“Boss, we’ve got a big problem.”
“What? What is it? What happened?”
At Edward’s sudden phone call, I tensed up too.
My heart sank, wondering if there had been some kind of accident.
“China has stopped importing Ascend.”
“Huh?”
What fresh bullshit is this?
They stopped importing Ascend?
There’s no way.
No, that’s impossible.
China is crazy about Ascend.
They can’t just cut it off with one stroke like this.
“Isn’t there some misunderstanding? Maybe they still have stock left, or maybe their internal process got tangled up a bit. Something like that. It happens all the time, doesn’t it? Orders get delayed a little.”
“No. The shipment date came, but there was no order, so I called and asked. They said they’re not doing business with us anymore.”
“Seriously?”
That genuinely shocked me.
China cut off Ascend?
They’d acted like they couldn’t live a single day without Ascend.
They’d begged us to please sell them Ascend.
They’d pleaded for us to increase the supply.
And then, out of nowhere, without a word, they unilaterally stopped importing it.
They didn’t even notify us.
We only found out because we called and asked.
I was angry.
I was angry at the rude attitude China was showing.
Well… it’s not like I need to sell Ascend.
Not selling it wasn’t going to immediately affect my livelihood.
I could eat and live just fine without it.
Ascend did bring in a nice bit of money, but it wasn’t as if I particularly needed it.
It wasn’t like I was someone who spent money here and there. I was always holed up somewhere.
I was either holed up in Darapanan or at the Emerald Resort, so I had neither the time nor the place to spend money.
I wasn’t the kind of person who felt joy from watching the numbers in my bank account go up, either.
So a slight drop in income wasn’t a problem.
To sum it up, even if China cut off Ascend, it would have no impact on me whatsoever.
The only disappointing thing was that I had been trying to turn China into something like the Opium War era, and that had failed.
If it had failed from the beginning, I would have accepted it, but it seemed like things had been progressing very well before suddenly stopping, and that was the only thing I found a bit regrettable.
That was a shame.
If it had gone just a little further, it might have succeeded.
In any case, because of China, the contract had been broken.
Thanks to that, we no longer had any need to honor the contract either.
Which meant Ascend was no longer exclusive to China.
We could sell plenty of Ascend to other countries as well.
There was more than enough demand.
But I didn’t want to.
It was a drug made “healthily,” thoroughly tailored for China.
So it had to begin in China and end in China.
It was a China-version limited edition.
And I myself didn’t like drugs, nor did I recommend them.
I had even less intention of making that my profession.
So Ascend would no longer be produced.
Nor would similar kinds of drugs.
I should just consider it a good experience.
It was a shame about the newly built factory, but couldn’t we just change its use?
We could make anything there. Or use it as a warehouse.
Edward was so smart that whatever he did, he’d earn his keep, so I wasn’t worried about him.
Then was this the end of Ascend?
But thinking about it again, it pissed me off all over again.
Was it okay to break a contract this unilaterally, this recklessly?
It wasn’t as if we were some hole-in-the-wall neighborhood shop.
We had properly written up a contract and even stamped it on both sides, yet they thought it was okay to act this rudely?
They could choose not to buy the product.
They might not like the product.
Then they should contact us and say, for such-and-such reasons, we won’t be able to do business going forward.
We’re sorry. We’ll send the remaining balance by such-and-such date.
Wasn’t that how it should be done?
When it suited them, they clung to us and fawned over us like we were partners.
But the moment circumstances changed a little, they threw us away after using us.
As I always say, betrayal is only natural.
I understand that.
But if you’re going to betray someone, you should be prepared for the consequences.
Honestly, I wanted to run straight to China and confront them,
but the people I would have confronted were all dead, so I decided to just endure it.
What was there to argue about when the people involved were gone?
I just won’t do business with China anymore.
Still, I was a little curious about the reason.
Why did they suddenly cut off Ascend?
Was Wei Zhonglin, who had seized power, part of the anti-Ascend faction?
Was that why he banned Ascend?
So there were actually proper people in China after all.
I remembered what Han Lin had said back then.
That they were making a copy of Ascend.
I had brushed it off at the time, but that could be one possibility too.
If they had made a copy, then the current situation fit perfectly.
Because they wouldn’t need Ascend anymore.
Edward had said it would be hard to copy, but it looked like they had succeeded in the end.
Anyway, when it came to copying things, they were incredible.
Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.
Ascend was over now.
“Then get some rest. You’ve worked hard all this time. It’s a vacation. A paid vacation. Go have fun. Or learn something you’ve wanted to learn.”
******
Ascend production.
Once the state got involved, it was completely different.
It was on an entirely different level from bickering and struggling to build something in the Philippines.
The speed, the scale, and the process were all completely different.
They considered even the time needed to build a factory a waste, so they simply forcibly requisitioned one.
At an enormous chemical factory, they began producing the drug using a new recipe created by the National Medical Products Administration.
The amount coming out was staggering.
The completed concentrate went straight to the factory producing Ascend, and immediately became Ascend candy before being distributed to Ascend stores across the country.
And sales began simultaneously at every store nationwide.
But that was not Ascend.
It was D-Sand.
A counterfeit of Ascend.
D-Sand had appeared again.
Under the direction of the state, they made D-Sand and distributed it across the country.
All over the cities, people could be seen at every step, bent over like zombies, standing there as if dead.
People could be seen lying on the streets.
.
.
.
Wei Zhonglin hurriedly convened an emergency meeting.
‘What the hell happened? They said they copied Ascend.’
He was flustered by the unexpected situation.
They needed some kind of countermeasure.
Otherwise, all of China’s people were going to become addicted to D-Sand.
When he heard that the copy had succeeded, he had ordered mass production.
They produced an enormous quantity and began selling it not for 20 yuan (4,000 won), but for 5 yuan (1,000 won).
China, which had been in chaos, briefly quieted down because of Ascend.
Both the people protesting and the people blocking the protests lined up to buy the new Ascend.
Things seemed to calm down a little.
The clearly lowered price definitely helped.
There were people for whom even 20 yuan had been a burden.
Once the price dropped to 5 yuan, even they began buying Ascend.
Almost all Chinese people bought Ascend under the pretext of improving concentration.
On top of that, they added flavors Chinese people liked—stinky tofu, mala, and five-spice—and produced it that way.
Thanks to the new Ascend, chaotic China seemed to settle down a bit.
For a brief moment, it was quiet.
Right up until the side effects of D-Sand appeared.
The sweet yet thrilling taste that Ascend possessed was covered up by the stinky tofu, mala, and five-spice flavors.
As a result, even sensitive people could not tell whether it was Ascend or D-Sand, and simply consumed it mindlessly.
Countless people, addicted to D-Sand, stood like zombies all over the city.
If anything, the chaotic situation after the coup might have been better.
This was an even bigger problem.
“Is there no countermeasure? What are we going to do about that?”
“We must stop production immediately, even now.”
When someone offered an opinion, another person immediately refuted it.
“No, what are you talking about? Without Ascend, production output will hit rock bottom. I’m saying there will be a problem with China’s economic power.”
“That’s right. Do you not know that even now, many of the people are overcoming fatigue and working thanks to Ascend?”
“Ascend must be distributed.”
“That was when it was Ascend. Isn’t it different now?”
“That’s right. Ascend and this drug have completely different effects, so how can you keep talking as if this were still Ascend?”
“What’s different? They’re all more or less the same.”
“If they can work without sleeping, isn’t that enough?”
“Unlike Ascend, D-Sand will show severe addictive symptoms. We must accurately identify its components, and then decide on a direction afterward.”
“What about the damage that occurs until then? Who will take responsibility for that damage?”
As the argument among the Standing Committee members grew louder, Wei Zhonglin stopped the fight.
“Do you think you’ll figure anything out by talking among yourselves? Where is the Director of the National Medical Products Administration I told you to bring?”
But the chief secretary fidgeted helplessly.
Wei Zhonglin asked again.
“Why?”
“I’m sorry. The Director of the National Medical Products Administration has disappeared.”
“What? Disappeared? Did he run away?”
“It seems that way.”
“That bastard already knew. He knew this mess had happened. MSS, take responsibility and bring that bastard in.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“Then? If the director isn’t here, what about someone else?”
“We brought the deputy director.”
.
.
.
“What are you going to do about this?”
“I apologize.”
“I didn’t call you here to listen to an apology. Tell me the solution.”
“There are two methods.”
“Speak.”
“The first is to stop production immediately and make a perfect copy of Ascend.”
“How long do you think that will take?”
“That… I apologize. We estimate it will take at least more than one year.”
“What a damned mess. The second?”
“To import Ascend again.”
After hearing the answer, Wei Zhonglin let out a sigh.
He had thought perhaps a useful opinion might come out, but this was something Wei Zhonglin himself had already thought of.
Still, he had decided that couldn’t be it and had called in the deputy director, only for him to say the exact same thing.
Everyone’s thinking was the same, through and through.
The man who was supposed to be the head of an agency had run away, and the deputy director was spouting obvious nonsense.
It was frustrating.
“Director of the Guard Bureau. Get this bastard out of here.”
“Yes.”
The Guard Bureau took the deputy director and dragged him out.
“We must import Ascend. The addiction caused by D-Sand can be replaced with Ascend. Otherwise, the addiction will continue to worsen.”
The deputy director of the National Medical Products Administration kept speaking even as he was being dragged away.
In the deputy director’s view, the only way to resolve this situation was to import Ascend again.
Wei Zhonglin, who had been watching the deputy director being dragged out with indifference, spoke to the chief secretary.
“That guy who makes Ascend.”
“Alex.”
“Let’s see that bastard’s face.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll prepare it.”
*******
I went to work at the Zamboanga Electric Company.
Every single day, no less.
Magiting and I put our heads together and researched ways to lower electricity rates.
Honestly, I did want to buy the Zamboanga Electric Company.
But I couldn’t buy it in its current state.
There had to be some kind of plan before I could decide whether to buy it or not.
I didn’t want to take on only the losses and then flounder after buying it without any proper direction.
If that happened, the reason I had tried to buy the electric company in the first place—
to show more people the convenience of electricity,
and the practicality of home appliances—
would all go nowhere, and I would just become an idiot pouring money into it.
I didn’t want to become that kind of fool.
There was another reason I was working this hard.
Honestly, if Magiting threw up his hands and said he couldn’t do it anymore, then in the end Patrick would have to deal with it.
Electricity was key infrastructure, and Patrick was the mayor of Zamboanga.
If Magiting said he couldn’t do it anymore and shut down the business, Patrick would have to shoulder that problem.
It wasn’t something we could pretend not to see and simply leave alone.
He would pour tax money into it.
I wanted to lighten Patrick’s burden, even if only a little.
If I did well and helped Zamboanga, that would be a good thing.
If I put my head together with Magiting, it felt like we might find some kind of answer.
Magiting, too, was a man who had spent his whole life trying to supply electricity at low rates.
He knew the power situation in the Philippines very well.
“Can’t we ask the power plants producing the electricity to lower their unit price? Their situation should still be a bit better, shouldn’t it?”
“It is better than ours, but their condition isn’t exactly good either.”
There was a reason electricity rates in the Philippines were expensive.
More than 80% of all power generation came from thermal power or natural gas.
In other words, they burned coal and gas to make electricity.
The Philippines didn’t have much coal, so it had to import it, and international coal prices had risen.
It was only natural that electricity rates would rise.
The problem was that they were still rising now, and would continue to rise in the future.
Then naturally, generation costs would rise too, and electricity rates would go up as well.
We needed to come up with another plan.
We need to look into other power generation facilities.
The best method would be to build nuclear.
A few nuclear power plants would be more than enough for the Philippines’ electricity.
The Philippines’ electricity production is about one-fifth of Korea’s.
Its population is 2.2 times larger than ours, yet its electricity production is drastically lower.
On an individual basis, the gap is much larger.
It is almost one-tenth.
In other words, we use ten times more electricity than Filipinos do.
Calculating based on the Philippines’ power demand, fourteen nuclear plants would do it.
Fourteen nuclear plants.
If they built just that, every problem would be solved.
But if it were a problem that could be solved that simply, it wouldn’t have remained a problem for so long.
The issue is the price.
It is insanely expensive.
At least 7 trillion won to build one.
In the Philippines’ case, they have never built a nuclear plant before, and the surrounding infrastructure would have to be developed as well, so the price per unit would rise from 9 trillion to as much as 16 trillion won.
Even building just ten would be 160 trillion.
Building the fourteen needed for nuclear power would be 224 trillion.
The Philippines’ annual budget is around 150 trillion won.
Once construction actually began, costs would pile on tremendously, meaning they would have to pour in two years’ worth of the national budget to build them.
It absolutely would not be easy.
Even I, who go around boasting that I have a lot of money, am not at that level.
I can pay for meals wherever I go, cover the drinks, build factories, and buy buildings,
but I am not rich enough to build nuclear power plants and casually fork over 224 trillion won.
Not even close.
And even if there were money, it still would not be easy.
It takes far too long to build them.
Just talking with the government, getting permits, and designing them would already take five to eight years.
Construction would take five to seven years.
Even if they started building now, it would take ten to fifteen years.
That was why nuclear power was difficult.
Next was thermal power.
But building more thermal power plants would also be hard.
The construction cost of a thermal power plant was not dramatically cheaper either.
Compared to nuclear, it was about one-third to half the price, but even then, it cost around 2 to 5 trillion won each.
That was not a small amount of money.
On top of that, fuel had to be supplied constantly.
They also had to consider rising fuel costs and environmental pollution.
So thermal power was out too.
That left only renewable energy.
“Have you not considered renewable energy?”
“I have.”
“Then why didn’t you do it?”
“You need money for that. I told you, didn’t I? The deficit grew larger every year. It’s hard enough to survive a single month, so investing in a new business is difficult. No matter how much it may be the future.”
It was an answer in which I could feel Magiting’s anguish.
He knew that if they built it now, it would help, but even so, he had not had the capacity to do it.
And it was not something that could be solved by building just a few of them either.
Still.
What if they did it now?
Wouldn’t it be all right if they installed renewable power generation facilities now?
That seemed like the fastest and cheapest option.
Thinking in terms of solar power,
it was not like nuclear power, where you had to build something enormous all at once. You could keep adding more.
It did seem like they could just keep adding installations.
But was there even a place to put them?
You could install solar panels anywhere, sure, but the efficiency would drop.
They had to find a place with good efficiency, one that would not run afoul of regulations, and where vehicles and people could easily come and go.
Would there be a place like that?
Finding one alone seemed like it would take ages.
If it was somewhere remote, that would be good because it would avoid such regulations, but other problems would exist.
Producing electricity using solar power was not the end of it.
It had to be connected to the existing power grid.
In other words, they had to build or repair transmission lines.
That cost would not be insignificant either.
Representative Magiting did not have a headache over this for no reason.
Even for me, someone with money, it was this difficult. How hard must it have been for that old man, who had no money?
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to install solar power even now? You can set up the system and keep adding to it. Ah. To do that, you’d have to secure locations for the solar panels. Finding those would take quite a while too.”
“I do have some things I’ve investigated…”
Magiting took a notebook out of a drawer.
“I don’t know when we would do it, but just in case we might be able to install renewable power generators, I did some research.”
He said he had personally traveled around Mindanao, searching for and measuring places that would be suitable for installation.
“Really?”
“The renewable energy that can be installed in Mindanao would be solar and wind power. Geothermal is good too, but with geothermal, if you drill and it turns out to be unsuitable, you just lose money, so there’s no point right now. Solar would be here. Here, and here. For wind power, this place seems like it would be good.”
Magiting was looking at a map and marking the locations with his finger.
“For now, solar is the top priority. There are no regulations, it’s not jungle so there are no trees to block the sunlight, the transmission grid is close, and the roads are well developed. In my opinion, it seems like the optimal location.”
It looked good to me too.
But I did not decide right away.
It seemed right to talk more with Patrick and Simon before deciding.
We also had to run the numbers and conduct an on-site inspection.
Still, it felt good, as if we had found some sort of lead.
I thought that if we installed solar panels there, we could at least supply Unity Town with electricity at a low price.
At times like this, I wished Zhou Qiming were here.
If it were that old man, he could have supplied solar panels at an extremely low price.
What a shame.
After finishing my conversation with Magiting, I returned to the hotel.
But the atmosphere was ominous.
I felt an unfamiliar gaze.
‘These bastards came again.’