“Nice to meet you, everyone. Allow me to greet you once again. My name is Alex, and I am the new chairman of La Camara.”
I greeted them, but there was no reaction.
If anything, their faces said, What the hell is this bastard?
But it didn’t matter.
“Thank you for choosing someone as lacking as myself to be your chairman.”
The looks they gave me were still far from friendly.
But that didn’t matter either.
I had something I needed to do.
There was no reason to hesitate or waver.
My goal was one thing.
To make Patrick president.
I had become the chairman of La Camara solely to make Patrick president.
“First, I would like to tell you that I am completely different from Celeste.”
“Since we did not know each other, our first meeting was a little chaotic, but I am certain we can develop a good relationship.”
“I have a way for all of us to be happy. If you listen for just a moment, it will benefit us all.”
The man who had been holding a bat and beating people until just moments ago was now talking about building a good relationship, so they looked at me as if wondering what kind of nonsense that was.
“To begin with, I respect all of you.”
“I have no intention of taking anything you possess. If anything, I want to give you more.”
“I guarantee your positions, assets, and rights. You may act as freely as you have until now—no, even more freely than before.”
“I will not interfere with you or force you to do anything.”
At the words that everything they had held until now would be guaranteed, their expressions seemed to soften a little.
Of course, since I was the guy who had called them sons of bitches the moment we met, made them drop into a push-up position, and waved a bat around, they still couldn’t trust me.
But it was clear that what I was saying was touching on their needs.
They also seemed to like the part that set me apart from Celeste.
Celeste had insisted even the most trivial things be done her way.
She had clutched everything in her hands.
But the fact that I would let them operate freely seemed to score highly with them.
“From now on, you don’t need to pay any funds to La Camara. I have a ridiculous amount of money. I’ll pay. If I’m sitting in this seat for free, I should at least pay the money.”
“Don’t worry about money.”
“If you run short on funds while doing business, tell me. Depending on the situation, support, investment, financing, or low-interest loans are possible.”
At the news that they didn’t have to pay money, and that I would even lend them money, they looked puzzled.
Honestly, they had thought I was sitting there for the money, that I was some lunatic obsessed with cash, but apparently not.
Instead, I was saying I would pay all the funds myself and even lend them money if they needed it.
It was hard to believe, but it was refreshing.
The situation was flowing somewhere they couldn’t grasp.
The conversation was heading in a direction they had never expected.
The committee members were irritated by this situation, but they couldn’t help focusing.
It was directly tied to their own interests.
They couldn’t take their ears off it.
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
At that moment, one of the committee members asked a question.
“Do your best in your respective positions. That is all.”
“Is that really all?”
He asked again as if he couldn’t believe it.
What was this?
It was so different from Celeste that their minds were reeling.
It was like people who had to ask permission for every little action in prison suddenly being released into society and given freedom, leaving them unsure what to do.
“Yes. Truly. And from time to time, I will give you a mission in the broad sense. You only need to do that. It won’t be anything very difficult. It certainly won’t be illegal either. So you don’t need to worry. If you happen not to like the mission we give you, you don’t have to do it.”
“Really?”
The senior committee members were genuinely shocked.
“Of course. Instead, those who do well will be rewarded. There will be no punishment. However, you will be pushed far down the list of priorities. You can understand that much, can’t you?”
What I was saying was clear.
I was telling them I would take care of the ones who listened first.
Those who didn’t listen wouldn’t be given work, but they also wouldn’t be given money or benefits.
So what? You could say it wasn’t a big deal.
But the bigger a corporation was, the more closely it was tied to the government.
What if they were pushed to the back of the line?
A construction company, but it didn’t receive government contracts.
A media company, but it didn’t receive government advertising?
What if laws were changed to put them at a disadvantage?
From their perspective, that was quite troublesome.
It wasn’t punishment, but their livelihood would be cut off.
There wasn’t a single idiot here who couldn’t understand that much.
“What happens if an order comes down, someone says they’ll do it, and then they don’t?”
“That is freedom too. That can happen. However, they will have to take responsibility for it, won’t they?”
“Responsibility?”
“Everything in this world comes with responsibility. Act within the limits of what you can take responsibility for. If you cross the line and we step in, then we will not be able to talk with smiles like this.”
“Then?”
“Some of you may know my profession, but my job is that of a gangster and a rebel. It is a profession specialized in holding people responsible. We operate separately from laws, procedures, and rights. So before you act, make sure you think deeply and decide.”
“You keep saying responsibility, but what exactly does that mean?”
“Would there be anything fixed? It changes depending on the situation. If you embezzle money, you spit the money back out. If you try to overturn the organization, we’ll erase the organization. If you tried to kill someone, you pay with your life. Of course, there will be interest added. Quite a lot of it, too.”
I explained very kindly.
But damn, they really didn’t understand.
Fuck, I’m saying in a fancy way that if they betray me or lie to me, I’ll kill them all.
Are my words difficult?
Why do they keep asking again?
Does that bastard have betrayal in his DNA too?
Sandro said the ones who are going to betray you are the ones most interested in betrayal.
What did he call that? Projection?
I’ll have to keep an eye on that bastard.
“Urgh.”
“Do whatever you want. We are prepared to handle it, and we are also prepared to hold you responsible.”
“No matter how much I say with my own mouth, ‘If you betray us, this will happen, that will happen,’ it doesn’t work. They say betrayal is in the DNA, so the ones who will do it always end up doing it. Just don’t get caught. Because when that happens, there will truly be no turning back.”
Gulp.
The committee members’ faces were filled with tension.
I wasn’t shouting, just speaking calmly and quietly, but that made it even more frightening.
It felt as if I was saying, Go ahead and try whatever you can.
No matter what you do, we already know everything.
“If you understood, nod and answer me.”
The first person to answer was Bitoin, and next was Rafael.
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
Rafael had once heard such a thing.
That there was a man named Alex in the south.
That anything the man touched went well.
That was why he was called a totem.
That if you stood in the same direction as him and walked with him, there would be nothing to stop you.
That many people wanted to stand behind him and walk together.
What was strange about him was that he had no interest whatsoever in any path other than the one he himself was walking.
That he did not care what happened elsewhere or what anyone else did.
That was why many people did not know Alex.
However, if something got in the way of the path he was walking, he would remove it or smash it, whatever it was.
So if you met him, you should either follow behind or step aside.
At the very least, do not show the foolishness of standing face-to-face against him.
When Rafael first heard those words, he had thought they were just some common urban legend.
But they weren’t.
The man standing before him seemed fully capable of that.
So Rafael decided not to show the foolishness of standing against Alex either.
He decided to walk beside him.
Perhaps pushed along by the atmosphere, the others also answered.
“Yes…”
“Yes…”
“…”
“Good answers. Then I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing from now on.”
A photo appeared on the large screen.
The committee members tilted their heads as if he were a stranger.
Their faces said they had no idea who it was.
“Patrick Lloyd. The current mayor of Zamboanga. I’m going to make this man president.”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“Does that even make sense?”
“You’re going to make someone no one even knows president?”
It was dizzying.
For the senior committee members of La Camara, it was truly a bewildering day.
Bitoin had returned alive, and now someone they had met for the first time was saying he would make a man president.
The entire day had been full of nothing but shocking things.
“You may not know who he is now, but by the time the presidential election comes around, he will be someone everyone knows.”
“No, even so, you’re saying you’ll make someone completely unknown president. There isn’t that much time left until the presidential election.”
From La Camara’s point of view, it was utterly absurd.
Making the mayor of a remote city like Zamboanga president.
In Korean terms, it was like saying you would make the mayor of some small city in Jeolla-do or Gyeongsang-do president.
And someone who did not have high public recognition at that.
“You don’t need to worry too much. All the materials are already prepared.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Do nothing. Just don’t get in the way, and simply watch. However, if you help, the reward will be sweet.”
“Remember. Our goal is to make Patrick president.”
********
After finishing the meeting at La Camara, I headed to the Del Rosario Group again.
A meeting of the Del Rosario Group’s presidents was scheduled.
Since I had received everything Celeste possessed exactly as it was, I had to be faithful to that role.
I said the same thing there.
You will all remain in your positions.
There will be no interference.
Do what you can.
You’re the top experts, so why would you need confirmation from a non-expert? It isn’t necessary.
We will only look at the results.
Embezzlement? Do it if you can.
But if you get caught, look forward to it.
A reality beyond your imagination will be waiting.
Since they were smart bastards, they understood quickly.
Now all that was left was to monitor them slowly.
Chen Zhihao would look into the communication records and PCs,
and if Anna looked into the books, most things would be caught.
The program had already been made too.
With that, the urgent fires were put out.
I had organized things, however roughly.
Now, if an incident occurred, I could respond accordingly.
No matter how much I planned in advance, everything always got twisted anyway.
For now, I had removed all the visible obstacles to Patrick becoming president.
The next step was needed.
Now it was time to let people know about Patrick.
.
.
.
We began packaging the good things happening in Zamboanga and Unity Town as Patrick’s achievements and releasing them as shorts.
“We’ll ease the burden of your electricity bills.”
- In Zamboanga, you can use electricity at a rate 50% lower than the Philippine average.
“A city good for raising children.”
- We are operating childcare subsidies and a free vaccination program for households with children aged 0 to 5.
“There’s a city where school uniforms are free?”
- In Zamboanga, uniforms are provided free of charge to all middle and high school students.
“Even the students’ lunches are free?”
- Free school meals prepared with the participation of nutrition experts. Packed with the nutrients growing children need.
“Zamboanga was this clean?”
- We supply clean water by replacing aging water supply pipes.
“We have opened online lectures and learning centers for students who want to study.”
“It’s this bright even at night? - LED streetlights doubled. We have brightly lit the dark night roads.”
“A women’s safe return service?”
“For households with newborns, we provide newborn vouchers and maternal health checkups.”
“Public safety has completely changed.”
“Even the elderly can go to the hospital for free?”
“The city hall helps young people find jobs. Come to the youth employment center.”
“Traffic congestion has decreased? - Traffic congestion has decreased through road expansion and the introduction of a smart traffic signal system.”
“The urban environment has noticeably improved through a large-scale overhaul of waste management methods.”
“Citizens come first.”
.
.
.
The advantages of Zamboanga and Unity Town began to be made into shorts and uploaded.
Once we made them, there were so many strengths that I wondered if there had always been this many.
It made me think Patrick really had done a lot of good work all this time.
But what was being uploaded as shorts was only a very small part of it.
The parts citizens could feel directly.
Only the parts that hit home were made into shorts and sent out.
However, Patrick’s true value lay elsewhere.
He had focused on improving the big parts that people could not see.
They were the most important parts needed to maintain a city.
The area he had paid the most attention to was improving public safety.
Zamboanga was the most infamous city in the Philippines when it came to poor public safety.
That was solved in one fell swoop when the Damaya rebels took control of the city.
And with the thugs absorbed by the Sandro Group, it became safer than any other city.
If you acted out recklessly, you would vanish without a trace.
Zamboanga was a place where thugs and rebels lived more quietly than ordinary people.
A great deal of effort was also put into overhauling the traffic and road systems.
Traffic congestion in the Philippines was beyond imagination.
I wanted to stop so many people from wasting their time on the roads.
We introduced a smart traffic light system and improved the road network.
Thanks to that, traffic jams decreased tremendously.
Zamboanga was a port city with a large harbor.
I wanted to make use of that advantage.
We reorganized the port and worked to increase cargo volume.
If cargo volume increased, jobs and roads would naturally improve.
Tourism and culture were revitalized as well.
As expected of someone who had once been Candy Tour’s chief secretary, Patrick collaborated with Candy Tour to discover new tourist destinations and create tour programs.
There were many places in Zamboanga and Mindanao with scenery every bit as wonderful as Bohol’s.
He created tour programs and, in collaboration with Candy Tour, began building large resorts.
Patrick continued to push forward with major undertakings that were not visible to the eye.
He kept carrying out projects that people could not directly perceive, but that made life a little more convenient day by day.
He created jobs and brought people in.
But because people could not really feel those things directly, they could not be made into shorts.
That part was a bit of a shame.
But there was someone who soothed that regret of mine.
Sergio.
He was a supreme council member of La Camara and the man who controlled the media world.
He created and aired a program.
[How Did Zamboanga Become the Best City in the Philippines?]
It was a documentary focused on the changes in Zamboanga.
It showed how a city swarming with rebels had transformed into the most livable city in the Philippines.
How the city had changed,
and how an efficient system could transform a city—it showed those things well.
It also showed the process of introducing that efficient system and the scattered problems that had existed.
And then Patrick solving them.
Whenever a problem arose, he presented efficient, smart, and localized solutions.
The documentary said that was what had changed Zamboanga.
It said one capable leader had changed a city.
Patrick had not stepped to the forefront, but it was impossible to discuss Zamboanga’s transformation without him.
Because Patrick had been at the beginning and the center of Zamboanga’s change.
The documentary was saying that Patrick had been there as the city of Zamboanga changed from a small southern city,
from an unstable city swarming with rebels and plagued by poor public safety,
into the best city for people to live in.
It was on a different level from shorts, starting with the production quality.
With professionals involved, the delivery was different.
They made the program luxurious without making it feel burdensome.
Sergio merit points +1.
The people who watched it had this thought in their minds.
What if Zamboanga were the Philippines?
What if Patrick were president?
Then could our Philippines change like Zamboanga too?
Could we also live like Zamboanga, clean, able to use electricity as much as we wanted, and unafraid of the night?
Even if it never came true, the mere thought made them happy.
And within that imagining was the name Patrick.
The man who created every change.
The man who solved every problem.
Before anyone knew it, Patrick had become an icon of positivity.
It was the perfect start as a presidential candidate.
******
- What are you doing?
“Loafing around.”
It had been a while since Daehoon contacted me.
And I answered honestly.
I was loafing around.
I really was.
After cleaning up La Camara and the Del Rosario Group,
and getting Patrick’s presidential campaign more or less settled, all the strength drained out of my body.
I had no energy.
So I had been holed up all day, sleeping.
When I was in Bohol, people were constantly coming and going, so I came to Mindanao.
But people came and went here too.
Starting with Edward, then Dennis, Simon, even Magiting.
Why does Magiting come here?
There really was nowhere to hide.
Boom!!!
And on top of that, there was the occasional sound of bombs set off by Sin Junggi.
That bastard is excited again.
Should I go back to Bohol?
While I was thinking it over, Daehoon contacted me.
- Must be nice.
“Then you come to the Philippines too. We can hang out together.”
- You can just come to Korea.
“That’s true too. Should I go?”
- Of course you should. Were you planning not to?
“I will go, but time is…”
- What? You’re not coming to Geunsu’s wedding?
“Huh? Whose wedding?”
- Geunsu’s wedding! You don’t know?
“Yeah. First I’m hearing of it.”
- Haa~ That crazy bastard. I told Alex to tell you directly. He said he felt bad contacting someone so far away over such a trivial matter, so he didn’t tell you, huh.
“Geunsu’s getting married? When?”
- Next Saturday.
“I’ll go. It’s Geunsu’s wedding, so of course I have to.”
- When are you coming? Come quickly so we can hang out.
“I bought a private jet too. I can get there right away.”
- You bought a private jet?
“Yeah.”
Though I had used it for a slightly different purpose than most people would imagine.
I had used it more for intimidation than transportation, but, well, a private jet was still a private jet.
- Seriously? Are you coming in time for Saturday?
Daehoon asked in an excited voice.
“That bastard Geunsu didn’t tell me about something this important, so if I’m going to beat him with a bat, I should go quickly.”
- So when?
“Now?”
Just like that, I decided to go to Korea.
At my sudden decision, not only the Obsidian Unit, but even Scott, who had been eating, became busy.