. If you give me the answers I want, I’ll ensure you return to Korea safely.”

“What kind of law allows you to detain someone for days without any notification? Explain what crime I’ve committed to deserve this treatment.”

“Curious?”

“And what happened to Kim Hyun-jung, the Head of the department?”

“Curious?”

Yoo Sung-jin frowned at Shin’s repetitive questions.

“What are you trying to do right now? Call my lawyer. Contact the embassy too. I am a businessman with Korean nationality. It’s wrong to detain me like this.”

Shin chuckled at those words then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

Soon after, the door to the interrogation room opened and Shin’s subordinates came in carrying a cardboard box.

The public security officers quickly placed the box on the table and left.

Shin stood up and opened the box.

“This was found in the hotel room where Chairman Yoo was staying. You know what this is, right?”

What Shin took out was a white powdery lump wrapped in plastic.

Yoo Sung-jin could easily guess what it was.

“…What are you talking about?”

“I’ll be asking the questions. Let’s find out now. Why this opium was found in Chairman Yoo’s hotel room.”

In China, drug crimes were considered severe regardless of nationality.

There were cases where Korean drug smugglers were executed by firing squad without trial.

Looking at the quantity inside the box, it was enough to warrant at least a life sentence or even the death penalty.

“You shouldn’t think about getting out safely. No one will be able to protect you, Chairman Yoo.”

Yoo Sung-jin groaned.

Yoo Sung-jin had never used or trafficked drugs even once.

Even when the alliance of the Russian Mafia, Black Dragon Society and Yamaguchi-gumi were involved in drug smuggling, Yoo Sung-jin and Heavenly Group never participated in that business.

“I have never touched drugs.”

Shin shook the lump of opium in his hand and asked.

“Then why was this found in Chairman Yoo’s hotel room?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been to the hotel since I entered Shanghai. I moved directly from the airport to JK Media’s headquarters.”

“We already received testimony from a staff member who hid this lump of opium in the hotel room. They said they put your bag in the hotel room under your instructions. We also confirmed the smuggling route of these drugs. They came into China from Afghanistan through Heavenly Group.”

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau had already cast a tight net.

Yoo Sung-jin could only say one thing.

“I didn’t do that.”

He answered calmly but cold sweat trickled down his back.

He had expected to be accused of bribery or tax evasion, but he never imagined they’d bring up drug smuggling.

“With this evidence right here, and a witness, it’s not something you can get away with by just denying it.”

Yoo Sung-jin simply closed his mouth.

“But if you give us the answers we want, I can take care of this box myself.”

Despite Shin’s sweet offer, Yoo Sung-jin refused to open his mouth.

When Yoo Sung-jin kept silent, Shin brought up Kim Hyun-jung.

“I heard that Department Head Kim Hyun-jung is Chairman Yoo’s lover. What has she done wrong? She’s going to spend the rest of her life in prison or be executed because of her lover.”

“……”

“Give us the evidence to prove Hao Xun and the Black Dragon Society’s crimes, as well as the evidence to prove their relationship with Hu Jintao. If you do that, I’ll let both you and your lover go unharmed.”

Yoo Sung-jin narrowed his eyes when Hao Xun’s name was mentioned.

“Was Hao Xun the target?”

Shin shrugged and smiled.

Yoo Sung-jin sensed that this incident was not a simple matter, but a power struggle between Chinese leaders.

“There’s no need for you to know that. So, how about it? Are you feeling more cooperative now?”

“I don’t know anything.”

“We already know everything about the relationship between Heavenly Group and the Black Dragon Society. It’s no use denying it.”

“I don’t know anything about that. Call my lawyer. And allow me to contact the embassy.”

Yoo Sung-jin crossed his arms and closed his eyes, indicating that he wouldn’t talk anymore.

At that action, Shin erased the smile from his face and slammed his fist on the table.

“Hey you bastard! Do you know where you are acting like that?!”

“……”

“If you keep this up, you’ll really die, you stupid bastard!”

“……”

“Are you the only one dying? Your lover will die too!”

Shin shouted hysterically, but Yoo Sung-jin didn’t open his eyes.

At the same time Yoo Sung-jin was talking to Shin in the interrogation room, Kim Hyun-jung was also being interrogated in her own room.

* * *

As if it was a prearranged action, the Chinese Ambassador handed over the receiver then left the Ambassador’s office.

After confirming her departure, he brought the receiver close to his ear.

“This is Kim Mu-hyeok.”

—It’s Jiang Zemin, President Kim Mu-hyeok. It feels like it’s been a long time since I heard your voice.

As expected, the person who moved the Chinese Ambassador was Jiang Zemin.

There weren’t many who could contact him this way so he had already guessed it.

“It’s nice to hear from you too, Chairman Jiang.”

—Chairman, you say? I’m just a washed-up old man who has been pushed aside. Anyway, you’re not surprised.

“There aren’t many people who can move the Chinese Ambassador to Korea. And the current ambassador is from the Shanghai faction.”

—Hmm.

A low groan sounded from the other side of the receiver as if my reaction was unexpected.

—Well, it doesn’t matter. The reason I contacted you through the ambassador is because this line can’t be tapped or recorded under any circumstances.

“Is that so? That sounds a bit scary. What exactly are you trying to say?”

There were many ways to contact me.

But the fact that he used the Chinese embassy specifically could have been because he was worried about being recorded or tapped, as he said.

‘Or maybe he thought I was ready to give in when I came to the Chinese embassy.’

—Is there something that President Kim Mu-hyeok is afraid of? That’s surprising. You seemed like a fearless man.

“I am more afraid than anyone else. I just try to hide it.”

—Hahahaha. That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year.

They opened the conversation with meaningless stories, as if exploring each other.

It was Jiang Zemin who struck first.

—Enough with the nonsense, why did you look for the Chinese Ambassador today?

“Weren’t you expecting it and waiting for me?”

—It’s said that the thirsty dig a well [渴而穿井]. Isn’t it President Kim who is thirsty not me?

The thirsty dig a well.

He was provoking me knowing that I cared about my people.

“I came to ask why you imprisoned Chairman Yoo Sung-jin.”

—Hmm? Who is that?

He was clearly aware but pretending he didn’t know. I gritted my teeth internally and replied.

“He’s a man who was arrested in Shanghai.”

—Ah, I think I heard something like that. I heard there was something like that in Shanghai.

“It seems like you have no intention of talking. I’ll hang up now.”

I had no intention of being led around. I deliberately pressured him strongly.

—The moment you put down the receiver, his life can’t be guaranteed. Are you still going to hang up?

At the open threat using Yoo Sung-jin’s life, I removed the respect I had been showing, even if only on the surface.

“Don’t think of negotiating with me using Chairman Yoo’s life as collateral. His life is not an item for negotiation. If his life is taken, everything that happens after will be something Chairman Jiang has provoked.”

—Uahaha! Are you threatening me? President Kim is really amusing.

Jiang Zemin’s laughter was so loud that I narrowed my eyes and moved the receiver away from my ear for a moment.

—Will I really kill him? If he has committed no crime, he will be released. If he has committed no crime that is.

That’s a joke. China was a place where they would use any means or methods, even when someone wasn’t guilty.

Neither Yoo Sung-jin nor Kim Hyun-jung could have been completely innocent.

Bribery was essential to do business in China.

“It sounds like you’re saying you’ll make up a crime.”

—How can that be? We are a country ruled by law. We don’t detain innocent people. Although I don’t manage things myself, Shanghai is practically my hometown so that kind of thing can’t possibly happen.

“What do you want?”

—It’s not a difficult task. Hand over Lai Changxing to me. And hand over the data on Hao Xun, Hu Jintao’s henchman. Lastly, discard all the information on the Shanghai faction… No, hand it over to me.

Lai Changxing was a businessman known as China’s biggest smuggler.

While doing business in Fujian Province, he smuggled various goods on a large scale.

Fujian Province is separated from Taiwan by a strait, making it heavily guarded. It was also a base for pirates in the past.

Therefore, his smuggling was possible with the tacit approval or rather the organized assistance of the Fujian Province’s navy, customs, and public security.

‘I didn’t expect him to ask for Lai Changxing. And how did he even find out that I secured him?’

His smuggling case was made known immediately after Jiang Zemin decided to use Lai Changxing’s smuggling case to eliminate his political rivals.

Because there was a chance it would turn into a huge scandal, high ranking officials related to it notified Lai Changxing, and Lai Changxing fled to Canada with his family.

The Chinese authorities have been passively dealing with his repatriation, citing the lack of an extradition treaty with Canada.

In the meantime, Lai Changxing was enjoying a luxurious life, frequenting casinos in Canada.

“Lai Changxing? I don’t know who that is.”

I decided to deny it for now. Lai Changxing was a card I would use later.

So I contacted him in Canada and had him leave the country with a fake passport. Then I hid him in a place where no one would find him.

—Don’t pretend you don’t know. Black Bear approached Lai Changxing who we were monitoring, and after that he disappeared like a ghost…

Jiang Zemin trailed off before continuing.

—Anyway, if you give me those three things, President Kim’s business will take off again.

The reason why he was targeting Hao Xun was clear.

He wanted to use him to control Hu Jintao, and asking for the Shanghai faction’s data was a hint for me to stop using it to attack him.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out why he was asking for Lai Changxing.

‘There seems to be something I don’t know.’

There was something on Lai Changxing. A card that could control Jiang Zemin.

“What if I reject your offer?”

—Then, it can’t be helped. We’ll have to do things according to the ‘law’. Do you perhaps know what they were arrested for?

When I didn’t respond, Jiang Zemin said with a smile in his voice.

—Charges of drug smuggling and distribution. They were in possession of 5kg of opium. Even if Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao interfere, they won’t be able to save their lives.

“Drugs?”

Drug smuggling. Yoo Sung-jin would never touch drugs.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

—We’ll be the ones to decide if it makes sense or not. So think carefully. The lives of those two are in President Kim’s hands. Give me your answer in a week.

Jiang Zemin hung up the phone just like that.

I stood there quietly holding the receiver that had been disconnected.

Even in the midst of my confused thoughts, one question was solved.

‘The thing that felt strange is finally making sense now. I wasn’t the target. Jiang Zemin’s goal from the start was Hu Jintao and the Communist Youth League.’

At that time, the Chinese Ambassador came back in.

“He asked me to give this to you.”

She held a folder in her hand.

“…Did you know everything?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know anything.”

The Chinese Ambassador feigned ignorance. How annoying. Seriously.

I roughly snatched the folder that the Chinese Ambassador handed me, then immediately left the Chinese embassy.