Kuroda was sitting at his desk, reviewing reports.
An enormous stack of reports was piled on the desk.
[Taerim Independent Insurance Analysis Results]
[Analysis of Asia’s Maritime Insurance Landscape]
[Risk Analysis of Major East Asian Ports]
Every one of them was an important report.
None of them contained material he could skim over.
But Kuroda was reading through them one by one.
Slowly, he read and checked every single one, making notes as he went.
There were many of them, and the content was important,
but Kuroda focused only on the reports, as if he had no intention of caring about such things.
What was needed was not speed, but accuracy.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a man in golf wear entered.
Kuroda, who had been reading a report, glanced up to confirm who it was, then set the report down and stood.
“It’s been a while. What brings you all the way here?”
“You asked our side for cooperation, didn’t you?”
“Yes. You could’ve sent it as a file.”
“This is the sort of time when you drop by and show your face while you’re at it.”
Kuroda gave the man’s clothes a quick glance.
“What’s with the outfit?”
“They said my current target is crazy about golf, so I’ve been going around like this. I have to head to the course even now.”
“Good grief... you don’t have it easy either.”
“Not as bad as you, right? I heard this operation went off the rails.”
Kuroda gave a slight nod.
“I didn’t expect Korea to come out like this. It threw me off quite a bit.”
“So this is what you needed?”
The man in golf wear took a document from inside his jacket.
A red stamp reading “Confidential” was stamped on the document.
And written on it was: [Taerim Insurance CEO Anna Mavini Activity Report].
Kuroda accepted the document the golf man held out.
Not long ago, Kuroda had requested cooperation from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
The insurance situation in Korea was unusual.
In particular, the movements of Taerim Insurance’s new CEO were strange.
It could have a tremendous impact on Japan’s trade and finance going forward.
He said an investigation into Taerim Insurance’s new CEO was necessary.
Of course, it was a covert request, one that would not remain in any official record.
The man who received that request was Matsumoto, the man sitting before him now.
Matsumoto, too, belonged to the Seiwakai.
The two were not close because they both belonged to the Seiwakai.
They had been close since their days at the University of Tokyo.
They were friends, and they had nurtured their dreams together.
Kuroda became Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance,
and Matsumoto was working at the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Because they had been friends since youth, they would sometimes meet and have a drink together.
Whenever either of them needed something, they asked the other.
After receiving Kuroda’s request, Matsumoto ordered an investigation into Anna.
The Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office moved swiftly.
“Yes. I need to confirm who she is. Who’s setting the board, and what they’re doing.”
Matsumoto looked back and forth between the documents piled on the desk and Kuroda.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. You’ll wear yourself out.”
“I still have to do it. It’s for the country.”
Matsumoto started to say something more, then stopped.
Instead, he offered encouragement.
“Right. It’s for the country, so you have to. I’ll leave this here.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
As Matsumoto was leaving, he stopped and said one thing.
“But don’t insist on trying to untie every problem.”
“Hm?”
“When a knot won’t come undone, cutting it is also one way.”
The golf man left behind those cryptic words and departed the room.
But Kuroda knew better than anyone what those words meant.
.
.
.
Left alone, Kuroda opened the document.
Inside, the life of a person named Anna Mavini was listed in order.
Anna Mavini.
Born in the Philippines.
Currently 38 years old.
Orphan.
Unmarried.
No family.
Graduated from Bohol Island State University.
Worked at Kaylee International Advisory.
Notable point.
CEO and key executives of Kaylee International Advisory died from gunshot wounds.
(Kaylee International Advisory is a company notorious for money laundering.)
At the time of the incident, Anna Mavini was considered a suspect.
However, her suspicion was cleared when the alibi of a person said to have been with her was confirmed.
Afterward, worked as a finance officer at Candy Tour and Emerald Resort.
Current CEO of Taerim Financial Group.
Since taking office, performance has trended upward.
Exceptional growth across insurance, finance, and reinsurance.
Remitted a large sum to the Philippines for the construction of a Philippine branch.
Beyond her career history, the report included her personal relationships, hobbies, and food preferences.
Her commuting times and routes as well.
Even trivial details were included in the report.
Kuroda closed the file and shut his eyes.
He tried to reconstruct the facts he had just confirmed in his head.
There was nothing special.
No, it was too clean.
That was even stranger.
A CEO with no appointments, who didn’t meet anyone?
It looked as though she was intentionally hiding.
Her home was said to be in Unity Village in Hannam-dong.
The report described it as follows.
Highest security rating. Surveillance and wiretapping impossible.
Was there any need for a CEO to live somewhere with such strict security?
There had been no particular threats against her, nor any record of disputes.
Then why did she live in a place like that?
Once he began to suspect, the strange points kept appearing.
Come to think of it, how could someone who had worked on a hotel finance team suddenly become CEO of Taerim Insurance?
Her move from Kaylee Advisory to Emerald Resort was understandable.
They were both companies in Bohol.
Their lines of business were similar as well.
But Emerald Resort and Taerim Financial Group had no point of contact whatsoever.
Different countries, different markets, and the scale was not even comparable.
Headhunting? Investment attraction? A management rights dispute?
It fit none of them.
It made no logical sense.
And yet Anna had become Taerim’s CEO.
He couldn’t understand it.
It was not something she could have done alone.
Someone was helping her.
Kuroda picked up the file again.
He looked over the Kaylee Advisory death incident.
The incident report written by the Philippine police.
Looking at it again, the report was far too sloppy.
The scene had not been controlled, and the bullets had not been analyzed.
Strangest of all was the fact that they had released Anna solely on the testimony of the witness said to have been with her.
The case was closed just like that.
“The witness was Sandro? The boss of the Sandro Group?”
The report said “reliable.”
“Reliable? Who? Reliable to whom?”
Kuroda sneered.
Anna was scheduled to undergo an internal audit the following day.
But everyone who was supposed to conduct the audit had died.
Was that a coincidence?
Could Anna have killed Kaylee and the executives?
It was a company that had been laundering money.
Could Anna have killed Kaylee and the executives, then taken the money from the paper companies?
If Anna had not killed them herself, could the Sandro Group have done it for her?
What if she had bought a Philippine organization with the money she embezzled?
What if the Sandro Group helped cover up the incident?
It made sense.
If it was the Philippines, it was entirely possible.
The reason the Sandro Group became the witness, the police turned a blind eye, and the report became sloppy.
All of it could be explained.
A structure in which Anna hid behind the scenes and managed the money, while the Sandro Group moved.
Come to think of it, quite a lot of money was being remitted to the Philippines.
Kuroda changed his line of thought.
It was not that someone was helping Anna.
Anna was the core.
The Sandro Group was merely the hands and feet that did as it was told.
When he thought of it that way, the situation fit together.
Anna was the real boss.
She hid herself and put Sandro forward.
Now, because she believed she could control the funds, the organization, and the entire board, she had stepped to the front.
Under the title of CEO.
“It’s this person.”
Kuroda looked at the photograph once more.
A blond white woman.
A face without expression, despite her bright beauty.
The woman in the photograph said nothing,
but Kuroda felt as though he had already heard the answer.
The person who set this board.
The architect who had not been revealed at the front.
At last, she had shown herself.
It was definitely this woman.
Kuroda clenched his fist tightly.
******
At that time,
Zamboanga, Philippines.
On the road from the airport to downtown Zamboanga.
Every road was covered with Patrick’s face.
Utility poles, walls, rooftops, trees.
Wherever there was space, banners bearing Patrick’s face had been hung.
Passing cars, taxis, and even the cargo beds of trucks had Patrick’s face and ballot number attached to them.
‘Wow, this is a little much.’
Philippine elections had always been called banner elections because of how many placards were put up.
But this time, the degree seemed a bit excessive.
There weren’t merely a lot of them. They had papered over everything.
It was to the point that the entire city felt like one giant campaign poster.
Come to think of it, the presidential election was right around the corner.
According to rumor, Patrick’s approval rating had already exceeded 60%.
His election was effectively certain.
The election was no more than a formality.
Patrick’s election campaign had already begun two years ago.
La Camara had quietly started the movement.
Through the media, they reported not on Patrick himself, but on Patrick’s achievements.
They made known how Zamboanga had changed,
and how the Philippines’ electric power situation had changed.
Stories that could not help but stir up national pride.
Thanks to that, life had become more convenient.
But Patrick’s name was nowhere to be found.
Even so, people knew.
They knew who had created that change.
At the end of the story was Patrick.
It was not only through broadcasts.
They made Patrick known through religious and social organizations as well.
The administration and Congress were already preparing to receive Patrick.
People who had worked with Patrick had been dispatched to key ministries.
It was effectively a transition committee.
The military and police, too, recognized Patrick as president and were planning operations accordingly.
The business world had already accepted Patrick as president.
Barring some extraordinary twist, Patrick seemed likely to become president.
No, even if there were some extraordinary twist, Patrick seemed likely to become president.
That was how immense Patrick’s influence had become.
Patrick was likely busy with the campaign, so I decided to see him another time.
The truth was, I had come to the Philippines for a different reason.
.
.
.
“You’ve arrived?”
Dennis greeted me.
By now, Dennis had become one of the undisputed main dealers among international arms dealers.
He did not have the latest weapons or ultra-expensive equipment,
but he was competing through volume, based on Chinese-made equipment.
Prices without gouging.
Reliable delivery dates.
If problems arose, he even provided after-sales service.
On top of that, the weapons made—no, modified—by Shin Jung-gi were also receiving favorable reviews.
Recently, I had heard that Shin Jung-gi was developing something incredible, but I did not ask.
He would tell me when it was finished.
“The thing we talked about?”
“It’s ready. Let’s move.”
We got into the car Dennis had prepared and set off.
Near the port of Zamboanga stood an ordinary-looking warehouse.
Inside, it was filled with weapons.
“I prepared them here.”
I checked the items Dennis had prepared.
They had been prepared exactly as discussed.
I nodded.
It was more than satisfactory.
“But what are you planning to use such old weapons for? If you need them, I can prepare newer weapons.”
Dennis asked.
Thinking about it, I could see how he might misunderstand.
After all, I had asked Dennis to procure a lot of cheap weapons, whatever they were.
I had said it didn’t matter if they were old.
“Well, I’m not going to use them. Should I say they’re just for display? Was it hard to get them?”
“When I asked for these, everyone was happy to send them over for cheap, saying they were clearing out inventory.”
“Really?”
“But where are you going to move all this? The quantity isn’t ordinary. It’ll be difficult to transport.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”
“Dennis, do you mind if I look around here for a bit?”
“Of course. Feel free to look around. I’ll step out for a moment.”
Dennis left, and I remained alone in the armory.
The armory was filled with the weapons Dennis had procured.
Starting with rifles, there were mines, bombs, grenades, and so on.
There was a separate reason I had asked Dennis to get things like this.
I planned to scatter them around Japanese ports.
Besides these, I had prepared various other items as well.
Weapons, drugs, counterfeit bills, even knockoffs.
I was going to pile up goods that should never clear customs at the ports.
Goods that should absolutely never enter a port through official procedures.
Goods whose very existence could cause problems—I intended to pile them up at the ports.
If they were discovered, people would have no choice but to think there was a problem with Japan’s inspection system.
That was what I wanted.
‘Japanese ports can’t filter out weapons.’
‘No inspections are being carried out at all.’
‘The system is a mess.’
I wanted to foster an atmosphere that Japanese ports were completely untrustworthy.
Japan was also trying to chip away at our trust, so this was self-defense.
I was only doing what naturally had to be done.
Taking a hit and staying down wasn't my style.
The problem was moving these items.
There was no problem at all with moving the items.
I just needed to put them in my Inventory and go.
But what came next was the problem.
Take them there and put them in a different container?
That wouldn't be bad.
But couldn't there be more of an impact?
I wanted to make it flashy.
It made me think.
Just like those Japanese bastards who tried to drop a container into the ocean to make a splash.
I wished a certain scene would unfold.
I wished an irrefutable scene would unfold.
If I were to sneak these items into another container,
and Japanese customs discovered it, they might just try to quietly bury it.
On the contrary, Japan might boast that their perfect inspection system had managed to find even such things.
That wasn't a sight I wanted to see.
So I wanted it to blow up at the port.
Irrefutably, I wanted it to explode at the port.
With multiple witnesses so they couldn't hide it,
and it would be great if it were filled with items that shouldn't clear the port.
I hadn't worked out the detailed operation yet, but that was what I wanted.
Whatever operation I came up with, I needed the items.
So I asked Dennis.
Not to be used as weapons, but to create items that shouldn't be at the port.
These weapons had already circled the world several times over.
They were weapons that had done work in America, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.
The source could never be traced.
Now I just had to move them to Japan.
I could load them onto pallets and wrap them, or put them in bags.
But that was too annoying.
If I put them in bags, I'd have to take them all out on-site and put them back into containers again. Too annoying.
Security would be tight; I didn't know if I'd have the time.
Pallets were the same.
Pallets required even more hands.
But why did that container look so easy today?
I felt like I could just put it in if I wanted.
Could it work?
Probably not. It was huge.
Even the smallest was 20ft (6.1m).
It was bigger than the van we rode around in.
Longer, wider, and taller.
I couldn't put that in my Inventory.
But strangely, today it felt like it might go in.
There was no one in the warehouse.
I placed my hand on the container filled with weapons.
Go in.
Go in.
Go in.
I shouted inwardly.
Swoosh.
There was no sound, but I felt it.
And with that feeling, the container before me vanished.
A 20-foot container had suddenly disappeared.
The container had entered my Inventory.
Mwahaha.
Mwahahahaha.
Hahahahahaha.
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.
So I laughed freely.
Now I could move containers too.
I had become a cargo ship.
Wait for me, Japanese port.
I'm coming in.